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Chicken shawarma wrapped in foil.
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Chicken Shawarma With Yogurt Sauce

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 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 411kcal
Author Tracy

Ingredients

Marinade

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 cloves garlic pressed
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

Pita & Toppings

  • 1 small red onion cut into wedges
  • ¼ cup chicken broth or water
  • 4 pita bread loaves
  • 4-5 leaves romaine shredded
  • 1 cucumber chopped
  • 1 large tomato chopped

Yogurt Sauce

  • 5 to 6 ounces ( cup) plain Greek yogurt*
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic pressed
  • ¼ teaspoon salt or 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 411kcal