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Home Β» Recipes Β» Chicken shawarma with easy flatbread

Chicken shawarma with easy flatbread

April 21, 2020 by Alida Ryder 18 Comments

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Juicy chicken shawarma marinated in spiced yogurt then grilled is a delicious dinner served wrapped in easy flatbread with crunchy vegetables.

Chicken shawarma with easy flatbread

Shawarma is one of our favorite things to eat. When we were still dating, my husband and I would often go to the local schwarma-place where he lived to indulge in giant wraps stuffed with the juiciest grilled meat, pickles, garlic sauce and crunchy vegetables. To this day, I know the way to treat him his to get him a really good shawarma. I decided to make my own a while ago and I have to say, this chicken shawarma ticks ALL the boxes.

What is Shawarma?

Shawarma is meat (most often beef, lamb or chicken) stacked on a vertical spit and grilled low and slow, often all day long. The meat is carved off the side of the spit and served in pita bread or flatbread with your choice of vegetables, sauces, pickles, etc.

As I didn’t have the option to cook the chicken for long on a vertical spit, I wanted to replicate the juiciness and flavor in a simple way. Something we could all do at home. And so I decided to marinated the chicken in spiced yogurt. I used boneless, skin-on chicken thighs and baked them in a really hot oven with the top grill/broiler on to really caramelize the skin.

The end result was chicken SO juicy and delicious, we all ate our fair-share before the slices even made it into our shawarmas.

Juicy spiced chicken shawarma

How to make chicken shawarma

  1. Marinate the chicken: Place boneless, skin-on chicken thighs in a large bowl. Combine Greek yogurt, spices, garlic, lemon and olive oil and add to the chicken. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes – 1 hour. (The longer the better but even as little as 30 minutes will work wonders.)
  2. Cook the chicken: Pre-heat your oven to its hottest temperature, turning the top element/grill on if needed. Place the chicken onto a large baking sheet/oven dish. Bake until cooked through with the skin nicely caramelized. Remove from the oven and slice.
  3. Assemble the shawarma: Serve the charred chicken in flatbread or warmed pita bread. Top with garlic sauce, pickles and fresh vegetables of your choice.

What’s the difference between pita bread and flatbread?

Flatbread is a thin, flat bread (usually unleavened) cooked on a hot cooking surface/pan until charred and blistered. Pita bread is soft, leavened bread that often has a pocket which can be stuffed with grilled meat and vegetables.

What to serve with shawarma

  1. Easy pickled radishes
  2. Easy pickled red onions
  3. Marinated cucumber salad
  4. Creamy tzatziki sauce

Easy flatbread

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Chicken shawarma with easy flatbread

Chicken shawarma with easy flatbread

Juicy chicken shawarma marinated in spiced yogurt then grilled is a delicious dinner served wrapped in easy flatbread with crunchy vegetables.
4.91 from 30 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keyword: Chicken schwarma, Chicken Shawarma, Easy flatbread
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 5
Calories: 669kcal
Author: Alida Ryder

Ingredients

For the chicken shawarma

  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 4 garlic cloves crushed
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • Β½ tsp chilli/red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 kg boneless, skin-on chicken thighs

For the easy flatbread

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Β½ tsp garlic powder (optional)
  • Β½ cup plain/Greek yogurt
  • Β½ cup vegetable oil
  • ΒΎ-1 cup milk

For the garlic yogurt sauce

  • 1 cup plain/Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1 tbsp chopped mint
  • 2-3 garlic cloves crushed
  • 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste

For serving

  • Pickles of your choice
  • fresh vegetables of your choice (tomatoes, cucumber, avocado work well)

Instructions

  • Mix all the marinade ingredients together then pour over the chicken and allow to marinate for 30 mins - 1 hour. 
  • In the meantime, mix together the dry ingredients for the flatbread then add the yogurt and oil. Add the milk, a little at a time, and mix until a rough dough starts to form. You might not need all the milk. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until it just comes together in a smooth ball. Cover in plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. 
  • Pre-heat the oven to 240ΒΊC/460ΒΊF (or as hot as your oven goes) with the top element/grill to caramelize the skin on the chicken. 
  • Place the chicken in a baking dish/baking sheet in a single layer then place in the oven. Allow the chicken to bake/grill until fully cooked with the skin crisp and caramelized. 
  • While the chicken is baking, roll tennis-sized balls of dough out onto a floured surface (to around Β½cm thick) and cook in a hot pan until golden and bubbling then flip and cook for another minute or two on the other side. Remove from the pan, brush with melted butter (optional) and keep wrapped in foil. 
  • Make the sauce by combining all the ingredients and mixing well. 
  • When the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and slice. 
  • Serve the chicken shawarma in the flatbread with vegetables and pickles of your choice drizzled with the garlic sauce. 

