Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma

Learn how to make this super Easy Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma, plus an out of this world garlic sauce and prepare your own chicken shawarma wraps. Beats takeout or fast food!

The Best Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma Recipe

This is one of those recipes that’s been on my blog for over 6 years now and it’s one that is constantly popular. It’s no surprise because the flavors here are second to none. But this is just one example of the great recipes in my new cookbook.

This chicken shawarma is great not only for weeknight dinners, but it’s great for parties or gatherings because, trust me when I tell you, this is how you’re going to make friends for life. I love serving this with some fresh tabbouleh salad (which is also in my new cookbook), the garlic sauce included in this recipe, hummus and pita bread.

Obviously this isn’t an authentic shawarma because I roasted mine in the oven, whereas it’s usually prepared on a spit and it can be grilled for as long as a day. However it is important to marinate your chicken, the flavors here are to die for, and the chicken will melt in your mouth. It’s also a bit spicy from the red pepper flakes, so if you don’t like heat, just omit them.

What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Shawarma

Chicken

• Chicken – I love making this with chicken breast but I have made this which chicken thighs as well and I can assure you both are great!
• Onion and Garlic – As I always say these are essential flavor enhancers in most dishes and they definitely make a difference in this chicken shawarma recipe. Don’t discard the sliced onions, add them to your shawarma wraps for extra flavor.
• Lemon Juice – Quite a popular ingredients in most Middle Eastern recipes and same goes for this recipe. Combine this with the spices for that great marinade.
• Spices – Lots of spices used in Middle Eastern cuisine here. You’ll need cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
• Parsley – I always love to garnish my dishes with a bit of fresh parsley.

Garlic Sauce

I find the easiest way to make this sauce is using my magic bullet or my immersion blender.

• Vegetable Oil – You can use a good vegetable oil or if you want to use olive oil I would go with one that’s lighter and not extra virgin, so that the flavor doesn’t overpower the sauce.
• Lemon Juice – I recommend freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• Garlic – Lots of fresh garlic here, it is a garlic sauce after all.
• Egg White – If you don’t want to use raw egg whites in the garlic sauce, you can omit it, just add the oil little by little to the blender until it thickens and should have the consistency of mayonnaise.
• Salt – A bit of salt to bring out all the flavors.

How To Cook Chicken Shawarma In The Oven

Chicken

1. Marinate the chicken: In a large bowl add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin, black pepper, paprika, turmeric, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, garlic, and whisk well. Add the chicken and toss making sure the chicken is well coated in the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for at least an hour. The longer the meat marinates the more flavour you’ll have.
2. Prep the oven and assemble everything: Preheat oven to 425 F degrees. Add sliced onion to bowl with chicken and toss well so that the onion is fully coated in the marinade. Add everything to a 9×13 baking dish. I didn’t have much marinade leftover since the chicken absorbed most of it, so that’s why I added everything to the baking dish. Spread everything evenly over the baking dish.
3. Bake the chicken: Bake in the oven until the chicken is browned and crisp on the edges, for about 40 to 45 minutes. If you want the chicken crispier on top, turn the broiler on to high and broil for 3 minutes until nice and crispy on the outside.
4. Rest and slice: Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes, then slice it into bits.

Garlic Sauce

1. Make garlic sauce: Add all the ingredients to a blender (or an immersion blender) and blend until smooth, it should take 1 to 2 minutes. This recipe will make about 1 1/2 cups of sauce, refrigerate leftover sauce.

How To Serve Chicken Shawarma

I love to serve this with tabbouleh salad either on the plate or add it to my wraps, if making wraps. You could eat the chicken as is with some rice, but I still recommend the garlic sauce for that true Middle Eastern experience.

I also spread some hummus over my wraps but you can totally skip the hummus and just add tabbouleh salad, chicken shawarma and plenty of that garlic sauce.

