Oven-Roasted Chicken Shawarma (Lebanese Spiced Chicken Thighs with Tahini Sauce)

Chicken shawarma (شاورما دجاج, shawarma djej) is the Lebanese street-food classic of thinly sliced spiced chicken shaved from a slowly turning spit and tucked into pita with garlic sauce and pickles. This home version gets the same lemony, warm-spiced crust from a very hot oven: boneless thighs are marinated in olive oil, lemon, garlic and a blend of cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon and allspice, roasted until the edges char, then sliced and crisped again on the tray. As the evenings cool down in October, a tray of shawarma filling the kitchen with the smell of toasted spices is exactly the kind of dinner you want, and it feeds four for very little effort.

Three things make this work. Thighs, not breasts: the extra fat keeps the meat juicy through the high heat and gives you the crisp, caramelized edges that define shawarma. A proper marinade: two hours is the minimum and overnight is better, because the lemon and salt season the meat all the way through and the yogurt (optional, but recommended) tenderizes it. And a second blast of heat after slicing: shaving the roasted thighs thinly and returning them to the hot tray for a few minutes is what turns roast chicken into shawarma, with plenty of browned, slightly crunchy pieces in every bite.

The spice blend below makes exactly enough for this recipe, but it is worth mixing a triple batch and keeping it in a jar; it is just as good on cauliflower, lamb chops or chickpeas. Serve with the quick tahini sauce here, or with toum if you have a jar of that fluffy Lebanese garlic sauce in the fridge.

Ingredients

For the chicken and marinade

• 800 g (1 3/4 lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of large pieces of fat
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons plain whole-milk yogurt (optional, for a more tender result)
• Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons) plus the finely grated zest of half of it
• 4 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
• 1 large onion (about 200 g / 7 oz), cut into thick wedges

For the tahini sauce

• 4 tablespoons (60 g) tahini, well stirred
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
• 60 to 80 ml (1/4 to 1/3 cup) cold water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

To serve

• 4 pita breads or thin Lebanese flatbreads, or 600 g (about 4 cups) cooked rice
• 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced
• Pickled cucumbers and pink pickled turnips, sliced
• A handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• Toum (Lebanese garlic sauce), if you have it

Instructions

1. Make the marinade: in a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, yogurt (if using), lemon juice and zest, garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, cayenne and salt into a thick, brick-red paste.
2. Add the chicken thighs and rub the marinade into every fold of the meat with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight and up to 24 hours. Take the chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before roasting.
3. Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F) and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Scatter the onion wedges over the tray and lay the thighs on top in a single layer, opening each one flat and leaving a little space between them so they roast rather than steam.
4. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are dark and crisp, the onions are soft and browned, and the thickest part of the thigh registers 74°C (165°F). For more char, switch the oven to broil (grill) for the final 3 minutes and watch closely.
5. While the chicken roasts, make the tahini sauce: stir the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt together in a small bowl. It will seize and thicken; keep stirring while adding the cold water a tablespoon at a time until it loosens into a smooth, pourable sauce the consistency of heavy cream. Taste and add more lemon or salt as needed.
6. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice the thighs across the grain into thin strips about 5 mm (1/4 inch) wide, then roughly chop the onions.
7. Return the sliced chicken and onions to the hot tray, toss them through the juices, spread everything out and put the tray back in the oven (or under the broiler) for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring once, until the strips have browned, crisp edges. This second roasting is what gives the meat its shawarma texture.
8. Meanwhile, warm the pitas in the bottom of the oven for 2 minutes, or over a gas flame for a few seconds a side, and wrap them in a towel to keep them soft.
9. Assemble: spread a spoonful of tahini sauce (or toum) down the middle of each pita, pile on the chicken and onions, add tomato, pickles and parsley, drizzle with more sauce and roll up tightly. Alternatively, serve everything over rice with the sauce on the side.

Tips

• Do not skip the resting and slicing step before the second roast. If you slice too early, the juices run out; if you skip the second roast, you have tasty roast chicken but not the crisp, layered texture of shawarma.
• Substitutions: if you cannot find allspice, use a pinch more cinnamon plus a pinch of ground cloves. Tahini can be replaced with a Greek-style garlic yogurt sauce (yogurt, grated garlic, lemon, salt), and chicken breasts work if you cut the roasting time to 18 to 20 minutes and slice them thickly. Smoked paprika in place of sweet paprika adds a hint of the spit-roasted flavor.
• Make ahead and storage: the marinated raw chicken keeps in the fridge for up to 24 hours or in the freezer for 3 months (defrost overnight before roasting). Cooked shawarma keeps 4 days in the fridge; reheat in a hot skillet or under the broiler for a few minutes so the edges crisp up again rather than in the microwave, which makes it soft. The tahini sauce keeps for a week and thickens as it sits, so loosen it with a splash of water.
• What to serve with it: the classic plate has pita, tahini sauce or toum, pickled turnips, tomato, a lemony parsley-and-onion salad and French fries tucked into the wrap. For a lighter dinner, serve the chicken over rice or bulgur with a chopped cucumber-tomato salad and a drizzle of the sauce.
• For more heat, double the cayenne or add a spoonful of harissa or Aleppo pepper to the marinade. For less, leave the cayenne out entirely; the blend is aromatic rather than hot.
• This scales beautifully for a crowd: use two trays rather than crowding one, and rotate them halfway through roasting. Leftover sliced shawarma is excellent tossed into a grain bowl or stuffed into a baguette with pickles for lunch.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is an estimate only: about 520 kcal, 42 g protein, 32 g fat, 12 g carbohydrate per serving of chicken, onions and tahini sauce, without pita or rice.