Emma discovered chicken shawarma at our local Mediterranean place and became obsessed. He'd beg to go there twice a week until I finally said "enough" and figured out how to make it at home. experimenting with spice blends and cooking methods, I cracked the code. Now Emma actually likes my version better than the restaurant's, which is saying something because that kid has strong opinions about his food.
Why You'll Make This Again and Again
Emma was suspicious when I first said we were making shawarma at home. "It won't taste the same, Mom," he told me with that seven-year-old certainty. But after one bite, he was converted. This chicken shawarma recipe just works - the meat stays juicy but gets those crispy, burnt edges that make you want to keep eating. It's our Friday night thing now.
The real win? No special gadgets needed, and I can probably find everything at our regular grocery store. Takes about 45 minutes start to finish, but most of that is just waiting around while the Easy Chicken Shawarma Recipe marinates. Emma likes dumping in the spices, and I like that it costs way less than ordering out. Plus, leftover shawarma makes amazing lunch wraps.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Make This Again and Again
- Ingredients for Perfect Chicken Shawarma
- How To Make Chicken Shawarma Step By Step
- Equipment For Chicken Shawarma Recipe
- How to Store Your Shawarma
- Chicken Shawarma Recipe Variations
- Smart Swaps for Your Chicken Shawarma
- The Recipe My Grandma Wouldn't Let Me Forget
- Top Tip
- Why This Recipe Works
- FAQ
- Time to Make Some Magic!
- Related
- Pairing
- Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients for Perfect Chicken Shawarma
The Chicken:
- Boneless chicken thighs
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Plain yogurt
The Spice Mix:
- Cumin
- Paprika
- Turmeric
- Coriander
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
For Serving:
- Pita bread
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
- Red onion
- Fresh parsley
- Tahini or garlic sauce
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Chicken Shawarma Step By Step
Make the Marinade:
- Dump all the spices in a big bowl
- Add olive oil, lemon juice, and yogurt
- Emma likes to mix this part - he's weirdly good at it
- Taste and add more salt if it needs it
Fix the Chicken:
- Cut thighs into strips
- Throw them in the marinade
- Make sure everything's covered
- Wait at least 30 minutes (longer if you can)
Cook It:
- Get your heaviest pan really hot
- Don't jam all the chicken in - do batches
- Leave it alone for 2-3 minutes
- Flip when you see brown crispy bits
- Keep going until it's all golden and done
Eat It:
- Warm up pita bread
- Stuff in the chicken
- Add whatever vegetables you want
- Pour sauce on top
- Eat fast before it gets cold
Equipment For Chicken Shawarma Recipe
- Heavy pan (cast iron if you got one)
- Big bowl for marinating
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Measuring spoons
How to Store Your Shawarma
Fridge Storage (3-4 days):
- Let it cool down first
- Throw it in whatever containers you have
- Keep chicken away from vegetables
- Heat it up in a pan, not microwave
Freezer Storage (2 months):
- Cool it completely
- Just freeze the chicken, not vegetables
- Write the date or you'll forget when you made it
- Thaw overnight in fridge
Leftover Tricks:
- Cold shawarma works on salads
- Emma eats it cold from the fridge
- Add a little water when reheating so it's not dry
- Fresh vegetables when you eat it again
Don't Waste Time:
- Storing pita bread (gets nasty)
- Keeping cut vegetables more than a day
- Freezing the whole mess together
Chicken Shawarma Recipe Variations
Bowl Thing:
- Forget the pita bread
- Dump everything over rice
- Add more vegetables if you want
- Emma calls this "chicken and rice"
Breakfast Mess:
- Mix leftover shawarma with scrambled eggs
- Wrap it in a tortilla
- Emma found this by accident
- Now he bugs me for it every Saturday
Hot Version:
- Red pepper flakes in the marinade
- Hot sauce instead of tahini
- Emma won't go near this
- More for me
Greek Whatever:
- Tzatziki instead of tahini
- Throw in olives and feta
- Cucumber slices
- Tastes totally different but good
Salad I Guess:
- Chop everything small
- Mix with lettuce
- Use marinade as dressing
- Emma picks out just the chicken
Smart Swaps for Your Chicken Shawarma
Different Meat:
- Chicken thighs → Chicken breasts (they get dry though)
- Chicken → Lamb or beef (takes longer to cook)
- Regular meat → Ground turkey (sounds gross but Emma likes it)
- Any meat → Just vegetables if you're into that
Spice Problems:
- No cardamom → Skip it, whatever
- No coriander → More cumin works
- No turmeric → More paprika is fine
- Hate cinnamon → Leave it out
Dairy Issues:
- Plain yogurt → Greek yogurt
- Regular yogurt → Sour cream
- Any dairy → Skip yogurt, use more lemon
- Cow stuff → Whatever milk you use
Serving Different:
- Pita bread → Tortillas or sandwich bread
- Fresh vegetables → Whatever's not rotten in your fridge
- Tahini → Ranch (Emma's favorite)
- Fancy sauce → Just lemon juice
The Recipe My Grandma Wouldn't Let Me Forget
My grandma came from Lebanon when she was young, and she had this weird trick with chicken shawarma that she swore worked magic. She'd save the oil from cooking onions all week in a little jar by the stove. When shawarma time came around, she'd use that onion oil instead of regular olive oil in the marinade. "Flavor builds on flavor," she'd tell me in her mix of Arabic and English.
