A simple chicken shawarma recipe with tender, smokey and flavorful chicken and a salty, garlic and lemon yogurt sauce served over crisp veggies and warm pita bread.
Course Dinner
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Total Time 55 minutesminutes
Servings 4
Calories 411kcal
Author Tracy
Ingredients
Marinade
¼cupolive oil
3tablespoonslemon juice
3clovesgarlicpressed
1teaspoonground cumin
1teaspoonpaprika
½teaspoonsalt
½teaspoonblack pepper
¼teaspoonturmeric
4boneless skinless chicken thighs
Pita & Toppings
1small red onioncut into wedges
¼cupchicken broth or water
4pita bread loaves
4-5leavesromaineshredded
1cucumberchopped
1large tomatochopped
Yogurt Sauce
5to 6 ounces (⅔ cup) plain Greek yogurt*
1teaspoonlemon juice
1clovegarlicpressed
¼teaspoonsaltor to taste
Pepper to taste
Instructions
Marinate Meat
In a small bowl, combine marinade ingredients. Place chicken in a plastic bag and pour marinade over the top. Shake to coat and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours.
Make Yogurt Sauce
In a small bowl (or the disposable yogurt cup), combine all yogurt sauce ingredients and stir until well-mixed.
Cook Meat
Preheat your oven to the warm setting (or lowest setting).
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add chicken thighs (dispose of the marinade) and cook for 2 to 4 minutes until first side is seared and darkly golden. Flip and cook for an additional 2 to 4 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the thighs reads 165°F. Turn down the heat if at any time the chicken seems to be burning.
Transfer chicken to a plate and place a piece of foil over the thighs to keep them warm. Set aside.
Over medium high-heat, deglaze your pan with a little chicken broth or water (about a quarter cup), scraping the burned and blackened pieces off the bottom while the liquid simmers.
Add onions to your pan.
Place your pita bread into the warm oven to heat while your onions cook.
Cook onions until your they reach your desired level of doneness (for me, about 4 minutes for fairly soft onions). Remove from heat.
Assemble
Slice thighs into strips and serve over warmed pita bread. Top with cooked onions, romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, and yogurt sauce.
Notes
*5 to 6 ounces is the standard single-serving size for a package of yogurt.