Table of Contents
- Mouthwatering Middle Eastern Shawarma with the perfect spice
- What is Shawarma?
- Easy Chicken Shawarma Recipe
- Always marinate chicken for maximum flavour
- How to make Easy Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma
- Always use chicken thigh meat for shawarma
- A trick to ensure juicy tender chicken shawarma meat
- How else do you keep shawarma juicy?
- Extra shawarma flavour
- How is shawarma traditionally served?
- What to pair with chicken shawarma?
- Shawarma Sauce
- Similar recipes found on flaevor.com
- Recipe: Easy Oven Chicken Shawarma
Mouthwatering Middle Eastern Shawarma with the perfect spice
If there’s one recipe you’ll want to make over and over again, it’s this Easy Oven Chicken Shawarma. Juicy chicken thigh fillets marinated overnight in the perfect shawarma spice blend not only embody the addictive flavours of authentic shawarma, but the simple one-tray oven roasting technique makes it the perfect dish for cooks of all skill levels.
What is Shawarma?
Shawarma is the Arabic word used to describe a cooking technique widely used throughout the Greater Middle East. Cuts of meat are piled on top of each other in the shape of an inverted cone, then slowly roasted for many hours on a rotating vertical spit (or kebab). This shape and technique allows the natural fat to trickle down as the meat cooks, continually basting the layers of meat and keeping them nice and juicy.
Easy Chicken Shawarma Recipe
This recipe takes the traditional rotisserie technique and adapts it for home cooking, recreating the wonderful flavours as closely as possible to the original. Read on for cooking instructions.
Always marinate chicken for maximum flavour
First and most important, the chicken is marinated overnight in a Shawarma Spice Blend, a mix of beautifully fragrant spices such as cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric. Garlic and lemon juice are very important in developing the flavour and are combined with the spices. To learn more about Shawarma Spice Blend, click here
How to make Easy Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma
The interesting thing about this dish is the number of variations in shawarma spice blends, meat cuts and cooking techniques. Everyone will have their own unique and favourite way of making chicken shawarma. In this version, the emphasis is on loading the meat generously with spices. This keeps the meat juicy and not dry.
Always use chicken thigh meat for shawarma
It’s important to use fatty chicken thighs to keep the shawarma juicy. Chicken thighs have a higher protein and fat content, which prevents the meat from drying out like other cuts such as chicken breast. The thigh meat is then cut into thick strips. This allows for better marinade coverage and crispier edges.
A trick to ensure juicy tender chicken shawarma meat
Using skin-on chicken thighs is the best way to add much-needed extra fat, but the trick is to remove the skin before chopping and marinating the chicken, cut into strips, then combine with the chicken and marinate overnight.
How else do you keep shawarma juicy?
When placing the chicken on the roasting tray, the skin can be evenly sandwiched between the strips of chicken. This will allow all the fat to melt during cooking and add an extra layer of juiciness. At the end of the cooking time, the skin can be removed and discarded.
Extra shawarma flavour
At the end of the roast, there will be a good amount of juices and seasoned fat under the chicken. Throw the chicken strips around the tray so that they are coated with as much of the seasoned pan juices as possible. Each bite of chicken will be rich in flavour.
How is shawarma traditionally served?
Traditionally, the meat is sliced with a large flat knife from the outer layer of the rotating cone as it cooks on the spit. In this recipe, the meat is sliced and marinated before roasting in the oven. It is then chopped again, returned to the roasting tray and tossed in the pan juices, fat and spices.
What to pair with chicken shawarma?
Most people know shawarma meat as being served in a warp, pita or laffa with salad, pickles and sauce. In the Middle East, chicken shawarma is typically served with garlic sauce, chips and pickles. For a modern fusion, serve the shredded meat over rice with grilled vegetables, salad, pickles, tahini, yoghurt and hot sauce.
Shawarma Sauce
Sauces such as tartar sauce, yoghurt sauce, garlic sauce and various chilli sauces go hand in hand with shawarma. For something a little different, a delicious pickled tzatziki sauce is served instead. It takes a fusion influence from Greek gyros (their own version of chicken shawarma) and combines pickled cucumbers for crunch and flavour.
Similar recipes found on flaevor.com
Recipe: Easy Oven Chicken Shawarma
Easy Oven Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients
Shawarma Chicken
- 1kg chicken thigh fillets, skin on
- 1 x Shawarma spice blend mix, recipe here
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
Pickle Tzatziki
- 400g Greek yoghurt
- 250g shredded pickles
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon rind
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped dill fonds
- Salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the Chicken: Remove skin from chicken thighs and cut into 1-inch strips. Next, cut chicken pieces into 1-inch strips.
- Combine shawarma spice blend with the olive oil and lemon juice.
- Transfer chicken meat and skin to a large bowl. Season with salt and then cover with the shawarma marinade, making sure each piece of chicken and skin is coated nicely. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and transfer to the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or anywhere up to 24 hours to marinate. Obviously, the longer you leave it the better it will taste.
- Pickle Tzatziki: This can be made the night before or fresh on the day of cooking. Grate pickled cucumbers using the large-holed side of a box grater. Combine with the remaining tzatziki ingredients. Taste and season with salt and pepper or lemon juice if needed. Transfer to a serving bowl and drizzle with extra olive oil.
- Cooking the chicken shawarma: Remove chicken from the fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. When ready to cook, heat the oven to 200°C.
- Rub a little olive oil onto a roasting tray, then spread chicken pieces onto the tray, keeping them together without gaps so the fat spreads around the meat. Divide the chicken skin evenly throughout the meat, pushing it gently in between the chicken pieces. Transfer tray to the oven and roast for approximately 30 – 35 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and juicy.
- Remove the tray from the oven. Discard chicken skin. Carefully remove meat from the tray and using a large knife, chop the chicken into thinner strips.
- Return chicken strips to the roasting tray, squeeze over a little extra lemon juice, then toss the chicken around in the pan juices and fat, coating each piece as evenly as possible. Taste, and season with salt if needed.
- To finish: Serve chicken shawarma on a large plate with the pickle tzatziki and side dishes of your choice.
