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.

I grew up in Texas, with a Persian mom and an American dad. Comfort food for me ranges from sausage and barbecue to Persian stews. My husband is Persian. His comfort food list is totally different from mine. And our kids?  They each have their own list of favorite foods.

Why you have to make this recipe

My husband and I 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. In the traditional sense, shawarma is cooked on a spit, rotisserie style, over open flame. It is typically served in pita with hummus and a very garlicky mayonnaise.

Since I don’t have a spit, I decided to make them into family friendly kabobs. My shawarma marinade is a combination of paprika, cumin, turmeric and other herbs and spices along with extra virgin olive oil and onions.

The key to tender, juicy chicken shawarma is let the marinade do its magic. It is best to prepare your chicken the night before, but I have also marinated the meat in the morning, to be cooked later that night.

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.
• Boneless skinless chicken breast: You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
• Garnishes: pita or lavash bread, avocado slices, radishes, arugula, bell peppers, green onions, parsley, hummus, garlic mayonnaise or ranch dressing.

You can use metal skewers or bamboo skewers for these chicken shawarma kabobs. My mom has these gorgeous metal skewers she bought over 40 years ago from Greece, so I used them. Aren’t they spectacular?

Step-by-step directions

1. In a blender purée olive oil, lemon juice, onion and garlic until smooth. In a small bowl mix together spices. You can also blend everything together.

2. Trim off excess fat from chicken and cut into ½-inch cubes. Place chicken cubes in a resealable bag and cover with seasonings, massaging the meat to thoroughly coat all of the pieces.

4. Pour onion marinade into the bag with chicken, again 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.

5. Start your charcoal at least 30 minutes prior to grilling. If using bamboo skewers, soak in water.

6. 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. If using wooden skewers, soak in water for 20 minutes to prevent burning.

7. Grill kabobs for 8-15 minutes, turning occasionally to cook evenly. The chicken is done when the juice running out is no longer pink.

8. Serve chicken shawarma with pita bread, avocado slices, radishes, arugula, bell peppers, green onions, parsley and/or garlic mayonnaise.

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).

PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.

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