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Do you know what just sounds divine right now? A chewy pita with a smear of hummus wrapped around hot, spiced chicken with a pile of tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled turnips, and a drizzle of garlic sauce. I’m talking about a perfect, fully-loaded chicken shawarma wrap.

Dinner board with chicken shawarma, wraps, garlic sauce, pickled turnips, cucumber, tomatoes, and onions

The Craving is Real: Chicken Shawarma Wraps

I possibly need to make this recipe again this week. Like maybe tomorrow. I still have enough ingredients for another round…

Here’s the thing. If you want your house to smell like a fancy restaurant, and you want something wonderfully flavorful and maybe a little exotic (depending on your current repertoire of recipes) but you also don’t really feel like using cutlery, it’s time for you to make some shawarma wraps.

You’re probably wondering what qualifies me to write up this recipe. Absolutely nothing. I didn’t grow up with shawarma and admit to having had to research several recipes before getting started here.

Must Watch: ‘Barbecue’ on Netflix

In fact, there’s a great documentary on Netflix that you should check out called Barbecue. It looks at how people around the world cook meat to bring their circle closer together.

The section on shawarma is short but beautiful. It focuses on a Syrian refugee who wanted to bring home to the people living in the camps. He started cooking shawarma like he did at home. What he described was very comforting to someone looking at an array of different recipes.

In terms of spices and marinades, he said that everyone’s family has a different way to prepare it and no one’s recipe will be exactly alike. His recipe, for example, was a secret, but I was paying attention to his assembly.

I loved how he focused in on just the meat and the wrap, cutting it into sections like sushi, and drizzling the sauce over the top. It was a beautiful plate.

Chicken Shawarma with cucumbers on a dinner board

So, what is supposed to go in a chicken shawarma wrap? How do you make chicken shawarma at home? Well, let’s talk about it!

The Wrap Part of Chicken Shawarma

First off, what do you wrap chicken shawarma in? It depends on your preference really.

Lavash is a larger, thinner option that allows for you to shove far more ingredients into your wrap and you can enjoy more meat/veg to bread ratio. This is the more traditional flatbread choice.

You can also go for the pocket pita for a similar ratio. This option makes it easy to hold without your ingredients spilling out.

For a really pillowy, chewy experience, get real pitas. These don’t have a pocket, and they’re similar in texture to naan. They are thick, soft, and a little buttery.

We have also used tortillas, naan, and 2-ingredient dough pitas (the recipe for which is included in my turkey kofta post).

Chicken Shawarma Marinade

The marinade is key to getting those big, bold, classic shawarma flavors. And, like the man in Barbecue said, you can tweak the spices to your liking. Your family recipe is allowed to be different! Here is how I make mine.

Whisk together all the spices, oil, lemon juice, and Greek yogurt in a medium glass bowl. Toss in the chicken thighs. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, but I let it go overnight to really tenderize and flavor the chicken. That’s a lie. When I figured out that it needed to marinate for longer, it was on a night when my husband suggested tacos for dinner and I was like OOH! So, shawarma had to wait a night.

For spices, I use red pepper flakes for heat, oregano, paprika, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, and just a couple of dashes of clove. If you don’t like the flavor of something, you can always leave it out and adjust to your preference. For those of you who don’t like spicy food, I recommend leaving out the pepper flakes.

So, I blended up my own spice mixture, and it is really delicious. And, you wouldn’t believe how great it smells!

That said, I understand if you don’t want to go buying a whole bunch of different spices that you don’t already have. What I would recommend then is getting an ounce or two of this Ras el Hanout blend.

Close up of the pickled turnips on a chicken shawarma board

Perfect Shawarma Toppings

Now let’s talk toppings. I used pickled turnips, hummus, garlic sauce, cucumber, and tomato. I’ve had it where they’ve used tahini instead of, or even with, the garlic sauce. You could skip the veggies altogether and just go for meat, bread, and sauce. Again, it’s up to you.

Just please don’t put lettuce on it. A friend’s mother taught me that there is no lettuce in a proper Greek salad because it doesn’t grow well in that region, and while I’ve seen some Chicago-style gyros with lettuce and forgiven it, it just shouldn’t be on a chicken shawarma wrap.

Anyways, give this a try, and if you’re more familiar with shawarma than I am, please comment or contact me! I’d love to keep improving.

What To Serve with a Chicken Shawarma Wrap

Tabouleh is a good choice. Lentils with rice are always yummy. My husband loves a good pile of fries with seasoning salt and a dish of tzatziki to go with his shawarma. I would even go a little nutty and serve this with Greek Quinoa Salad.

Close up of assembled chicken shawarma wrap with pickled turnips, cucumber, tomato, and garlic sauce

Skip the “Wrap” if You Want

I have turned this recipe into a salad, a bowl, and a sandwich. If you don’t have flatbread, or just want to lighten it up, there are options.

For a salad, pile up some lettuce (ugh, yes, I know what I said before…). Then layer on your tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled turnips, chicken and onions, and garlic sauce. You might feel like adding some water to the garlic sauce to thin it into more of a dressing. Hummus is still super yummy with a salad, or you could sprinkle on some chickpeas instead.

For a bowl, make up some brown rice. You’ll portion out a bit into the bottom of your bowl and then top it with all the chicken shawarma fixings. It’s easy! You can even make it really pretty and segment the toppings.

And finally, if you’re going the sandwich route, spread the hummus on one slice of bread or a nice bun. Spread garlic sauce on the other side. On the hummus side, pile up cucumber, tomato, chicken, onions, and pickled turnips (in that order). Then cap it off with the garlic-sauce slice. Slice that sammy in half, and take a big yummy bite!

However you choose to make your chicken shawarma, please tag me in your Instagram pictures (@ellejayathome)!

Overhead shot of chicken shawarma board and wrap

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Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!

This post was updated on August 24, 2021 for content and photography.

Chicken Shawarma Wraps

Everything you need for a satisfying chicken shawarma wrap with garlic sauce and pickled turnips in the comfort of your own home.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Main Course

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Chicken Shawarma Ingredients

4 Chicken Thighs
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup greek yogurt
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp pink sea salt
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
4 dashes ground clove
1 medium onion sliced
4 cloves garlic sliced

Garlic Sauce Ingredients

⅓ cup lemon juice
½ cup olive oil
½ cup vegetable oil
8 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp egg white
1 tsp salt

Will Also Need

Pickled Turnips
Cucumber
Tomato
Hummus
Lavash or Pitas

Instructions

In a medium glass bowl, whisk together all the spices, oil, lemon juice, and greek yogurt. Toss in the chicken thighs. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour but, optimally, overnight.
Preheat the oven to 425° F.
Add onion and garlic to the bowl and toss in to soak up a little of the marinade.
Use a cast iron skillet or enamel baking dish for the best results. Pour the contents of your bowl, leftover marinade and all, into the baking dish. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown and a little crispy around the edges.
Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes for the juices to set before slicing.
For the garlic sauce, throw everything in a blender and let it go for 2 minutes.
You’ll have enough sauce for leftovers, sandwiches, etc. Keep it in the fridge.
To build a wrap, start by lightly warming a pita on both sides over low heat on the stove. Spread a little hummus to start (you could also forgo the hummus and add tahini to the top). Pile on as much shawarma as you like, and then add pickled turnips, and sliced tomato and cucumber. Drizzle with garlic sauce, and enjoy.

Keyword Chicken, Lebanese, Shawarma