Simple and easy to make oven roasted shawarma chicken is great in sandwiches, rice bowls, or salad.
Shawarma are the Middle Eastern equivalent of burgers and fries. Just about every country in the Mid-East has its own interpretation of these yummy sandwiches but the recipe is pretty much the same. It all starts with flat slices of chicken, beef, or lamb that is stacked on a long rotisserie stick then roasted for hours. The meat is then shaved off with a large knife and each customer gets meat that’s already charred while the inner meat continues to cook. 
Guys this is what’s considered “fast food” in the Mid-East and is so healthy and delicious. I never had to worry about gaining weight there because most of the food is healthy and natural. After coming back, I still crave shawarma all the time so I make them at home. I’m not going to lie, making shawarma at come is nothing close to the real deal but it’s still pretty damn delicious and makes a wonder healthy easy meal for the entire family. 
I like to use chicken thighs to make shawarma because chicken thighs stay juicy and tender when roasted. To being, coat the chicken in yogurt, garlic, spices, and oil. Mix to combine then bake for 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is charred on the outside.
Next, simply slice the chicken into thin pieces and serve with my favorite shawarma white sauce. Serve in pita breads or on a salad. Enjoy!
Easy Oven Baked Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken thighs boneless, skinless (or app. 6-8 pieces)
- 1/4 cup yogurt
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 large garlic clove, minced (or 2 small cloves)
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- To serve:
- Pita bread
- Shawarma white sauce
- lettuce
- onions
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450F.
- In a large bowl or ziplock bag, combine the chicken thighs, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, spices and oil. Mix until fully combined and all the chicken is coated.
- Lay chicken in a large baking dish and bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is charred on the outside. Remove from oven and cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
- Serve chicken in pita bread along with shawarma sauce and veggies or on a salad.
Do you use regular plain yogurt or greek yogurt?
You can use either or!
So delicious! I’m curious if you’ve ever made it with beef, lamb, pork, etc?
I’ve only tried baking it with chicken and sometimes make beef over the stove top. Shawarma is not traditionally made with pork.
We cook a lot of Middle Eastern food in our house and this recipe is absolutely delicious and so easy to cook, too.
Is the oven temp really 450 degrees and not 350? I have my chicken ready but want to be sure before I put in oven. Seems high. Thanks!
This was really fantastic! The kids loved it. Just one question, can if the marinade freezer friendly? I was thinking of making this ahead for next week.
I rarely comment on recipes but this was so good I absolutely had to. I made it EXACTLY as the recipe called for and it was perfect. I’m guilty of going off-script when it comes to recipes published on sites like this, but I’m so glad I followed along.
It was so easy, delicious, tender, and cooked perfectly.
Immediately saved to my “FAVORITES”! 🙂
is there recipe for the shwarma sauce?
Yes, the shawarma sauce recipe is linked in the recipe box and can also be found here: https://gimmedelicious.com/the-best-ever-shawarma-white-sauce/
I made this delicious chicken shawarma last night for a light dinner. It was flavorful and cooked perfectly in 30 min. Served on pita bread with hummus, a simple tahini sauce,and a cucumber/tomato salad. definitely a repeat at our house.
AMAZING 🙂
i loved this recipe… BEAUTIFULLY balanced spices!
can’t wait to try other recipes 🙂
Do you have to add the yogurt? I don’t usually buy plain yogurt so I wanted to see what a difference it would make
It’s still great without the yogurt!
ok so where is the recipe?? I see pictures, description, even a video- but no actual recipe! It has disappeared!
We were having an issue yesterday with the recipes showing up but they are back up now. Please reload the page and try again or clear your browser cache it is still not showing up.
Love this recipe! Always comes out perfect.
So Delicious Love love this recipe