Chicken Shawarma

Homemade Chicken Shawarma?? Yeah, I went there. You know I wouldn’t post a recipe that I don’t love. Well, I’m in love this recipe. I’ve cracked the homemade shawarma code. And it’s awesome. Seriously awesome.
Okay, so technically this recipe should actually be called Shawarma-Style Chicken. True shawarma is cooked with stacked, spice-marinated meats– lamb, turkey, chicken, beef, or a mix of meats– on a vertical spit. The shawarma turns and cooks on the spit for hours and hours, basted in fat and its own juices. Fat = flavor = tasty, amazing shawarma. Thin slices of meat are shaved from the surface and served, either on their own or tucked inside a warm flatbread, topped with tahini or garlic sauce. Shawarma is one of life’s great pleasures.
I’ve been trying to replicate the flavor of shawarma at home for months, playing with different spice combinations and cooking methods. At first I tried buying premade shawarma spice blends from the Middle Eastern markets, but none of them made my mouth happy. I needed more spice, more flavor, more oomph. So I began to experiment. Then finally, last week, I nailed it.
This recipe is probably as close as I’ll ever come to making shawarma at home. My husband says it’s even better than the
shawarma at our local Lebanese restaurant. He’s biased, of course– but he’s also brutally honest, especially when it comes to my recipes. I blind taste tested two of our Israeli friends, and they both asked me if I’d finally gotten that shawarma spit I’ve always wanted (in my shiksa dreams!). Suffice it to say, I’m happy with the result.
You have two choices for cooking this recipe– in the oven or on the grill. To be honest both cooking methods taste great, there really isn’t a big difference between the two. I used boneless skinless chicken meat (a combination of dark and light meat) in the recipe to cut down on unhealthy fat, but the flavor needs to come from somewhere. Shawarma gets a lot of its flavor from the meat fat that it is basted in. I’ve replaced the flavor of the skin fat with olive oil (a healthier oil than chicken fat), including a final saute in olive oil prior to serving. It may seem strange to saute meat that has already been cooked, but you’re going to have to trust me on this one. The extra saute adds a ton of flavor and really gives it a shawarma-like texture that can’t be replicated in the oven or on the grill. If you’re trying to cut down on your oil intake you don’t need to do the extra saute, it will save you 2 tablespoons of olive oil… it won’t taste exactly like shawarma, but it will be yummy. But please, don’t replace the chicken thighs with breast meat. This dish really needs some dark meat in it to make it taste great. You can make it with all chicken thighs, if you prefer (I actually love it that way), but don’t sub all chicken breast. Pretty please.
This recipe is super yummy. The shreds of chicken meat go great with hummus and tahini sauce, over a salad for a boost of protein, or in a pita sandwich or wrap. It stores well in the fridge, so you can make a large batch and enjoy it for several days afterwards– just reheat before serving. The best part? It’s ridiculously easy to make!
You’re welcome.