Grilled Chicken Shawarma Kabobs

This Grilled Chicken Shawarma Kabobs is super easy to throw together and is very family friendly. We like to serve it with pita bread, fresh arugula and avocados. Love kabob? Try my Persian kabob recipes.

Comfort food has different meanings depending on what part of the world you grew up in. These comfort dishes tend to evoke memories from your childhood and always bring a smile to your face, even on a rainy day.

We love making kabob for our kids, so it’s no surprise that “meat on a stick” is one of our family’s favorite comfort meals. Persian chicken kabob (joojeh kabob) is lightly seasoned and marinated in a saffron-lemon-yogurt mixture.

Chicken shawarma is a Turkish dish and is very aromatic with it’s array of spices. Traditionally, shawarma is cooked on a spit, rotisserie style, over open flame. Since I don’t have a spit, I decided to make them into family friendly kabobs.

Ingredients you need

• Extra virgin olive oil: Olive oil makes a wonderful marinade, offering flavor and moisture to your meat. The more flavorful the oil, the more of this flavor permeates thru your food, so choose a high quality oil with a flavor you like.
• Lemon juice: Fresh or bottled lemon juice is fine.
• Onion: Onions in a marinade offers flavor, but it also tenderizes the meat. You can use white or brown onions.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic is preferred for optimum flavor.
• Spices: Cumin, paprika, dried parsley, dried mint, turmeric, ground cinnamon, kosher salt and ground black pepper.
• Chicken: You can use boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs.
• Garnishes: pita or lavash bread, avocado slices, radishes, arugula, bell peppers, green onions, parsley, hummus, garlic mayonnaise or ranch dressing.

Step-by-step directions

1. Make marinade. Blend olive oil, lemon juice, onion, garlic and spices until smooth.
2. Marinate chicken. Cut into ½-inch cubes and place in a resealable bag with marinade, massaging the meat to coat the pieces. Refrigerate the meat to marinate 8 hours to overnight.
3. Grill chicken. Slide chicken breast onto skewers. Grill kabobs for 8-15 minutes, turning occasionally to cook evenly. The chicken is done when the juice running out is no longer pink.

Recipe tips and FAQs

Traditional shawarma is served with flat bread, tabouleh, tahini and/or hummus.  It is also served with a very garlicky mayonnaise. So how do I add some California into the mix?

I loved it on flat bread brimming with spicy arugula, creamy avocados, crisp radishes, sweet bell peppers and cucumber tomato salad (shirazi salad).

The California Grilled Chicken Shawarma Kabob

Laura Bashar | Family Spice

This California Grilled Chicken Shawarma uses low-fat chicken breast with pita, fresh arugula, avocados and garlic mayonnaise.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Additional Time 6 hours hrs

Total Time 6 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 6

Calories 697 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ½ medium onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon dried mint
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

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Instructions

 

• Add everything except the chicken to a blender and blend until smooth.
• Trim off excess fat from chicken and cut into ½-inch cubes.
• Place chicken cubes in a resealable bag and cover with marinade, massaging the meat to thoroughly coat all of the pieces.
• Remove the air and seal the bag shut. Refrigerate the meat to marinate 8 hours to overnight.
• Start your charcoal at least 30 minutes prior to grilling.
• If using bamboo skewers, soak in water.
• Slide chicken breast pieces close together onto skewers, leaving room on each end of the skewer to handle without burning yourself. This also insures the meat is resting on the hottest part of your grill.
• Grill kabobs for 8-15 minutes, turning occasionally to cook evenly. The chicken is done when the juice running out is no longer pink.
• Serve chicken shawarma with pita bread, avocado slices, radishes, arugula, bell peppers, green onions, parsley and garlic mayonnaise.
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Notes

Serving Suggestions: If you don’t want a sandwich, serve your chicken shawarma over rice or a bed of fresh greens.

You can also serve with hummus, tabouleh and/or Shirazi salad (pictured above).

Cooking Tips: You can also cook your chicken shawarma on the stovetop. Heat a large non-stick skillet on high and add 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil. When oil is hot, brown the chicken in 2-3 batches, until done. Add more olive oil as needed.

TO STORE: Store any leftover kabob in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.

Nutrition

Calories: 697kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 55gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 884mgFiber: 6gSugar: 3g

Keyword chicken shawarma, grilled chicken shawarma, shawarma recipe

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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