Hands down one of my favorite dishes is Chicken Shawarma! A Home Style Chicken Shawarma is easier than you might think and this recipe delivers on taste and flavor!
Home Style Chicken Shawarma
If you know Chicken Shawarma, you know it’s a street food cooked on a rotating vertical spit. Then the chicken is shaved off to order. I can’t help with the spit, but I can get you all the flavor of this Middle Eastern specialty. One taste and you’ll be transported to a far-off and exotic land!
*warning – long post with lots of info. Feel free to use the jump to recipe above*
About Home Style Chicken Shawarma:
Did you know Shawarma is pronounced like “Shower-ma? I used to ignore that extra little “a” in the word, too. But even if you’re unfamiliar with Shawarma, you might be familiar with one or the other of its cousins.
The first is Gyros, which often in the States is made with pressed meat, but in Greece is usually made with lamb, pork, or chicken. The other is Tacos al Pastor, a Mexican preparation rooted in the Shawarma brought to Mexico by Lebanese workers. All three dishes have roots in the Turkish Donar Kebab.
This Home Style Chicken Shawarma has all the gorgeous flavors of spit-roasted, rotisserie-style Shawarma, without the spit, without the rotisserie, and without the hassle. Two things upped my game with making this. Both gave me an “Aha” moment and neither were the cooking methods I had been fooling with. trying to replicate the spit cooking.
I knew at the first beautiful, luscious bite of my Home Style Chicken Shawarma that the below was exactly what had been missing from my previous versions.
- The first is Ras El Hanout, a complex spice mix that you can make or buy. There’s also a shortcut version of it my Shawarma recipe, below.
- The other is Sumac, a dark, rich spice used in Middle Eastern cooking that’s said to taste lemony.
The Sumac and Ras el Hanout are what “make” the dish. It seriously tastes like it came from a restaurant. I’m not gonna lie, it’s still to die for without the “actual” spices in the more complicated Ras el Hanout, but it just sings if you make the extra effort!
Home Style Chicken Shawarma
Making Home Style Chicken Shawarma:
I’ve already tried to replicate all of the Donar-style kebabs at home with little to no success, pretty much because I was always trying methods that mimicked the spit/rotisserie method of cooking. I finally ditched all those variable, cutesy, and/or complicated methods.
They all had the same serious flaw no one mentioned: the only bites of flavorful, toasty, slightly crispy, and delicious meat you are going to get are from the outside layer. Once that was cut off, the rest is boring and it is too long of a wait for any of the home methods to deliver a second round of flavorful, toasty, slightly crispy, and delicious meat!
It’s better to just cook thin slices on my grill (I’ll give you oven directions, too, for a sheet tray) where every piece has a chance to pick up some lovely color and that crispiness.
The single biggest thing you can do to really bring the flavor to your Home Style Chicken Shawarma is to marinate it for a long time. It will be really good 30 minutes in, and better if you marinate overnight, but it will be at its best if you leave that chicken in the spices for two days or even three. It’s a long time, but the choice is yours.
This is a great recipe to double as you make it. Divide & then stash half of that marinated chicken in your freezer; it will pick up all the flavor it needs as it thaws later.
I based a lot of my recipe for Home Style Chicken Shawarma and the sides on a recipe I found from the famed London Chef, Yotam Ottolenghi. I’ve made a few of his recipes (and want his books!) and they have been outstanding. I’ve only slightly tweaked his Chicken Shawarma, going by taste & converting to the U.S. measurements and using my own spice blends.
I also tossed in a few ideas from a Diner’s Drive-Ins and Dives episode featuring Zaytoon Restaurant’s Chicken Shawarma and of course, I always need to toss in a little extra flair of my own!
Home Style Chicken Shawarma
Serving:
You can serve your Home Style Chicken Shawarma with any Middle Eastern style salads or pilafs. I don’t know why I have never really gone in that direction and posted any recipes for you, other than I am obsessed with Mexican and Asian Cooking this Turkish Rice Pilaf, or this Greek Brown Rice Salad. I would really have in mind something like a Tabouleh salad to go with this. And for an appetizer, you don’t want to forget the Hummus! Here’s my Classic Hummus but look under my Appetizer Menu for others.