Leftovers

The Chicken Shawarma will last in the fridge in an air tight container for 3 – 4 days. If you’d like to freeze this dish I recommend freezing the chicken in the bag with the marinade while still raw. When ready to use, thaw it in the fridge overnight.

You can store this home made garlic sauce for up to 2 weeks in the fridge in an airtight container. I don’t recommend freezing this sauce as it is similar to a home made mayo which separates and becomes unusable after thawing.

The details of my cookbooks giveaway has now moved to this post because the contest is now CLOSED.

More Delicious Recipes To Try

• Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma
• Chicken Shawarma Tabbouleh Salad
• Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta
• Greek Rice
• Roast Chicken

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4.74 from 378 votes

Easy Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma

Prep 25 minutes

Marinating Time 1 hour

Cook 45 minutes

Total 2 hours 10 minutes

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Learn how to make this super Easy Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma, plus an out of this world garlic sauce and prepare your own chicken shawarma wraps. Beats takeout or fast food!

US CustomaryMetric

8

Ingredients

Chicken Shawarma

• ▢ 4 tablespoons lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
• ▢ ½ cup olive oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cumin (ground)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons black pepper (ground)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• ▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric
• ▢ 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic (minced)
• ▢ 3 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
• ▢ 1 large onion (sliced)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons parsley (fresh, for garnish)

Garlic Sauce

• ▢ 1 cup vegetable oil
• ▢ ⅓ cup lemon juice
• ▢ 6 cloves garlic (peeled)
• ▢ 1 egg white (*)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt

Chicken Shawarma Wraps

• ▢ hummus
• ▢ tabbouleh salad
• ▢ garlic sauce
• ▢ pita wraps

Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.

Instructions 

Chicken Shawarma

• Marinate the chicken: In a large bowl add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin, black pepper, paprika, turmeric, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, garlic, and whisk well. Add the chicken and toss making sure the chicken is well coated in the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for at least an hour. The longer the meat marinates the more flavour you’ll have.
• Prep the oven and assemble everything: Preheat oven to 425°F degrees. Add sliced onion to bowl with chicken and toss well so that the onion is fully coated in the marinade. Add everything to a 9×13-baking dish. I didn’t have much marinade leftover since the chicken absorbed most of it, so that’s why I added everything to the baking dish. Spread everything evenly over the baking dish.
• Bake the chicken: Bake in the oven until the chicken is browned and crisp on the edges, for about 40 to 45 minutes. If you want the chicken crispier on top, turn the broiler on to high and broil for 3 minutes until nice and crispy on the outside.
• Rest and slice: Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes, then slice it into bits.

Garlic Sauce

• Make garlic sauce: Add all the ingredients to a blender (or an immersion blender) and blend until smooth, it should take 1 to 2 minutes. This recipe will make about 1½ cups of sauce, refrigerate leftover sauce.

Chicken Shawarma Wraps

• To make the chicken shawarma wraps, warm up the wraps first in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then spread some hummus over each wrap, spoon about 2 or 3 tbsp of tabbouleh salad, add chicken shawarma, and drizzle with garlic sauce and serve.

Equipment

• Glass Mixing Bowl Set (3 piece)
• 9×13-inch Casserole Dish
• Multi-Speed Immersion Blender

Notes

1. *If you don’t want to use raw egg whites in the garlic sauce, you can omit it, just add the oil little by little to the blender until it thickens and should have the consistency of mayonnaise.
2. You can find the homemade hummus recipe here. You can find the tabbouleh salad recipe here.
3. Nutritional information does not include tabbouleh salad, hummus or pitas. It does include garlic sauce. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1servingCalories: 460kcal (23%)Carbohydrates: 5g (2%)Protein: 10g (20%)Fat: 46g (71%)Saturated Fat: 28g (175%)Cholesterol: 27mg (9%)Sodium: 644mg (28%)Potassium: 253mg (7%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 419IU (8%)Vitamin C: 11mg (13%)Calcium: 20mg (2%)Iron: 1mg (6%)

Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.