• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Eat Mediterranean Food

Gourmet Recipes and Healthy Living

  • Recipes
  • Mediterranean Diet
    • What is the Mediterranean Diet?
    • Mediterranean Diet Food List
    • Mediterranean Diet Rated The Best Overall For 2023
    • Foods To Avoid When Following the Mediterranean Diet
    • Food Glossary of the Mediterranean Diet
    • Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle
    • Easy Ways To Adopt The Mediterranean Diet
    • Mediterranean Diet Resources
  • Kitchen Tips
    • How-To
    • Ingredient guides
    • Meal Planing
    • Seasonal Eating
  • Stories
    • Cooking Demos
    • Book Reviews
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact
  • Recipes
  • Mediterranean Diet
    • What is the Mediterranean Diet?
    • Mediterranean Diet Food List
    • Mediterranean Diet Rated The Best Overall For 2023
    • Foods To Avoid When Following the Mediterranean Diet
    • Food Glossary of the Mediterranean Diet
    • Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle
    • Easy Ways To Adopt The Mediterranean Diet
    • Mediterranean Diet Resources
  • Kitchen Tips
    • How-To
    • Ingredient guides
    • Meal Planing
    • Seasonal Eating
  • Stories
    • Cooking Demos
    • Book Reviews
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact

Easy Shawarma-Spiced Chicken

January 5, 2023, By //  by Sonia Leave a Comment

Easy Shawarma-Spiced Chicken

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This Easy Shawarma-Spiced Chicken is full of flavor and tantalizes your taste buds with the flavors of the Middle East. It is an easy stovetop version of the traditional dish, so you can enjoy it anytime.

This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Growing up in Greece, one of our most popular street foods is the gyro, typically made with pork or Chicken and wrapped in pita bread with veggies.

I first had chicken shawarma when I traveled to the Middle East. The complex flavor of the chicken and the warm aroma of the spices made me fall in love with this dish. Since then, I have tried to recreate it at home, and this is the version closest to the ones I had during my trip.

This homemade shawarma-spiced chicken is made with boneless skinless chicken thighs marinated with olive oil, garlic, lemon, coriander, cumin, allspice, turmeric, cardamom, paprika, and cayenne pepper. The marinade gives the chicken an extraordinary depth of flavor while helping it stay juicy and tender after it’s cooked. Then, drizzle it with the Greek yogurt sauce for one of the most seductive Middle Eastern dishes.

Read on to learn more about this classic Middle Eastern dish and how to make it at home — it’ll become one of your go-to dinner favorites!

What is Chicken Shawarma?

Shawarma is one of the most popular street foods throughout the Middle East. It is traditionally made with thin pieces of spice-marinated meats (lamb, chicken, beef). The pieces of meat are layered on a vertical rotisserie machine or spit and slow-roasted for hours – even days – in their own juices and fat. This makes them uniquely flavorful and extra tender. The joint owner typically shaves a thin layer of shawarma off the spit. Then he would serve it in pita pockets with heaps of chopped veggies and tahini or yogurt sauce.

As a result, it can be challenging to prepare an authentic version of this dish at home. Fortunately, with this recipe, you can easily make chicken shawarma on the stovetop using tools already in your kitchen. In addition, it has all the flavors you might expect from your local Middle Eastern restaurant, using tools you already have in your kitchen. 

Why this recipe works

This shawarma-spiced chicken is an incredibly versatile dish. It can be served in wraps or pita pockets with heaps of vegetables or over rice or couscous as part of a dinner spread. 

You can prepare this recipe ahead of time for quick weeknight meals. Double or triple this recipe and prepare several freezer bags with chicken and marinade. Then, place each bag in the freezer straight away. Then, pull out a bag the night before cooking; the chicken will marinate while it defrosts. 

Ingredients to use for this recipe

  • Chicken thighs – boneless and skinless
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Garlic
  • Ground coriander
  • Ground cumin
  • Allspice
  • Turmeric
  • Ground cinnamon
  • Smoked paprika
  • Cayenne pepper – you can control the spiciness of the chicken by adding more or less cayenne pepper to your taste
  • Lemon
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Greek Yogurt
  • Dill
  • Vegetables for serving – Bib or Romaine lettuce leaves, tomato, and cucumber slices.

How to make the Shawarma-Spiced Chicken

Prepare the marinade

Mix the garlic, spices, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and black pepper to taste, and whisk to combine. 

Add the chicken to the marinade

Place chicken thighs in a large, sealable plastic bag and pour the marinade mixture on top. Seal the bag and gently turn it to coat the chicken thoroughly. Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. 

