This Chicken Shawarma with Garlic Sauce is incredibly easy to make, paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free!
Ah!!! Chicken Shawarma… the meal I grew up eating and a meal I’ll always plan to make for my family. Seriously, every time I had a chance to even pick a place to eat growing up, it was always a Persian restaurant so I can either have chicken kebabs, or chicken shawarma. Everyone has their version of this dish and this right here…is mine.
This Middle Eastern dish is loved by so many people around the world and for good reason. It’s loaded with so much flavor. Usually, this dish can take a few days to make because the meat needs to marinate. In fact, if you were to leave it up to my late grandmother, this recipe would be on the blog as a 2-day process LOL. But today, I’m sharing a quick and easy way to make this infamous plate of goodness.
When you go to any sort or Mediterranean restaurant or Greek spot, the chicken or beef meat is usually served inside a homemade flatbread filled with veggies and of course garlic sauce. It’s divine! When I lived in Cali, every time we’d go to Disneyland, we always had to stop at our favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Zankous just for the shawarma and garlic sauce. It’s the best.
To cook, I recommend slicing the chicken into thin strips before cooking it that way all the spices really coat the chicken through and through. To actually cook this, I recommend two different ways. 1) On a stovetop. Heat a skillet and cook in batches until nice and crispy. 2) Baked in an oven at 400 for about 20-25 minutes.
Side Dishes and Sauces
- Rice: If you’re not doing Whole30, then add some white basmati rice with this dish. I cooked the rice and added a tablespoon of ghee and a dash of salt for flavor. Sprinkle some sumac right on top and serve.
- Labneh: You can certainly buy labneh in certain grocery stores, but making it your own is sooo easy to do. You just need 24 hours to let the yogurt release all the moisture. It’s another ultimate side dish or appetizer to include with this dish. You can try my Labneh With Figs and Honey. It’s sweeter but you can omit the sweetness and fruit and use sumac, crush garlic, olive oil, or zaa’tar seasoning.
- Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Red Onions: cucumbers are great for dipping and red onions just compliment this dish very well. In traditional restaurants, you’ll always have a grilled tomato on the side. I slice one tomato in half and roast it at 400 for about 20 minutes or so.
- Hummus: Every Mediterranean dish must have hummus am I right?! so good. I sometimes make my own and even have a red beet hummus on the blog, but sometimes I opt for the Cedar’s brand from Whole Foods.
Head over and give this a try! Trust me, you’re not going to want to miss this one.
Related Blog Posts: Armenian Salad, Grandma’s Armenian Chicken Salad
Chicken Shawarma with Garlic Sauce
Chicken Shawarma with Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 chicken cutlets sliced into short thin strips
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1.5 cups white basmati rice cooked according to the package.
- 3 to matoes cut in half (optional)
- Optional Sides: Hummus Labneh, Rice, Tahini, Garlic Sauce, Grilled tomato and Scallions
- Garlic Sauce
- 1/2 cup Whole30 approved mayo OR vegan mayo
- 4-5 large garlic cloves rough chopped
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400
- In a large bowl, add the chicken, avocado oil, onion powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, pepper, sumac, cayenne, cinnamon, cardamom, and lemon juice. Mix and set aside.
- In a mini food processor, add in all the garlic sauce ingredients and blend. Pour in a bowl and set aside in the fridge.
- On a baking sheet, add the tomatoes, drizzle a dash of olive oil and salt, and bake until soft, about 25 minutes. You can also do this on a skillet to get the chard look and flavor.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment, and spray with non-stick spray. Add the chicken and spread out evenly on the pan. Bake for about 20 minutes.
- Add to your already cooked rice, some ghee for flavor, and keep warm until ready to serve.
- To plate, add the rice, the chicken shawarma, roasted tomato, and top with garlic sauce. Sprinkle a dash more sumac for flavor.
- I will usually add some greens, labneh, hummus, and sometimes tahini and flatbread. Serve and enjoy!
Made the Chicken Shawarma for dinner this week, it was AMAZING! Hands down one of the best homemade dishes I’ve had. This recipe is perfection 👌🏾
OMG OMG!!! This recipe is out of this world! So good, so easy to make, and flavorful. Can’t wait to make this one again. One of my faves.
I’ve been craving this dish ever since you posted a picture of it on Instagram. I finally made it tonight for dinner and it did not disappoint! It’s delicious! So full of flavor and as a bonus, so easy to make! It tasted similarly to my go-to order from the Halal stands in NYC, which always had a line down the block, so you truly have created something incredible with this recipe. I’ll definitely be making it again!