I like to serve with flatbread or a pita, with lots of fun sauces, and here’s where Chef Ottolenghi really helped out. The spicy, green sauce Zhoug (recipe here) is fantastic with this as is the traditional Lemony Garlic Tahini sauce (recipe here.) While many people like to serve Chicken Shawarma with a kind of salsa that has tomatoes in it, I love the rich Red Onion & Cucumber Salsa (recipe here) shown in the pics. They are all easy & make ahead.
No matter how you serve it, how simple you keep it, or how complicated you want to be, don’t miss out on making this Home Style Chicken Shawarma. I was so happy to have had my Son’s Girlfriend here to help make and grill these (and she cleaned up for me, bless her heart!)
We’re both giving this a thumbs up, especially with the three sauces! I’ve had this now for dinner three days in a row (hey it made a lot) and just finished the last of the chicken in a bowl (all out of Pitas) and now I’m so sad it’s gone! I think you’re going to feel the same way!
Home Style Chicken Shawarma
Saving Money on Home Style Chicken Shawarma:
Ras El Hanout is on this post, but I realize that not everyone is going to want to make a 13-item spice mix or want to order it online if you can’t buy it. There’s a shortcut in the recipe notes, below.
This recipe makes a lot of chicken, 2 1/2 pounds. Use breast or preferably thighs and buy on sale. I paid $1.49 a pound on a Labor Day sale. A freezer is essential if you wish to save $$.
Flatbread is so darned expensive. If you have a Middle Eastern or Indian restaurant in your area, call them and see if they’ll sell you some at a decent price. If you like making bread, my recipe is on the post Super Easy Flat Bread.
Home Style Chicken Shawarma
Home Style Chicken Shawarma
- Total Time: 30 minutes plus marinade
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish Poultry
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken breasts, sliced horizontally or boneless thighs
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed & minced
- a 1” piece of 1″ ginger grated, about a generous tablespoon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Ras El Hanout see below for a shortcut version
- 1 tablespoon ground sumac
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander or cardamom
- 3 to 4 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 to 12 flatbreads or pitas
Instructions
First, make the marinade and marinate the chicken:
Combine the lemon juice, garlic, ginger, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Dry-fry the remaining spices on medium heat until their aroma is released and then add these to the bowl along with the cilantro and olive oil.
Pat dry the chicken pieces and place them in the marinade. Massage the mixture into the chicken well, cover the bowl, and leave in the fridge to marinate for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 to 3 days.
If cooking on a Stovetop Griddle:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a large ridged griddle pan on high heat. Once red hot, cook the chicken pieces for 3 minutes on each side until nice and brown. Transfer to an oven tray to cook the meat through in the oven; about 6 minutes. Allow to rest for a few minutes before cutting the chicken into thin slices or chunks. Any remaining juices from the pan can be drizzled over the meat.
If using a Gas Grill:
Preheat the gas grill to medium-high. Check by the hand method. Hold your hand three inches above the grate. If you can hold it there for only two to three seconds before it becomes so uncomfortable you have to move it, your temperature is right. Turn one of the burners to low.
If using Charcoal, set up a two-level fire. When grill is at medium-high heat, check by the hand method. Hold your hand three inches above the grate. If you can hold it there for only two to three seconds before it becomes so uncomfortable you have to move it, your temperature is right.
For both Grills:
Place chicken pieces over the hottest part of the grill, turning each piece as it becomes browned and has good markings. They’ll cook through quickly so keep monitoring. As each is turned, place it on an area that’s just a little cooler to finish off.
For the Oven Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a rimmed sheet pan. Add the chicken, spreading everything evenly across it. Put the chicken in the oven and roast until it is browned, crisp at the edges and cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes. Watch closely and check several times. Remove from the oven, allow to rest 2 minutes, then slice into thin slices or bits.
To Prepare the Flatbread:
Wipe pan or scrape grill clean. Spray or drizzle one side of each flatbread with a little water and place water side down in the pan, on the grill, or on the oven rack. Heat for one to two minutes and turn. Wrap in a clean towel to keep warm for serving.
Notes: If using the spices below for a shortcut Ras el Hanout:
If you cannot get Ras el Hanout and don’t wish to make it, do not add any of the above spices except for the garlic, instead use:
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
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Im sharing my Home Style Chicken Shawarma at Fiesta Friday #240. The co-hosts this week are Deb @ Pantry Portfolio and Laurena @ Life Diet Health. I’m sharing, also, at Fern’s site, The Lazy Gastronome on her weekly Link Up, What’s for Dinner?
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