Chicken shawarma without a doubt is a meal that will impress anyone in your life! Including my husband, when we first met I didn’t eat meat, let alone chicken so when I saw him eat some dishes I always wondered if the chicken was flavorful, juicy or was it just bland and dry?
Fast forward to when I started eating chicken and quickly found out, many chicken dishes are really good because of a few things; Flavor, which can mean two things, the chicken was marinated right and also if the spices/seasoning used were some what fresh and weren’t expired. Also resting your meat will be the ultimate game changer, no matter how you cook your meat or how rare or well done you like it, resting the meat will only enhance the flavors was the texture as well. If you cut into a chicken breast right after it’s been cooking on a hot skillet, you will end up with dry rubbery and chewy pieces! Also another thing you always want to cut with the grain, never cut meat against the grain!
This is one of the easiest and most simple recipes that you will make and its also perfect for meal prepping for those busy week nights!
To make the chicken shawarma you simply add all the spices, lemon juice, yogurt and oil into a bowl, mix everything together and add all the seasonings. Next add the chicken and make sure every piece of chicken is covered in the marinate, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it marinate for 30mins. TIP: If you do plan to marinate the chicken for 30mins – 3 hours; you can leave the covered bowl outside on the kitchen counter at room tempt. But if you plan to marinate the chicken for more than 4hrs, place the covered bowl in the fridge. I personally love marinating the chicken the night before because the flavors just soak up and chicken is just tender + juicy and finger licking good! If I marinate the chicken over night I take it out of the fridge at least 1 hour before I start to cook it. Cooking chicken at room tempt really helps to cook it more evenly and also the flavors absorb a lot more.
For a vegetarian version of this recipe, replace the chicken with extra firm tofu, make sure to blot and drain extra water from the tofu and keep the tofu pieces bite sized. Cook them on high heat and a cast iron skillet if you have one and turn every 30 seconds – 1 min to get them crispy golden brown.
If you want a soy free version and want to omit the tofu, you can simply use potatoes for this recipe instead the tofu or chicken. I know potato sounds crazy but its really good, the flavors are so good on the diced potato’s.
In a bowl, mix all the seasonings together with the oil and yogurt.
Add the chicken into the bowl, mix everything together until each piece of chicken is coated in the marinate. Marinate for 30mins to over night.
In a cast iron skillet over med-high heat, add some oil and place the chicken in the pan (without overcrowding) and cook for 3-4 mins on each side. Once the chicken is fully cooked, place in a bowl or plate and cover with foil. Let the chicken rest for 5-7 min before cutting.
Cut chicken into thin strips and don’t toss the juices from the chicken when it was resting, pour those juices over the sliced meat!
Serve with a warm naan, white sauce, sliced tomatoes and onions!
Assembly
Heat the pita or stone fire naan on a hot skillet, place chicken, add onions, tomatoes and dollop on the tzatziki or white sauce! Enjoy!
Notes
Marinating the chicken at room tempt really allows the flavors to absorb and also helps with cooking the chicken evenly.
Make the tzatziki or white sauce the day ahead or while the chicken is marinating to save time!
Just an East/West coast girl living the southern life. I love sharing all my tested and perfected recipes here, along with some travel guides and a little bit of my lifestyle
