HEALTHY CHICKEN SHAWARMA WITH YOGHURT-GARLIC SAUCE
Whether you are looking for a tasty lunch, a delicious dinner or a late night snack, you can’t go wrong with a shawarma.
Shawarma, one of the world’s most popular street food, is a Middle Eastern cuisine made from marinated meat that before now is traditionally roasted slowly then cut into thin slices, and stuffed inside a flatbread along with a variety of vegetables, such as lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, etc. Shawarma was originally made of lamb, but today chicken, turkey, beef, are some of the meat used.
The secret to shawarma’s taste lies in the way the meat is cooked either roasted, fried, or baked. I prefer baking and roasting as a later option when I have all the time. Apart from the unique taste, these two last options are much more healthier.
What meat is best for Shawarma?
To start, you have to decide on the type of meat you are going for. Beef, Turkey, Chicken? I use boneless chicken or chicken breast when making shawarma. This part of Chicken doesn’t have fat and I consider it healthier and the work load of de-boning after cooking is removed. You can use chicken thighs (just make sure to de-bone and remove all your meat chunks). So the choice for the best meat to use depends on you.
What sauce goes best with Shawarma?
Condiments are simply spices, sauces, or preparation that is added to food, mostly after cooking, to enhance the flavor, and complement the dish. Some condiments are added before the dish is made. This is the case of Shawarma.
I prefer either the unique Lebanese Garlic Sauce for Shawarma or Yoghurt-garlic sauce. If you can’t find the items listed for my signature Yoghurt sauce, then feel free to use the Mayonnaise and Ketchup sauce recipe I will also share here.
How long should I marinade my meat?
What spices should I use for marinade?
What’s the shelf life of Shawarma?
What veggies goes well with Shawarma?
What bread is best for Shawarma?
SEE STEP BY STEP VIDEO HERE: Chicken Shawarma with Yoghurt sauce
To Make:
- Get your boneless chicken pat it with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel to remove water. Having water in your chicken will prevent the spices from sipping well into the chicken.
- Next mix or blend your spices and pour over your chicken.
- Next add your lemon juice, and yoghurt and mix all well into your chicken making sure to rub in the spices well.
- Cover your bowl with a plastic wrap or cling film and keep chicken in the refrigerator overnight or for 2 hours. You can also leave it in a cool dry place in your kitchen for 2 hours.
- Next, get your Greek yoghurt, Sweet Chili sauce, Garlic (peeled and washed), Basil leaf (scent leaf), black pepper (this is different from what we call Cameron pepper in some part of Nigeria), and lemon juice. Pour all content into a blender, add a Teaspoon of cooking oil (this allows your garlic blend well. Blend all items. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
- Prepare your veggies. Wash all your veggies well with water and some salt. Thinly slice your cabbage, grate your carrot. Divide your cucumber into two, remove the seeds from the first half and cut into thin stripes (see the video). If you have English cucumbers it’s perfect! Just go ahead and slice thinly ‘cos they don’t contain seeds. Then cut the second cucumber into thin disc. Thinly slice your onion. Remove seeds from your tomatoes and thinly slice or chop them. Remove seeds from your bell pepper and slice into stripes. Set the lettuce aside.
- Next pour all veggies except lettuce into a big bowl and mix all well to combine. Transfer veggies to a strainer to remove water and set aside.
- Now get your chicken and prepare it. To bake, slightly grease your oven tray or pan with butter or spray with a cooking spray. Place your chicken on it and bake. OR to grill, place chicken on your grill and just go ahead and allow it grill. Once in a while turn it over and apply the remaining marinade all over it. Keep doing this till it’s ready.
- Once baked or grilled, cut the chicken into chunks not thin but biteable chunks.
- I used sausages with my Shawarma. If using sausages, grill it just like I did in my MINI CORN DOG RECIPE. Or if pairing it with French fries then you need to make my signature RESTAURANT STYLE FRENCH FRIES.
- Now it’s time to place all items together. Get your Shawarma bread, spread slightly with your Yoghurt-garlic sauce, add your chicken, then veggies, then sausage, then lettuce and more chicken then drizzle with 1 tablespoon of your yoghurt sauce and wrap just like I did in the video.
- Eat right way or heat up on a skillet for 1-2 minutes before eating
Alternative Shawarma sauce (Mayonnaise Sauce):
- 3 Tablespoons Ketchup
- 3 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp black pepper or to taste
Sussan Apeh.
Welcome Adventurous Baker to a simplified Baking and Confectionery blog! I am Apeh Sussan, a professionally trained cake artist, pastry chef, small chops specialist, cookier, and dessert maker. I am a proud African from Nigeria. I will be taking you every week on how to make healthy signature treats from the comfort of your home and with simple accessible materials to wow your family, friends, and clients! I also run detailed online training on ALL my signature treats that is accessible 24/7! Kindly subscribe to my blog and invite your friends as we continue this adventure! For sponsorship, collaborations, etc please send us an email via sussycakes@sussycakes.com.ng