Chicken Shawarma
This Whole30 Chicken Shawarma is an updated spin on one of my favourite Middle Eastern dishes. The chicken is marinated in a rich blend of spices and then cooked on a sheet pan in the oven. The chicken is served on a creamy lemon tahini sauce garnished with pomegranate seeds and radishes for a bit of crunch. This is a great dish to serve a crowd and it also just happens to be Whole30, Paleo and Keto!
This is not your typical chicken shawarma, IT’S SO MUCH BETTER! It’s more flavourful, healthier and so delicious.
I had a similar version of this dish served on pita at a local restaurant and new I had to recreate a Paleo version of it at home. With a creamy tahini sauce base, tender spicy strips of chicken, onion and toppings of pomegranate seeds, thin slices of radish, parsley and more tahini, every bite is packed with so much flavour.
The chicken is marinated in a mix of spices including cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and coriander which give it a traditional shawarma type flavour. I prefer using chicken thighs, but chicken breasts or even thinly sliced beef would work well in this recipe.
After marinating for a minimum of 4 hours (but ideally overnight) the chicken and chunks of onion are placed on a baking tray and baked for 30 minutes until tender.
If it wasn’t for the marinating time, this would definitely be a Whole30in30 recipe because the whole dish comes together so quickly. If you have any leftovers, they are fantastic tossed warm into a salad with extra radishes and pomegranate seeds and the remaining tahini sauce used as a dressing. I think you are going to love this Whole30 Chicken Shawarma, it’s so tasty!
Here are a few of my other North African/Middle Eastern inspired recipes that you might enjoy:
- Baba Ganoush
- Middle Eastern Lamb Stuffed Eggplant
- Moroccan Couscous Salad
- Moroccan Chicken Tagine
- Herby Couscous Stuffed Eggplant Rolls
- Moroccan Chicken Skewers with Couscous
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Chicken Shawarma
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 medium onions cut into slices
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tbsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
Tahini Sauce
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
Shwarma Platter
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced radishes
- 2 cups watercress (you can swap for another lettuce variety of your choice)
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Cut the chicken thighs into thin strips and place them in a resealable bag along with the onion. Add in all of the remaining chicken marinade ingredients and squish it with your hands to ensure that the chicken is evenly coated in the marinade. Place in the fridge for 4 hours but ideally overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 Fahrenheit) and empty the contents of the marinating chicken bag out onto a large baking tray. Use a fork to ensure everything is spread out evenly and then bake in the oven for 30 minutes until all of the chicken is cooked.
- While the chicken is cooking, in a blender or nutribullet container combine all of the ingredients for the tahini sauce and blend until completely smooth. The consistency should be fluffy.
- To assemble the platter spoon 1/2 the tahini sauce down onto the centre of the plate and arrange the watercress around the outside. Place all of the chicken down onto the place on top of the tahini sauce. Garnish by drizzling the remaining tahini sauce over the chicken and watercress and place the slices of radishes overtop, along with the pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley.
Nutrition
Made this last night and served over whole wheat couscous. Thanks to all the comments about adding salt to the marinade. I caught the omission and added it before the whole thing sat over night. I topped with toasted pistachio and cilantro. The whole thing was *chef’s kiss* delicious!
Thankyou for sharing this amazing recipe. Will definitely try 🙂
My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
I believe you forgot the salt for this recipe. Once I added salt to the chicken it was much better.
Best chicken recipe ever. I usually avoid eating dark meat, but this has cured me of my foolish ways. So much yum
Can the marination be kept overnight?
Don’t forget to add salt to your delicious recipe. It isn’t updated yet and that makes all the difference. My family lovers this so much!
As I’m sitting here prepping for my first colonoscopy (which I suspect may lead to a crohns or UC diagnosis), I came across your website filled with beautiful SCD recipes. Thank you for the work you do – I think this will be one of the first things I make. 🙂
Hi Carmen,
Firstly, thanks for posting this delicious recipe. Did you leave the salt out of the marinade on purpose? I used the old rule of thumb ~3/4 tsp per pound of chicken, and it came out just perfectly.
I additionally want to note, in case it might help anyone else who might make this, that the tahini sauce as written was very thick. I had to add a good bit more water than is mentioned to get it at what I thought was the right consistency (hummus like), and then for the remainder that was to be drizzled, I added even more.
Thanks for the feedback Madeleine! Leaving out the salt was definitely an oversight, I’ve updated the recipe to include it, and thanks for your feedback about the sauce, depending on the type of tahini some can definitely be a lot thicker then others.
Glad I scanned these comments. I just put my marinating chicken in the fridge and also saw there’s no salt in the recipe. I don’t think the recipe has been modified but I’m going to add some salt right now. Sounds delicious!
Absolutely deliciousness.
Yea!! So happy to hear that!