Prepare the Greek yogurt sauce

Combine all ingredients in a glass or a non-reactive bowl and stir to combine. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use. 

Cook the chicken

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the bag and discard the remaining marinade. 

Add the chicken to the hot skillet and brown on each side, approximately 2 minutes per side. Season with additional salt and black pepper, if desired.

Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through, approximately 6-7 minutes per side. Remove from heat and let cool for several minutes. 

Rest the chicken 

Let the cooked chicken rest for at least 3 minutes before serving. This will allow the juices to redistribute and the chicken to remain juicy after you slice it.

Serve the chicken

Slice the chicken, arrange it on lettuce leaves, and top it with tomatoes and cucumbers. Drizzle with the yogurt sauce and serve immediately. Enjoy! 

What to serve with this Easy Shawarma-Spiced Chicken

The Middle Eastern way to serve chicken shawarma is in pita pockets loaded with chopped veggies and a good drizzle of tahini sauce or yogurt sauce. This can easily be replicated at home for a quick dinner or lunch.

For a more sit-down dinner with family or friends, you can serve it with a side of rice or couscous and a salad on the side.

You can also serve the shawarma spiced chicken over a salad to boost protein.

You can replace the tahini or yogurt sauce with tzatziki if this is what you prefer or have at hand.

Notes and Cooking Tips

This recipe is best made with skinless, boneless chicken thighs. You can replace some chicken with chicken breasts if desired, but not all. This dish gets a lot of flavor from dark meat.

You can also cook the chicken on the BBQ.

For best results, plan to marinade the chicken for at least 3 hours or overnight. 

Let the cooked chicken rest for at least 3 minutes before serving. This will allow the juices to redistribute and the chicken to remain juicy after you slice it.

Make-ahead tips and Storing leftovers

This recipe stores well in the refrigerator. You can make a large batch and enjoy it for several days afterward. Just reheat the chicken before serving in a skillet over medium heat, add a little bit of liquid, and toss the chicken pieces until warm.

You can prepare this recipe ahead of time for quick weeknight meals. Double or triple this recipe and prepare several freezer bags with chicken and marinade. Then, place each bag in the freezer straight away. Then, pull out a bag the night before cooking; the chicken will defrost and marinate at the same time. 

More Chicken Recipes

  • Roasted Rosemary Lemon Chicken
  • One-Skillet Chicken And Spinach Orzotto
  • One-Skillet Lemon Chicken With Summer Squash
  • Greek Chicken Souvlaki
  • Sheet-Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs And Vegetables 
  • Chicken Provençal
  • Chicken With Green Olives And Capers 

If you don’t recognize a tool or skill I mention, look it up in the Cooking Terms Glossary for more information.

Hungry for more? Browse all my Mediterranean Recipes.

Join my FREE e-mail list to receive all the latest and greatest recipes and cooking tips.

If you make this recipe, leave a comment and give it a rating. I love to hear from each and every one of you! Tag me on Facebook and Instagram as well! Seeing all of your photos of the food you have made makes my day.

Easy Shawarma-Spiced Chicken

Sonia Skounaki-Garbidakis
This Easy Shawarma-Spiced Chicken is full of flavor and tantalizes your taste buds with the flavors of the Middle East. It is an easy stovetop version of the traditional dish, so you can enjoy it anytime.
No ratings yet
Save Saved!
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 18 mins
Total Time 28 mins
Course Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean Recipes, Middle Eastern Recipes
Servings 6
Calories 340 kcal

Equipment

Cast Iron Square Grill Pan
Cast Iron Skillet
Tongs
Measuring spoons

Ingredients
  

  • 6 chicken thighs boneless and skinless
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the marinade

  • 2-3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 ½ tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp allspice
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezd
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For the Greek Yogurt Sauce

  • 1 cup Greek Yogurt
  • 1 clove garlic grated
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp fresh dill leaves finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezd
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

To serve

  • Bib or Romaine lettuce leaves
  • tomato slices
  • cucumber slices

Instructions
 

Prepare the marinade

  • Mix the garlic, spices, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil in a medium bowl. Season with salt and black pepper to taste, and whisk to combine.

Add the chicken to the marinade

  • Place chicken thighs in a large, sealable plastic bag and pour the marinade mixture on top. Seal the bag and gently turn to thoroughly coat the chicken. Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Prepare the Greek yogurt sauce

  • Combine all ingredients in a glass or a non-reactive bowl and stir to combine. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cook the chicken

  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the bag and discard the remaining marinade.
  • Add the chicken to the hot skillet and brown on each side, approximately 2 minutes per side. Season with additional salt and black pepper, if desired.
  • Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through, approximately 6-7 minutes per side. Remove from heat and let cool for several minutes.

