Shawarma is a classic Middle Eastern fast food. Piles of meat are layered on a spit with fat and spices, and cooked surrounded by heat. When you order a portion of shawarma, the chef will shave off the exterior layer of meat, which is dripping with spices and flavor. The heat creates a crunchy, juicy bite of meat. As the roasted dark meat is shaved, a layer of pale chicken, not yet exposed to heat is revealed. After rotating one or two times around the heat source, the once pale chicken becomes golden and roasted perfectly, ready for the next individual purchasing a quick bite of Middle Eastern goodness.
Shawarama can be made using turkey, lamb, beef or chicken. To recreate the texture and taste of authentic shawarma it is best to use the meat of chicken legs as this meat is fattier and has more flavor than chicken breast. You can use chicken breast, but know that it will not taste as authentic.
Double or triple the spice rub recipe for multiple uses. You can also use the spice rub for chicken or turkey kebobs as well.
Instead of making your own spice blend, you can now buy our very own Jamie Geller Shawarma blend at Amazon.
Homemade Shawarma
Servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Slice chicken into thin strips. Combine the oil and spices and mix into chicken. You can marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge to intensify the flavor.
- Heat a frying pan on medium/high heat and place spiced chicken strips in pan. Cook in pan for about sixteen minutes – about eight minutes per side. Make sure chicken gets a nice crunchy exterior. Remove from pan and leave as is or chop chicken into even smaller pieces.
- Serve with chopped fresh vegetables, hummus and hot peppers in a pita or laffa.
Using boneless skinless thighs
Yes boneless thighs would be more accurate
Thank you!
Shouldn’t this say chicken breasts? How would you slice chicken legs?
I have never seen skinless, boneless chicken legs. Should this be thighs?
I use boneless skinless turkey thighs for shwarma all the time, and it works quite well. I often grill the thighs whole, to get that nice crust so integral to good shwarma. Also, I dont usually add oil, but rather rub the spices into the meat. I do use some oil spray for the grill so the meat does not stick. Thigh meat tends to have enough fat that extra is not necessary. And my favorite way to serve is in a laffa with salad, pickles, and a nice dose of techina. Hmmm, I think I have dinner plans for this week.
Correct, this is a recipe that best “mimicks” an authentic shwarma you would buy on the streets of Jerusalem 🙂
It is a flat bread which is filled with shwarma etc and wrapped up
Shwarma is authentically made with lamb. Chicken is a new form of this dish. As for the fat; usually lamb fat is used after it has been rendered. Canola is certainly not a
usual oil and did not exist in the early times when shwarma was first introduced. If yoyu must use chicken, then use schmaltz as your oil.
What is Laffa?
This is a recipe I developed for my kids and it was always a hit – glad you enjoyed!
Ps Jamie has a different shwarma recipe
This is the most fabulous combination of spices.We served traditional Israeli laffas using this recipe at our Chanuka party and they were an absolute hit. Authentic, original and very delicious! Thanks Jamie.
just change the chicken in the recipe for turkey 🙂
OMG, please don’t use canola oil. Do a google search on it. It’s probably the most unhealthy oil out there. Use sunflower or olive oil.
looks delicious !!
what about turkey – can i use turkey thighs? should i use the same recipe or the recipe you have for turkey leftovers? this recipe seems more flavorful as the turkey thighs i have are raw and not flavored. also – the turkey recipe calls for onions and this one does not. thoughts?
thats fine and its the same recipe with either protein
can i use boneless chicken thighs instead? also if i want to use beef or lamb, what is the recipe?
can i use boneless chicken thighs? also if i want to use beef or lamb, how do i do it?