Last updated on June 6th, 2018 at 02:12 pm
This Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma will blow your mind! Try my easy and popular chicken shawarma recipe now in an instant pot with an amazing garlic sauce. Better than takeout and ready in no time.
A couple years ago I shared with you my oven roasted chicken shawarma recipe and since then it’s become one of my most popular recipes on the blog. I’m so glad you guys love it so much, because it really is one of my favorite recipes and it’s one that I make often. Since I bought my instant pot and started sharing some instant pot recipes with you, many of you have written to me and asked for a chicken shawarma recipe in the instant pot so here it is.
MY LATEST VIDEOSLet me just say this chicken really is the bomb. It’s so good, it’s better than takeout and best of all it only takes 8 minutes in the instant pot. Once again here I am telling you how much I love this instant pot. Why? Because it’s like 7 pots in one. That’s why. You can throw away your slow cooker, throw away your pressure cooker, rice cooker, you name it, this pot will do it all. Which is why I’m in love with it.
In the original oven roasted chicken shawarma recipe that I shared with you, I used chicken breast and since then many of you have asked me if we can use chicken thighs. YES! Absolutely 100% YES. And I have a little confession to make. I actually prefer the chicken thighs. Of course, I’d go with skinless boneless chicken thighs, but the meat comes out juicier, and not only that but I prefer dark meat over white meat.
I did add an extra step to this recipe, and it’s totally optional, however I think it’s so worth the extra effort. After the chicken was done cooking in the instant pot, I seared the meat in a skillet with a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat, just until the chicken browns a bit and this way you get some nice crispy chicken, just like the one you get from your favorite local shawarma place.
The next important element to this recipe is the garlic sauce. I’ve received lots of questions on this too because the garlic sauce contains a raw egg white. Your concern was regarding raw eggs containing Salmonella which can cause food poisoning. However, the risk of an egg being contaminated is quite low. This used to be a problem over 20 years ago, but since then improvements have been made in the processing of eggs, leading to fewer Salmonella cases. I know that’s a lot to process, but did you know mayonnaise is made with raw eggs and oil? My point is that we probably eat more raw eggs than we realize. Having said that, and if raw eggs still aren’t for you, then by all means make a different type of sauce, for example with some yogurt, lemon juice and garlic instead. You won’t hurt my feelings. 🙂
I do have to say though, if you do try the garlic sauce, it really is delicious. It’s like a very garlicky and lemony mayonnaise and it goes heavenly with this chicken. I also love to serve this chicken with either tabbouleh salad, Greek salad, and lots of hummus.
I hope you try this recipe because the smells in your kitchen will knock your socks off. Whether you try this Instant Pot version or the oven roasted version, I’m sure you’ll love it, but as usual I love to hear your thoughts!
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
Instant Pots Available
This Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma will blow your mind! Try my easy and popular chicken shawarma recipe now in an instant pot with an amazing garlic sauce. Better than takeout and ready in no time.
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice from 2 lemons
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp tumeric
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 large onion sliced
- 4 lbs chicken thighs boneless and skinless
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley for garnish
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 6 cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 egg white*
- 1 tsp salt
- hummus
- greek salad
- garlic sauce
- chicken
- pita wraps
Add the olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, garlic, pepper, salt and onions to a ziploc bag, then add the chicken thighs. Seal the bag and shake it well to mix the ingredients. Place the bag in the refrigerator and marinate for at least 1 hour. The flavours develop better the longer you leave them.
Transfer the chicken into your Instant Pot. Mix to ensure even coverage. Close the lid (follow the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Manual setting and set the timer to 8 minutes on high pressure.
Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 15 minutes. Follow the manufacturer's guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot. Remove the chicken using a slotted spoon.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken thighs to the skillet and sear them for about 1 to 2 minutes per side just until they start to brown. You may have to do this in a couple batches. This step is optional if you want to get a crispier chicken.
Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Refrigerate leftover sauce.
To assemble the chicken shawarma wraps, warm up the pitas for 20 seconds to soften them. Spread a tbsp each of garlic sauce and hummus over the middle of the pita. Top with chicken, greek salad, garnish with parsley, and more sauce if desired.
Recipe Video
Note: In the video I forgot to add the onion to the marinade, so we ended up caramelizing some onion in some of the liquid left in the instant pot after the chicken was done.
Chicken breast can also be used instead of the thighs with the same cooking time.
* If you are unsure whether or not you want to consume raw egg white because of risk of Salmonella in raw eggs which can cause food poisoning, make a different type of sauce with just yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and salt. However, the risk of an egg being contaminated from raw egg is quite low. This used to be a problem over 20 years ago, but since then improvements have been made in the processing of eggs, leading to fewer Salmonella cases.
You can also omit the raw egg white, just add the oil little by little to the blender until it thickens and should have the consistency of mayonnaise.
Total time include time required to marinate the chicken and the time required for the Instant pot to start and release pressure.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
My husband made this and it was sooo delicious! Thank you for your delicious and easy recipes!
