Easy Chicken Shawarma
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The best homemade shawarma recipe using the most amazing (and easy!) spice mixture. Great for salads, wraps + bowls!
Shawarma is a very popular street food item from the Middle East, made from marinated meats like lamb, beef or chicken. It’s become increasingly popular here in the US, and now you can make it right at home with the most amazing spice mixture using just a few pantry staples.
I always opt to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in chicken shawarma, but chicken breasts can absolutely be subbed here. And with a bit of olive oil, fresh lemons, garlic and your pantry spices, you can marinate your chicken for 2 hours or overnight, letting it soak up all that spice goodness.
Throw these bad boys on your grill (or a cast iron grill pan) before serving them in a salad or as a grain bowl. My personal favorite is to serve chicken shawarma with a side of tzatziki sauce and all the pita bread.
Tools For This Recipe
Cast iron grill pan or large cast iron skillet
Easy Chicken Shawarma: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken when thrown on the grill.
Chicken shawarma is typically served as a wrap (in a flatbread such as pita bread). We personally love to serve this with a side of tzatziki sauce.
No grill, no problem. A cast iron grill pan or a large cast iron skillet will work beautifully here, especially during those winter months when it’s too cold to grill out!
Easy Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
Equipment
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, water, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, coriander, paprika, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne pepper, cardamom, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and olive oil mixture; marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight, turning the bag occasionally. Drain the chicken from the marinade.
- Preheat grill to medium high heat.
- Brush chicken with canola oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add chicken to grill, and cook, turning occasionally, until chicken is completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately with tzatziki sauce.
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Love, love, love! Marinated overnight and used cast iron pan on stovetop to cook. Great flavor!
Exquisite! A fusion of flavors that my family thoroughly enjoyed. Homemade naan and tzatziki sauce complemented the dish perfectly. I will undoubtedly prepare it again!
Excellant on salad! Many thanks for this easy recipe!
This is my new favorite meal, and in regular rotation at our homel The marinade is easy to make and the spices are perfect! Grilling the chicken takes it over the top, with a nice sear. I serve it with a cucumber, tomato, red onion & feta salad, and serve tzatziki sauce and baba ganoush on the side, along with naan or pita. SO damn delicious! Another banger from this site, thank you!
Looks and sounds wonderful. Wanting to make this for friends, one of which does not like chicken. What other meats would be appropriate.Love all of your recipes.
Thank you
Hi, thank you for this recipe! I’m new to cooking and I was wondering: should I make shallow cuts in the chicken/ poke holes in it with a fork before marinating or should I leave it whole? Various sources online say it is best to cut the chicken or poke holes in it, but they mention not to do it if the marinade is acidic. Given that this recipe contains lemon juice, I am on the fence about what to do. Any help is greatly appreciated! 🙂
No need to poke holes or anything. Just put it in a ziplock and make sure you rub the spices on all the pieces. You’ll do great.
Oh my goodness, sorry for the late reply! I didn’t realize how this website’s comments work and thought I’d get a notification via email Thank you so much for your help, I’ll be sure to follow your advice. Have a good one 🙂
One of my favorite recipes! I use chicken breasts; I brine the breasts before marinating them to keep them juicy. Then, I serve them with lemon spinach cous cous and curry cauliflower. Very flavorful!
I’ve made your recipe twice this week already and love it! The only thing I did differently was add more lemon juice because I like the extra tang.
Delicious! This went over really well with all at my house!
We discovered Shawarma Chicken at Trader Joe’s. I knew I could make it better with even better cuts of chicken. This recipe is amazing! So flavorful! I make it 3 batches at a time and use my Food Saver to vacuum seal individual meals for our family. Highly recommended!!
Could I mix up the marinade and chicken then put it in the freezer to cook at a later date?
Yes! This is all I do. I use my Food Saver and vacuum seal individual meals for my family. Lots of seasonings – so I set up a station with several bowls… just go down the line. Mix everything well. I even use a spatula at the end to get all that marinate goodness in the bag.
Was awesome
What vegetable side(s) would you recommend for this dish? I’m not accustomed to making middle eastern food, and this sounds delicious!
I usually put mine over rice and top with diced cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, purple onion, and feta. I top with a pretty good amount of vegs so I don’t make a side but a (spinach) salad would go well.
Could you make these in a slow cooker?
So good! I wasn’t ready for the flavor! I had all of the ingredients except the tuner IC in my cabinet. I marinated the chicken overnight, turning occasionally like the recipe suggests. It did not disappoint. I cannot wait to eat the leftovers!
Just made this for dinner and everyone loved it! Thank you.
If we don’t have a grill, can you modify this same recipe to either pan fry or bake the checken?
This is truly the best chicken I have ever made. We had a salad bowl and I made the tzatziki recipe linked here too, It was so refreshing a just DAMN DELICIOUS!!!! I have made several of you recipes and they are always great.
So so good!!! Made with boneless skinless chicken thighs and by far my favorite marinade of all time. Trying with boness, skinless chicken breasts tomorrow because that’s all I had in the freezer. Hoping it comes out as good.
I don’t grill…how would you suggest making this in the oven or stove top?
Do you have a broiler in your oven? I set the top rack around 5 inches away from the broiler nozzle and you can broil the chicken on high for 5 minutes, flip and broil again for 5 more minutes or until charred edges are achieved and meat is vookrd.