Chicken Shawarma Recipe: How to Make Shawarma at Home

Last Updated on June 13, 2022

Chicken Shawarma Recipe

Chicken Shawarma is a popular gourmet sandwich that you can get at Middle Eastern restaurants.  Marinated chicken chunks are mounted on a large rotating skewer and then roasted slowly to perfection against a gas-burning grill.  Due to the unavailability of such industrial roasters at home, Chicken Shawarma has typically remained a restaurant dish.  However, we’ve learned a few tricks that can bring you the beautiful flavor of the Chicken Shawarma Recipe at home without the need of such roasters.

Chicken Shawarma Skewers in Tripoli, Lebanon

We’ve experimented with at least 3 recipes; 2 of them tasted good but were closer to “Shish Tawook” (another chicken dish) than they were to Chicken Shawarma. So what we’re going to feature here is our third recipe which was adopted from a family friend who was once a Chef at a Lebanese Restaurant in Michigan.

Nice Marination of Chicken Shawarma

The basic concept in our recipe is to have a nice marination that mimics a good chicken shawarma flavor and then grill the chicken in such a way that keeps it juicy. We’ve found that our friend’s advice of using a panini or George Foreman grill is the best as it cooks fast and it keeps the chicken moist. Do not overcook the chicken, we’ve found that 13-15 minutes on medium heat was plenty, especially that we we were cooking thin slices of chicken.

The Chicken Shawarma Sandwich

Once the chicken shawarma is grilled, place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and shred into thin slices as per the photo above. Spread those slices along the diameter of a pita bread, add a bit of Lebanese Garlic Paste (check recipe) , some salty cucumber pickles, a bit of roasted tomatoes, french fries, roll it and voila.. you’ve got yourself a nice chicken shawarma sandwich, made at home! The image below is of our Chicken Shish Tawook sandwich just for illustration purposes, so you can see the chicken pieces are similar to kabobs where as in the Shawarma they’re shredded.

If you like beef try our Beef Shawarma Recipe as well. Now on to the recipe…

Lebanese Chicken Shawarma Recipe

Learn How to Make a Delicious Chicken Shawarma Recipe at Home Using Your Panini Grill.

4.9 from 19 votes

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Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 12 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Course lunch, Sandwich

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2.5 lbs boneless chicken breast or thighs

Marinade Ingredients

• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
• 4 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 head garlic pealed, crushed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoons salt or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano ground
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder optional
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder

Sandwich Wrap Ingredients

• 6 loafs pita bread
• 4 tomatoes grilled or roasted
• 6 teaspoons Garlic Paste Lebanese
• 1/2 lb cucumber pickles salty
• 2 cups French fries

Instructions

 

Marinating the Chicken

• Cut the chicken into thin slices of about 1/2 inch and place in a marination bowl.
• To make the marinade, mix all dry and liquid ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend for a couple of minutes.
• Add the marinate to the chicken bowl mixing well. Cover and let marinate in the fridge overnight.

Cooking

• When ready, grill the marinated chicken on a panini/George Forman grill for about 15 minutes on medium heat. You can also cook the chicken on a BBQ grill if so you wish.
• Shred the cooked chicken thinly and set aside to make a bombastic sandwich.

The Making of the Shawarma Wrap

• Spread 1 teaspoon of Lebanese Garlic paste along the center/diameter of a pita bread.
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of chicken
• Add salty cucumber pickles, some French fries, and some grilled tomatoes, roll and enjoy.

Notes

Try marinating a mix of 75% chicken breast and 25% skinless boneless chicken thighs. The fat in the thighs gives the chicken a nice kick when grilled. Add grilled tomatoes in the sandwich instead of raw tomatoes Some restaurants add french fries in the sandwich, others add a cabbage/mayo salad to the sandwich. Baking or broiling in the oven will rid the chicken of its juice and must be avoided if possible. We found that using a panini grill cooks faster and keeps the moisture inside the chicken You can find salty middle eastern cucumber pickles from Middle Eastern grocery stores.

Nutrition Facts

Lebanese Chicken Shawarma Recipe

Serving Size

 

1 wrap

Amount per Serving

Calories

511

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

22

g

34

%

Saturated Fat

 

6

g

38

%

Trans Fat

 

1

g

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

2

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

12

g

Cholesterol

 

123

mg

41

%

Sodium

 

1037

mg

45

%

Potassium

 

1337

mg

38

%

Carbohydrates

 

33

g

11

%

Fiber

 

5

g

21

%

Sugar

 

4

g

4

%

Protein

 

44

g

88

%

Vitamin A

 

805

IU

16

%

Vitamin C

 

31

mg

38

%

Calcium

 

65

mg

7

%

Iron

 

2

mg

11

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword Chicken Shawarma Sandwich, Shwarma

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