So flavorful!! I made this recipe this past weekend and FINALLY won my husband over to keto eating!! I served this over cauliflower rice. I served leftovers on net zero carb tortillas with a side of cucumbers and Spicey okra pickles. His A1C was a scary 9.9. After 8 weeks his waking blood sugar was at or below 100 most mornings!! At 10 weeks of keto eating his A1C is down to 5.6 and our family doctor is even looking into keto. He goes back for another follow up 7/2/18. I was tickled to hear my husband say that he’s not felt deprived and didn’t feel like he’s dieting. I felt like I hit a homerun when he said that I surprise him with every meal and I’ve not made anything he hasn’t liked!! I may be hitting him up for a second qt Instant Pot soon 😁 !!!
If you’re concerned about salmonella from the raw egg white, try using pasteurized egg whites found in in the refrigerator/freezer section at the market. Use the rest to make keto friendly omelettes, keto lemon meringue or keto chocolate souffle!
That’s fantastic to hear! I’ve heard amazing things about that diet. Maybe I’ll give it a go if I can possibly cut out pasta!
absolutely delicious
Love your recipes. Can I make this in a slow cooker? and how? Sorry I am new to using slow cookers.
For sure, you can cook this o high for 2 hours or low for 4 hours.
Amazing!! Delicious easy. Just what the family needed
Can I use bone-in chicken thighs? Do I have to increase cooking time? Thank you!
How do I make this work half the amount of chicken? What should I do with the spices?
I’d half the entire recipe.
This looks delicious! Do you think it would work with frozen chicken? Of course without marinating.
You can, it will take a bit longer probably 10 to 12 minutes on manual. 🙂
Thanks! Do you think I should increase the spices or decreases the liquidy ingredients??
I’d keep the spices and liquid the same.
My partner was sure she was not going to like this dish, even went and bought some cereal for a backup plan! But after letting the flavors build and making sure the aroma wafted their way, it was tried and now loved! They have not stopped talking about how good it was all evening g and can’t wait for dinner tomorrow! We used sour cream in place of the sauce and omitted the red pepper flakes since hot does not work for us. Thank you for a easy and delicious meal!
This recipe was so delicious! We did not have time to marinate the chicken so we just put all the ingredients into the Instant Pot and cooked it. We used Chicken Breast cut up instead of the thighs. We did cook the sauce longer in the pot (with no lid) after removing the chicken to reduce the liquids. I could eat this everyday! I also didn’t have time to make the garlic sauce so we just used Tzatziki sauce on the pitas and it was so yummy! Try it!!
My family loves this recipe. So easy to make and tastes great. Had friends over for dinner last night, made this and they all agreed too. have just given an instant pot to friends and this recipe went with the pot!
This was amazing! I crisped some of the onions from the marinade in the pan with the chicken, which was awesome. And I didn’t want all that yummy liquid to go to waist, so I cooked some brown rice in it, just ran the instant pot on manual for 23 mins and now have super flavorful yummy brown rice that also tastes good with the garlic sauce.
What a fantastic recipe! We try not to make it every week it is so good and so simple.
The first time I made it the garlic sauce became whipped and firm so quickly I was worried that the garlic would be in chunks. It was less than a second or two before the blades of the blender were below the thick spread. Ever since, and I have followed the recipe to the letter each time, I have come out with a liquid sauce that separates and must be shaken before drizzling over the chicken. I have tried to research what the culprit might be but to no avail. Apparently beginner’s luck seems to be the only obvious answer.
Does anyone else know what I might do to return to that first experience of spread rather than a wet mess?
All help and suggestions gratefully appreciated!
It sounds like your sauce broke, which really is kind of like a mayonnaise. In this cake you can add another egg white and this can sometimes fix your sauce.
For a party, do you think it would be easier to make the thighs in the instant pot or use breasts or even tenders in the oven and broil at the end. If most of your followers have liked the instant pot using thighs, I will do this method.
Thank you so much
If you’re cooking for a big crowd, try our Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma. It’ll be easier to cook a lot at once in your oven. Have fun!
I had a big question about this recipe: when I put the marinated chicken in the Instant Pot, there was very little liquid to use (there’s not a lot of liquid in the marinade). Isn’t it very important to have liquid in a recipe that you cook using pressure? I added about 3/4 cup of chicken broth, because I know that you need liquid to do pressure cooking. Did I need to do that? The finished chicken dish had a LOT of liquid in it. What’s the right thing to do about adding liquid here?
Hi Rory! If you watch the video you’ll notice there isn’t a lot of liquid on my chicken either, but as it cooked the chicken released a lot of liquid, so that’s why I didn’t add anymore. However, if you read your instant pot’s manual it will probably say that the chicken needs to be covered with liquid, so there really isn’t a right or wrong answer here. By adding more liquid you didn’t ruin the recipe, the chicken will still be just as good.
This was delicious! Thanks!!
Thanks for sharing this Joanna. I found a link to your site on a Facebook group, ‘Instant Pot Recipes Only’, I prepared a Chicken Shawarma cook-off this evening – the Instant Pot version vs. the oven roasted version. This cunning plan ensured planned-overs (not leftovers) for the freezer for future meals. Both versions turned out great and were well received by the family. The teen preferred the oven-roasted chicken breast. The husband appreciated the moistness of the chicken thighs but couldn’t choose between them. Our local Shawarma joint will be losing some business once I figure out how to make the garlic potatoes.
The garlic sauce is pretty much the same as the one made in the Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma, and you can find plenty of recipes for roasting potatoes here. Trust me when you make all these together…best meal ever!