Quick Guide to Making Chicken Shawarma
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Chicken shawarma is a classic of middle eastern cuisine and street food, one that you might never dream of making at home. If you go to a shawarma shop you will typically see the chicken spinning on a shawarma machine, but it turns out there is a way to make this at home with your oven.
You'll want a skillet and baking sheet for this recipe, along with a spatula, tongs, and plastic wrap. you'll need the following ingredients: - boneless skinless chicken thighs (1 pound or 4 thighs) - boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 pound or 2 breasts) - extra virgin olive oil (6 tablespoons) - cinnamon (0.25 teaspoons) - turmeric (1 teaspoon) - allspice (1 teaspoon) - garlic powder (0.25 teaspoons) - paprika (1.75 teaspoons) - cumin (2.25 teaspoons) - cayenne pepper (a pinch) - kosher salt and ground black pepper Start by cutting the chicken breasts into about 6 pieces per breast. Cut the thighs into about 4 pieces per thigh. Place them in a large dish that you'll use for marinating. Add the spices, olive oil, and salt/pepper to a small bowl and whisk together. This is your marinade, which you'll now pour onto the chicken in the larger bowl. Stir until all the chicken is covered in the olive oil marinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or at least an hour). |
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Heat the oven to 400 degrees and spray your baking sheet with cooking oil. Space out the chicken pieces onto the baking sheet evenly. Let the chicken cook in the oven for around 15 minutes. Use tongs to turn each chicken piece over once around the halfway mark.
Take the chicken out and let it cool a bit, then cut into thin pieces that are approximately like shawarma.
Add about a tablespoon of oil to your skillet and heat over medium. Add half of the chicken pieces to the skillet and let everything saute until the smallest pieces brown (should take around 4 minutes, but monitor it closely). Take the chicken out and make sure you clear all the cooked bits and oil out. Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet, let it heat up, then saute the rest of the chicken in the same way.
The classic kinds of things you'll serve with shawarma are tahini sauce (made with sesame seed paste) and, of course, hummus (mashed chickpeas plus garlic, lemon juice, and tahini). You should definitely also serve with warm pita bread.
Because dark meat is pretty essential to the shawarma taste, resist the temptation to use all chicken breasts. This recipe calls for a mix of chicken breast and chicken thighs, but you can certainly use all chicken thighs if you want. Keep the chicken breasts at half of the chicken (by weight) or increase the amount of chicken thighs so you can continue to enjoy the dark meat shawarma flavor.
This will be a bit healthier (quote unquote) than the shawarma you'll get at a shawarma place, because of the skinless chicken.
Take the chicken out and let it cool a bit, then cut into thin pieces that are approximately like shawarma.
Add about a tablespoon of oil to your skillet and heat over medium. Add half of the chicken pieces to the skillet and let everything saute until the smallest pieces brown (should take around 4 minutes, but monitor it closely). Take the chicken out and make sure you clear all the cooked bits and oil out. Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet, let it heat up, then saute the rest of the chicken in the same way.
The classic kinds of things you'll serve with shawarma are tahini sauce (made with sesame seed paste) and, of course, hummus (mashed chickpeas plus garlic, lemon juice, and tahini). You should definitely also serve with warm pita bread.
Because dark meat is pretty essential to the shawarma taste, resist the temptation to use all chicken breasts. This recipe calls for a mix of chicken breast and chicken thighs, but you can certainly use all chicken thighs if you want. Keep the chicken breasts at half of the chicken (by weight) or increase the amount of chicken thighs so you can continue to enjoy the dark meat shawarma flavor.
This will be a bit healthier (quote unquote) than the shawarma you'll get at a shawarma place, because of the skinless chicken.