Her other trick was even stranger. She'd take old pita bread, burn it black over the gas flame, then crush it up into the spice mix. "Smoke without fire," she'd say, looking all proud of herself. That burnt bread made the Easy Chicken Shawarma Recipe taste like it came from some fancy charcoal grill. I still do it now. Emma thinks I'm nuts when he sees me burning bread on purpose, but he always eats more than anyone else.
Top Tip
- Don't let Emma see you burning the pita bread or he'll think you're messing up dinner on purpose. I made that mistake once and he freaked out, yelling "Mom, the bread is on fire!" and trying to blow it out. Now I wait until he's distracted with his tablet or playing in the other room. Kids don't get that sometimes you have to burn stuff to make it taste better.
- Trust me, save yourself the drama and do the burnt bread trick when little eyes aren't watching. He'll thank you later when he's asking for thirds and wondering why your shawarma tastes better than the restaurant's. Sometimes keeping cooking secrets from kids is the only way to keep them from having meltdowns in the kitchen.
Why This Recipe Works
This chicken shawarma recipe works because it doesn't try to be fancy when it doesn't need to be. Most people mess up shawarma by either making it too complicated or too boring. The marinade here does the heavy lifting - all those spices soaking into the Easy Chicken Shawarma Recipe for at least 30 minutes means every bite tastes like something. Emma can tell the difference between this and the stuff I used to make before I figured out the right spice mix.
The real trick is getting the pan hot enough before you add the chicken. That's what gives you those crispy edges that make restaurant shawarma so good. Emma learned this the hard way when he tried to help and put the chicken in too early. "It's not sizzling, Mom!" he told me, and he was right. Hot pan equals crispy chicken equals happy family. Sometimes the simplest things make all the difference.
FAQ
What exactly is chicken shawarma?
Shawarma is Middle Eastern street food where spiced meat gets cooked on a spinning thing and sliced off. This recipe gets you those same flavors at home using a regular pan. Emma calls it "the good chicken with the brown stuff on it."
What the heck is shawarma?
It's seasoned meat that's been sitting in spices and cooked until it gets crispy edges. Real shawarma uses a big spinning cone of meat, but this works in any kitchen. Think of it as really good seasoned chicken that you eat in pita bread.
What are the ingredients for shawarma?
Chicken, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, and a bunch of spices like cumin, paprika, and cinnamon. The spice mix is what makes it taste like shawarma instead of boring chicken. Emma says the cinnamon makes it "taste weird but good."
Is chicken shawarma the same as gyros?
Nope, totally different. Gyros are Greek and usually lamb or beef, plus different spices. Shawarma is Middle Eastern with its own spice thing going on. Emma thinks they both taste good but says shawarma is "more orange looking."
Time to Make Some Magic!
Now you have all the secrets to make chicken shawarma that actually tastes like the real thing - from the right spice mix to Grandma is burnt bread trick. This recipe proves you don't need fancy equipment to make amazing Middle Eastern food at home. Emma went from begging for restaurant shawarma to asking me to make "the homemade kind" instead.
Craving more family favorites? Try our The Best Cabbage Soup Recipe that's perfect for cold nights and actually tastes good. Need something hearty for Sunday dinner? Our Perfect Roast Beef Recipe never fails to impress. Want another crowd-pleaser? Our Easy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe is Emma's other current obsession and disappears faster than I can make it!
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Related
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Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Chicken Shawarma
Chicken Shawarma
Equipment
- 1 Heavy skillet/pan (Cast iron recommended)
- 1 Mixing bowl (For the marinade)
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Sharp knife
- 1 Measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb Boneless chicken thighs - Cut into ½" strips
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil - + extra for pan
- 2 tablespoon Plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice - Freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 0.5 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Ground coriander
- 0.5 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- 0.25 teaspoon Ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon Salt Adjust to taste
- 0.5 teaspoon Black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 4 whole Pita bread - Warmed for serving
- 1 whole Cucumber - Sliced
- 2 whole Tomatoes - Sliced
- 0.5 whole Red onion - Thinly sliced
- 0.25 cup Fresh parsley - Chopped
- 0.5 cup Tahini or garlic sauce - For drizzling
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together cumin, paprika, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, pepper, garlic powder, olive oil, lemon juice, and yogurt.
- Add the chicken strips to the spice-yogurt mixture, toss to coat, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high; add oil and chicken in batches, cooking 2–3 minutes per side until well browned and cooked through.
- Warm the pita, then fill with chicken, cucumber, tomato, onion, parsley, and drizzle tahini or garlic sauce before serving.
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