Oven-Roasted Chicken Shawarma Recipe (2024)

• White sauce = plain yogurt, scant 1/4 c. mayo, 1/2 lemon juiced + lemon zest, basil/parsley/zatar/sumac/minced garlic. Chill for 4-5 hours.
• Marinade meat overnight & cooked with peppers & onions. F
inish with broil for 2-3 minutes
• Serve with tortillas instead of pita + sliced cucumbers & tomatoes + feta. (Hummus is overkill side)
• Serve with chickpeas salad (olives, tomatoes, red onion, parsley/basil)

Trim eggplant and cut it into long slices. Salt the slices and let them sit for 20 minutes or so, then pat them dry. Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towel and place a wire rack on top. In a large, deep skillet, heat 1/2 cup oil until a drop of water flicked into pan sizzles. Working in batches, fry eggplant until just tender, 20 to 30 seconds per side. Transfer fried eggplant to rack to drain. Nice with shawarma!

I've lost track of how many times I've made this amazing dish since I first cut it out; there's some in the fridge right now. I have made the following additions: more onion - it's so good. More chicken - it goes so fast: 3 pounds. Two pounds of carrots, which I toss in the marinade and roast with the extra red onion. An astonishing recipe!

I used chicken breasts to cut some of the fat here and reduced cook time to about 20 minutes so the chicken wouldn't dry out. It was delicious, juicy and light!

One of my favorites!!! Sometimes I buy extra chicken thigh packages and freeze the raw chicken thighs in the marinade 1 pound at a time. This way during a busy weeknight, I have an easy homemade recipe ready to go. I usually thaw it out first thing in the morning or even overnight. Works great!

2 1/2 tablespoons of oil is enough - 1/2 cup is way too much !

All dry ingredients have been combined and stored with a label "Shawarma Mix". Awesome.

I second the suggestion to double the onion. If you have tasty lemons (like Meyer) cut them into eighths and roast along with the chicken -- exceptional!

This is a superb and easy supper. Marinated boneless thighs about 8 hours in fridge and cooked exactly according to recipe with the additional pan frying. Added a Greek salad made with seeded, English cucumber, mini San Marzano tomatoes (Trader Joe's), Kalamata olives, Greek feta, sherry vinegar and olive oil. No pita needed. Also made a yogurt sauce using 2% fa*ge (the best!) with lemon zest & juice, a couple cloves of garlic put through a press, and salt and pepper. Marvelous!

Very easy, absolutely delicious. Combined the following to make a tahini sauce: 1 c plain yogurt, 2 T tahini, 1 T lemon juice. 1/2 t. salt.

Excellent for a party...I used 10 lbs of trimmed boneless chicken thighs, reducing the oil, and cutting onions into 8ths. Meat sliced nicely after the 10 minute post-cooking rest. Marinated for 24 hours, cooked the chicken in the marinade, & the meat held up fine. I used a lipped cookie sheet, to avoid spills in my oven. Everyone asked for leftovers to take home. Wonderful flavor, and easy to prepare. I served it with marinated feta, pita, couscous, moroccan carrot salad, etc.

A flawless dish, and yet a couple of tips: no need to use a dish for the marinade. I put everything into a large ziplock, massaged the ingredients to blend, and then added the chicken. No mess and easy to store while the birds marinates. I also used chicken breasts, bone in, skin on. Unbelievably juicy and tender, and easy to cut into smaller pieces after roasting.

Agree with most everyone here - there's a reason this is a favorite! Followed the recipe to a "t" and everything came out perfectly - and served on Christmas Eve. Even the little ones (4 and 5) loved it! Two days later I'm out for more chicken thighs to make another batch. Served with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lettuce and a Tzatziki, Hummus, Sweet Chili sauce (all from Trader Joe's) and the NYT Rice Pilaf with Pistachios and Almonds. Delicious!!! Loved it!

The pan crisping at the end of this recipe really made this taste like the Schwarma I used to get in Jerusalem. Brought out the flavor more.

Made this for dinner last night. Amazing. Used half the olive oil and the juice of one lemon, but kept the other herbs/spices the same. Served with white sauce (1/4 cup mayo, 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, juice of half a lemon, 1 clove garlic, minced), chickpea salad, and toasted (in a skillet) pita bread. Yum, yum, yum. Watch the chicken carefully the last 20 minutes. Even though I turned the heat down, it would have over-cooked if I'd left it in the oven for the full 40 minutes.

Love this marinade. I use it to make kabobs with the chicken, tomato and onion, grill them and service with traditional butter rice and naan - outstanding!

A lot of reviews said this is too much olive oil - I used more chicken, due to the packaging, about 2.67 pounds. Then I quartered some small red potatoes to cook alongside the chicken so that took care of any extra oil. I also sliced the onion thinner, and was happy with how it turned out. We didn't use any toppings or pita, I thought it was fine as is. I'll definitely make this again.

Two red onions

I substituted, as I often do, 1/4 cup of minced preserved lemon for the lemon juice. Gives a more complex but still bright flavor. Otherwise followed recipe exactly and broiled the last few minutes as other commenters recommended. Served over basmati with curried coconut cauliflower, https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019911-cauliflower-cashew-pea-and-coconut-curry. Huge success and will make again.

If prepping for the week make a double batch

Also made a chickpea salad with cut up cucumber, canned diced tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, and parsley

I should have trusted my instincts/experience and taken this out of the oven at 25 minutes. It doesn’t get crispier by sitting longer in the oven. The thighs get dry and rubbery and the onions burn. For next time:-2 Tbsp of salt in the marinade (the meat was so undersalted that we couldn’t really taste the other seasonings until we added salt to our servings). -Bake for 25 minutes and then crisp up the edges on the stovetop in oil after cutting. I see potential here.

Best chicken shawarma recipe that I have tried and I have tried many trying to find the right balance of flavors.

This much lemon juice over multiple hours marination yields a rubbery surface and an unappetizing flavor, especially with so little salt. Not for me!

Like other review say - it immediately went into the rotation. The DH prefers chicken breast. I cut them into strips about 1.5" square to expose more surface area to the marinade and bake a shorter time. They come out moist and lovely.

The video shows a very scorched baking sheet because oil not spread evenly. If that's what we should aim for, what are some hints for cleaning the sheet afterwards?

I make this recipe once a week and YOU SHOULD DO THE SAME!!!!!!!!

Versatile! Good for sandwiches, on top of a salad, in a quesadilla, etc. I like it with a tangy tanhini sauce. Add whole, peeled garlic cloves to the marinade, and roast them along with the chicken. These can be smashed onto bread. Delicious! Suggest adding fresh or powdered ground ginger, and a bit of soy sauce, for depth. The marinade as given needs a little something, in my opinion.

Easy and delicious. I used a large red onion and added carrots per another review. I made a white sauce with yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, salt, pepper and sumac. served with rice. the pistachio almond rice would be good with it.

Fantastic!! I made the marinade as directed. It’s brilliant. Parchment paper is a huge help with clean-up. The onions char in the heat. I think the “crisping” step after baking is crucial. Cut the cooked thigh meat into little pieces, then sizzle them in an oiled pan. I also added more cumin, salt, and paprika to the pan. The finished pieces were very crisp, tasty, and colorful!