Nutrition

Calories: 669kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 62g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 196mg | Sodium: 1641mg | Potassium: 861mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 765IU | Vitamin C: 7.3mg | Calcium: 251mg | Iron: 5.8mg

 

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Filed Under: Chicken Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Recipes Tagged With: chicken schwarma, chicken shawarma, easy flatbread, garlic sauce, garlic yogurt sauce, shawarma

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. NICOLE S

    January 11, 2021 at 6:16 AM

    Hi, do you rinse or wipe off the marinade before grilling?

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      January 24, 2021 at 8:41 AM

      I just shake off any excess but don’t wipe any of it off.

      Reply
  2. Kari

    August 15, 2020 at 7:28 PM

    Hi! If I wanted to make a couple batches ahead of time, can I refrigerate the dough or Even better, cook and freeze the flatbread?

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      August 16, 2020 at 2:08 PM

      Yes, you can absolutely freeze the flatbread. Layer with parchment paper and freeze for up to 3 months.

      Reply
  3. Valerie McConnell

    August 4, 2020 at 8:47 AM

    This is gene most delicious quick tasty dish. As I don’t eat meats I use black beans but use the delicious marinade sauce for the chicken schwarma. Thanks a million my favourite go to recipe

    Reply
  4. Stacey

    June 6, 2020 at 7:48 PM

    I loved all of the recipes!! And I’m eating those pickled onions like a pregnant woman, haha. I did want to offer a bit of feedback — This was my first time making pita, and we loved it! BUT, I had to look at other recipe pages to feel ready to bake. The pita dough is tackier than most breads, and this threw me off – a note about the consistency/texture would have been helpful to know whether I should be adding more milk or not. Similarly, a heat recommendation for the pan would have been helpful. I took hot to mean high heat, but since butter has such a low burn point the fire alarms were going off the whole cook time. Next time I’m going to use a high heat oil and see how that goes, but clarification on temp or this issue with butter may have been helpful. I cant wait to make it again!

    Reply
  5. Rachel

    April 7, 2020 at 1:00 AM

    Yum this was DELICIOUS! The chicken was sooo flavorful, we grilled it and used chicken breast because that’s what I had in the fridge πŸ™‚ the flat bread was surprisingly easy to put together, came out perfect on my cast iron. Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      April 7, 2020 at 2:14 PM

      Yay! That flatbread is a winner! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  6. Lauren

    March 23, 2019 at 8:31 PM

    Made the chicken but served it with pita bread and tzatziki. Delicious! We’ve never had chicken so juicy!

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      March 23, 2019 at 8:36 PM

      Great! Love that you made it your own. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. Wilma

    March 23, 2019 at 8:30 PM

    One word: AWESOME! But also DELICIOUS, TASTY and all the other words that go along with that. Takes a bit of effort but nothing too difficult and the end result is so worth it.

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      March 23, 2019 at 8:36 PM

      Hahaha, thank you so much Wilma! So glad you liked it.

      Reply
  8. Lisa

    March 17, 2019 at 2:01 PM

    This was delicious. I followed the instructions as they were. I didn’t use the garlic yogurt sauce and bought tazaiki sauce. I’ll definitely be making this again. The bread was so good!! It all was

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      March 17, 2019 at 2:25 PM

      Oh, I’m so pleased to hear that. That flatbread has become my new fav. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  9. Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen

    March 17, 2019 at 1:38 PM

    I love meals that bring back memories Alida. I bet your husband totally enjoyed this one. It looks jus delicious. Homemade flatbread has been on my baking list too. Can’t wait to try it all!

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      March 17, 2019 at 1:50 PM

      He LOVED it. πŸ™‚ You’ll love this flatbread recipe. It is SO easy and perfect as an easy side dish.

      Reply
  10. Maryann

    March 16, 2019 at 9:53 PM

    The look absolutely delicious

    Reply
    • Alida Ryder

      March 17, 2019 at 1:47 PM

      Thanks so much! πŸ™‚

      Reply

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Hi! I'm Alida, mom of twins and creator of Simply Delicious. I hope to encourage a love for cooking by creating fool-proof recipes that are easy and delicious. Read More…

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