Rest the chicken

  • Let the cooked chicken rest for at least 3 minutes before serving. This will allow the juices to redistribute and the chicken to remain juicy after you slice it.

Serve the chicken

  • Slice the chicken, arrange it on lettuce leaves, and top it with tomatoes and cucumbers. Drizzle with the yogurt sauce and serve immediately.

Notes

  • This recipe is best made with skinless, boneless chicken thighs. You can replace some chicken with chicken breasts if desired, but not all. This dish gets a lot of flavor from dark meat.
  • You can also cook the chicken on the BBQ.
  • For best results, plan to marinade the chicken for at least 3 hours or overnight.
  • Let the cooked chicken rest for at least 3 minutes before serving. This will allow the juices to redistribute and the chicken to remain juicy after you slice it.
  • This recipe stores well in the refrigerator. You can make a large batch and enjoy it for several days afterward. Just reheat the chicken before serving in a skillet over medium heat, add a little bit of liquid, and toss the chicken pieces until warm.
  • You can prepare this recipe ahead of time for quick weeknight meals. Double or triple this recipe and prepare several freezer bags with chicken and marinade. Then, place each bag in the freezer straight away. Then, pull out a bag the night before cooking; the chicken will defrost and marinate at the same time.

Nutrition

Calories: 340kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 34gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 146mgSodium: 549mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3g

This information is provided as a courtesy and for entertainment purposes only. This information comes from online calculators. Although eatmediterraneanfood.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

Tried this recipe?Mention @eatfoodmed or tag #eatfoodmed!

I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to rate it and review it below! Also, don’t forget to follow Eat Mediterranean Food on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Join the Eat Mediterranean Food Community FREE Facebook Group to share your cooking creations and make new like-minded friends online.

Have a question about this recipe? First, check the comments section to see if your question has already been answered. Use ctrl+f or ⌘+f on your computer or the “find on page” function on your phone browser to search existing comments! If you do not find the answer in the existing comments, please write your question in the comments area, and I will answer it. 

Please share this post with family and friends. Your shares are how Eat Mediterranean Food Blog grows, and I am sincerely grateful whenever you share something.

In this post, some links are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting my website.

Related

Filed Under: Entrée - Main Course, Gluten-Free, Meat and Poultry, Mediterranean Recipes, Middle Eastern Recipes, Recipes Tagged With: Chicken, Chicken Shawarma, Clean Eating, Easy Recipes, Healthy, how to make shawarma, Make Ahead, Mediterranean, mediterranean diet, Mediterranean Lifestyle, Middle Eastern Recipes, Shawarma

Previous Post: « Mediterranean Diet Rated The Best Overall For 2023
Next Post: Simple Gluten-Free Minestrone Soup with Quinoa »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Sonia Skounaki

Ya sas (Hi)! I am Sonia! This website is my dream to do something different and share everything I learned from my Cretan grandmother and my mother, who has roots form the island of Cefallonia, along with new wisdom gained while struggling to be healthy while everything around us is not.

Read More

Join our newsletter!

Subscribe to get a free shopping list and a butter-to-olive oil conversion table, and we’ll email you the latest and greatest recipes and tips on the world’s healthiest diet.

    Stories

    May is International Mediterranean Diet Month 

    April 30, 2022

    Book Review: The Science of Good Cooking (Cook’s Illustrated Cookbooks)

    April 16, 2022

    Welcome to Eat Mediterranean Food!

    September 17, 2021

    Five Years and Counting

    April 29, 2021

    Footer

    Our Favorites

    Roasted Salmon with Fennel, Tomatoes, and Potatoes
    Greek Roasted Eggplant Dip - MelitzanosalataGreek Roasted Eggplant Dip – Melitzanosalata
    Greek Ekmek Kataifi

    Recent Posts

    Penne With Sun-Dried Tomatoes And Tuscan Kale

    Penne With Sun-Dried Tomatoes And Tuscan Kale

    Grilled Lamb Loin Chops with Herbes de Provence

    Grilled Lamb Loin Chops with Herbes de Provence

    Authentic Greek Lemon Potatoes Recipe

    Authentic Greek Lemon Potatoes Recipe

    Site Footer

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Tumblr
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • About
    • Shop
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2023 · Eat Mediterranean Food WordPress Website by The brandiD