A Chicken Shawarma Kebab Shortcut
Juicy grilled chicken is our summer love language, and this chicken shawarma kebab recipe is a mega-crowd pleaser. A simple marinade of warming spices in Greek yogurt is all it takes to make tender morsels of chicken thigh that we grill kebab style. While you’ve got the grill on, cook up a Grilled Romaine Caesar or serve a refreshing Cucumber Salad alongside.
What is Shawarma?
Shawarma, in short, is a meat preparation—often lamb, but sometimes chicken—that originated in the Middle East. The meat is generously seasoned and then stacked in a cone-like shape on a continuously rotating vertical rotisserie. The word shawarma refers to the turning of the meat on the rotisserie. Thin slices of cooked meat are then shaved off and laid onto a warm pillowy pita and topped with all the good stuff. We’re huge fans, and that means we had to create a recipe for making it at home—sans vertical rotisserie.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make The Best Chicken Shawarma Kebab At Home
Chicken thighs – Chicken breast will also work, but we prefer dark thigh meat for its fattiness (i.e. flavor), and sturdiness on the grill.
Greek yogurt – We use Greek yogurt for the tanginess and also the texture.
Spices – All of the deep, smoky, and warming spices go into this shawarma spice blend: cumin, ground cardamom, turmeric, and ground cinnamon.
Tahini – Earthy and nutty, a simple tahini-based sauce is all this flavorful meat dish needs. Really great on greens too, like our Herby, Seedy Butter Lettuce Salad.
Lemon Juice – Tahini can be bitter on its own, and lemon juice helps cut the bitterness and thin the pasty natural texture of tahini.
Garlic – Not necessary, but extra delicious.
How To Season and Serve Chicken Shawarma
Truly nothing compares to traditional shawarma, and because the equipment is uncommon for non-commercial kitchens, it’s difficult to make at home. Our shortcut to restaurant-style chicken shawarma is to lace yogurt marinated chicken pieces and grill them up, and here's how we make grilled chicken shawarma kebabs.
Make the marinade. Greek yogurt is seasoned with turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, and cardamom to create a flavor packed marinade for chicken thighs.
Marinate the chicken. After marinating the pieces of chicken thigh for a couple of hours (or as little as 20 minutes if that’s all you have) the chicken is then skewered (or not) and ready for the grill (or oven).
Thread the chicken onto your skewers. Allow any excess marinade to drip off of the meat and then thread the chicken evenly between eight metal or soaked bamboo skewers.
Grill up your chicken kebabs. The chicken is cooked through when the internal temperature reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
Whip up the easy-peasy tahini sauce. Just tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and salt.
Serve with all the sides. Once grilled, we serve it alongside a bowl of garlicky tahini sauce, cucumbers, tomatoes, Jeweled Rice, pita, feta, and of course Classic Creamy Hummus for a truly delectable Mediterranean inspired feast perfect for summer cookouts.
How to Store Grilled Chicken Shawarma + Tips
Grilled chicken holds up well in the fridge for a few days. We like to toss leftover chicken onto salads or veggie bowls, drizzled with any leftover tahini sauce.
The chicken can be substituted with turkey, lamb, or beef. It’s not traditionally made with pork, but if that’s what you have on hand, you can definitely give it a try. Pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145℉. Lamb will be medium-well at 145℉, turkey is safe when it reaches 165℉, and beef is done at 130℉.
This is a great recipe for diners with gluten intolerance. Serve with rice and a salad for a delicious meal.
More Flavorful Meat Dishes To Enjoy At Home
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