Chicken Shawarma
Spicily marinated chicken from the oven with garlic sauce, flatbread, and salad.
- Preparation
- 25 min
- Cook/bake time
- 40 min
- Total
- 5 hr 5 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
- 930 kcal
- Servings
- 4
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cooking & baking
- 40 min
- Resting
- 4 hr
Only 1 hr 5 min of that is hands-on – the rest takes care of itself.
Spicily marinated chicken from the oven with garlic sauce, flatbread, and salad. Instead of a rotisserie, this recipe stacks the marinated fillets on top of each other in the oven, so they keep each other juicy while still getting crispy edges on the outside. The taste comes surprisingly close to the street version.
Why this works
A rotisserie keeps meat juicy because the inner layers shield each other and only the outside is exposed to the heat. Stacked fillets do exactly the same thing: The stack has a small surface area in relation to its mass, loses correspondingly little water, and yet the edges brown. Laid side by side, each fillet would have its full surface area exposed, resulting in a dry outcome despite the same time and temperature.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Marinate
Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and all the spices into a thick paste and thoroughly coat the chicken fillets with it. Let them marinate in the refrigerator for at least four hours, preferably overnight. The spice mixture of cinnamon and cardamom is typical for the Levant and needs time to penetrate the meat.
- 2
Stack
Preheat the oven to 200 °C top/bottom heat. Layer the marinated fillets tightly on top of each other in a small baking dish to form a compact stack. This exact stacking mimics the rotisserie: The inner layers steam each other juicy, while the outer ones take on color.
- 3
Bake
Bake the chicken for 35 to 40 minutes, until it is cooked through and the top edges are distinctly dark. The dish will fill with aromatic pan juices, which you should definitely not pour away. Let the stack rest for ten minutes before you continue working.
- 4
Sear until crispy
Cut the meat crosswise into thin strips and sear them in a very hot pan with two spoonfuls of the pan juices for two to three minutes. This gives the strips the crispy edges you know from the spit, while they remain juicy inside.
- 5
Sauce and serving
Mix the yogurt, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, and salt into a smooth sauce. Briefly warm the flatbreads, spread them with the sauce, and fill them with chicken, tomatoes, onions, cucumber, and parsley. Roll them up tightly and serve immediately, while the meat is still hot.
Our best tips
- Stack the fillets in the oven instead of laying them side by side. This is the trick that replaces the rotisserie.
- Be sure to use the pan juices from the dish for searing, that is where all the flavor is.
- Use chicken thighs instead of breast. Breast will inevitably become dry with this cooking time.
Tasty variations
Shawarma Bowl
Instead of in bread, serve over bulgur with tomato-cucumber salad, hummus, and sauce.
From the grill
Grill the fillets flat and then also sear them sharply in strips.
Nutrition facts
| Calories | 930 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 55 g |
| Carbohydrates | 59 g |
| – of which sugar | 11 g |
| Fat | 52 g |
| Fiber | 7 g |
Where the 930 kcal come from
per serving
Calculated from the ingredients – how we do it
We add up reference values for every ingredient and divide by the number of servings. These assumptions are baked in:
- Reference values per 100 g – for the raw ingredient, exactly as listed.
- Tinned goods count at drained weight, bone-in meat at purchase weight: you eat about 70 per cent of a chicken thigh and leave the rest.
- Water evaporates as you cook. The energy stays in the pot, the weight does not – so the figure is per serving, not per 100 g of finished dish.
- Anything listed without a quantity – “salt and pepper” – is not counted.
A guide value, not a lab measurement: no two onions weigh the same, and fat content varies from pack to pack.
Frequently asked questions
What makes the typical shawarma seasoning?
The combination of cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and cardamom. Cinnamon and cardamom in particular are missing in many recipes, and they are exactly what creates the characteristic taste.
Can I prepare it in advance?
Yes, the baking up to a day before. Slice it shortly before serving and sear it sharply in the pan, then it tastes like fresh.
Does lamb or beef work too?
Yes, classically shawarma is even often made with lamb. The marinade remains identical, the cooking time increases depending on the cut.
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