A dish that is rather new to me is chicken Shawarma. I had not heard of it until I came across this recipe in Cooking Light. According to Wikipedia, this is a Middle Eastern dish. This dish is basically marinated chicken bits served on pitas with tomatoes, lettuce and a delicious yogurt sauce. The chicken gets a lot of its flavor from seasonings such as garlic, cumin and curry powder. The process is very simple. The chicken is first sliced into strips, then marinated and grilled. If you don’t have a grill an indoor grill pan or even the broiler would probably work just fine. I personally used whole wheat pitas and did not care for the flavor of them myself. If you are looking to try something different, I recommend giving this a try. Enjoy.
Chicken Shawarma Recipe
Ingredients
- Marinade –
- 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (sliced into strips)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- Sauce-
- ½ cup plain reduced-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove (minced)
- 4 (6 inches) pitas
- 1 cup romaine lettuce (chopped)
- 2 tomatoes (diced)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine lemon juice, curry powder, olive oil, salt, cumin, and minced garlic.
- Add chicken and toss to coat. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
- To prepare the sauce- In a small bowl whisk together yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, and 1 minced garlic clove. Set aside.
- Spray grill grates with cooking spray and Pre-heat the outdoor grill. Thread chicken onto skewers and place onto the grill. Grill for 4 minutes on each side or until chicken is fully cooked.
- Place pitas on the grill rack and grill for 1 minute on each side or until lightly toasted. Place 1 pita on each plate. Top with chicken, lettuce, tomato and add the dressing.
I love the flavor and it looks delicious! Your pictures are so beautiful,.I can’t stop looking..
Hi, I’m from the Middle East (Bahrain specifically) and Shawarma is very big here. Your version has a bit of Greek influence but a true Middle Easter shawarma has fresh mint and a tahini sauce (which I believe as available at Whole Foods). You mix the tahini sauce with some lemon juice and drizzle it on. Much more delicious than yogurt.
Try it!
Chicken shawarma is always good! I will have to try making it at home.
My boyfriend and I just made this dish and it was great!! Thank you for the recipe!!
Bobby, what part of the Meddle East is this dish? 😛
Kent – I believe it was originated around Lebanon and Israel. But I am not positive 🙂
Oh, I was kidding… Isn’t it misspelled?
I really like shawarma so I made this last night for dinner. It was amazing!!! Great recipe, simple and delicious.
I tripled this three days ago and have been eating a little bit every day. I love the chicken! Next time I may use a little less salt and lemon juice but besides that I though it was SO flavorful and tasty. I also put the chicken on a salad with a little ranch and then today I put some on pita bread with jalapeno hummus, feta cheese, mixed greens and tomatoes 🙂 yum!