The DailyWhisk

Chicken Shawarma

Chicken shawarma wrap with garlic sauce, pickles and fries on a table
Chicken Shawarma — photographed fresh from our test kitchen.
  • Prep time20 mins + 4 hrs marinate
  • Cook time25 mins
  • Servings4
  • DifficultyMedium
  • CategoryMiddle Eastern

Home shawarma cannot replicate the vertical spit, but it can absolutely replicate the flavor: a yogurt-and-spice marinade heavy on garlic, cumin and paprika, then chicken thighs roasted hot and sliced thin. The garlic sauce (toum) is the soul of the wrap — an emulsion of garlic and oil whipped into a cloud. Do not skip it; the wrap without toum is just a sandwich.

Ingredients

  • 700 g (1.5 lb) boneless chicken thighs
  • 1/2 cup (120 g) plain yogurt
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • For the toum (garlic sauce): 1/2 cup neutral oil, 4 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp ice water
  • 4 large pitas, fries, pickles, shredded lettuce, tomato slices

Method

  1. Marinate the chicken in the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and all the spices for at least 4 hours (overnight best).
  2. Make the toum: blend the garlic, lemon juice and salt into a paste. With the blender running, drizzle in the oil drop by drop until thick and white, then blend in the ice water. It should stand in soft peaks.
  3. Roast the chicken at 220 C (425 F) for 20 to 25 minutes until charred at the edges and cooked through. Rest 5 minutes, then slice thin.
  4. Warm the pitas. Spread generously with toum.
  5. Pile in the sliced chicken, fries, pickles, lettuce and tomato. Roll tightly and toast seam-side down in a dry pan 2 minutes per side.
  6. Serve hot with extra toum.

Tips for success

  • Thighs, not breast — the fat keeps the slices juicy after roasting.
  • Add the oil to the toum drop by drop at first; rushing splits the emulsion.
  • The final pan-toast seals the wrap and crisps the pita — do not skip it.

Watch video tutorial

Prefer to watch it being made? This from Baba Dees walkthrough covers the same chicken shawarma step by step — the spoken narration doubles as an audio tutorial.

Watch on YouTube