Juicy, Charred Chicken Shawarma Wraps

These chicken shawarma wraps are super quick, easy and PACKED with gorgeous Middle Eastern flavors. Juicy, charred chicken thighs are piled onto soft flatbreads with lots of crunchy veggies and delicious sauces for a wonderful weeknight winner.

Piling lots of lovely things on top of soft flatbreads is often my go-to meal, especially when I’m tired. It’s a great way to get lots of veggies in, and to use up odds and ends you might have in your fridge.

Here, we’ll marinate chicken thighs in a zingy, spice-laden mix, cook them quickly until lovely and charred then pile them onto flatbreads with crunchy veggies and delicious sauces. It’s a wonderful, easy meal that delivers so much flavor in so little time.

This is in no way a classic chicken shawarma – which is cooked on a vertical, rotating spit – but it does have all those familiar flavor in a quick and easy package, perfect for busy weeknights, meal prep or work-from-home lunches. For a similar flavor profile, try this air fryer viral chicken doner kebab platter next.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Chicken thighs. I love using chicken thighs because they’re super juicy and stay that way after cooking over high heat. You can use chicken breasts, but you’ll want to flatten them out slightly using a rolling pin so they cook quickly and evenly. Always use free-range.
• Spices. We’re using ground cumin, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon here to get that lovely, shawarma flavor. Cinnamon might seem strange in a savory recipe but I promise it works and provides a lovely warmth to the chicken.
• Toppings. I’m using crunchy gem lettuce, cucumber and scallions (spring onions), but you can mix this up depending on what you have – add diced tomatoes, red onion or pickled onions, sliced red peppers or lots of lovely herbs like flat-leaf parsley, mint or cilantro.
• Sauces. Chicken shawarma loves a sauce, and we’ll use three here. One is a very quick tahini sauce (literally just mixing lemon, tahini, garlic, salt and water), the second is garlic aioli and the third is (of course!) hummus. You could also make a lovely tahini yogurt sauce, green tahini sauce or make the egg-free garlic aioli or creamy super smooth hummus yourself.

How to Make Chicken Shawarma Flatbreads

This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the wraps – the full instructions with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.

1. Start by mixing the shawarma marinade – I like to do this directly in the bowl or container I’ll add the chicken for ease. Throw in the chicken thighs and mix well so they’re all covered, then set aside while you get everything else ready.

2. Pop a large skillet over high heat, then add your chicken and cook until lovely and charred.

3. Once your chicken is cooked through (either use a probe thermometer to check the thickest part is registering 165F/75C or you can slice into it to check it’s white and not pink), remove it from the pan and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing.

4. Smooth the hummus onto the base of your flatbreads, then top with the lettuce, cucumber and scallions. Layer on the sliced chicken, then drizzle with the tahini sauce, and a little aioli then finish with pomegranate seeds.

Chicken Shawarma Wraps FAQs

Watch How to Make Shawarma Wraps

Like this recipe? Here are more chicken ideas you might enjoy

Air Fryer Viral Chicken Doner Kebab Platter

Juicy Chicken Shawarma Crispy Rice Salad

Smash Kebab Tacos

Juicy Chicken Poke Bowls

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.

Juicy, Charred Chicken Shawarma Wraps

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5 from 1 review

• Author: Kate Phillips
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 flatbreads 1x
• Diet: Low Calorie

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Description

These chicken shawarma wraps are super quick, super easy and PACKED with gorgeous Middle Eastern flavors. Juicy, charred chicken thighs are piled onto soft flatbreads with lots of crunchy veggies and delicious sauces for a wonderful weeknight winner.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

For the chicken shawarma – 

• 1 lb (500g) chicken thighs (boneless, skinless and free-range)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

For the tahini sauce – 

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

For the flatbreads – 

• 1 gem lettuce, sliced
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 2 scallions (spring onions), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 4 flatbreads (I love these two-ingredient dough garlic flatbreads)
• 1/2 cup hummus (try this creamy super smooth hummus or creamy white bean hummus)
• 1/2 cup aioli (try easy egg-free garlic aioli or spicy gochujang aioli)

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Instructions

1. Marinate the chicken. Add 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon to a mixing bowl or container along with 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the 3 crushed garlic cloves. Mix well to combine, then add the chicken thighs. Mix again to coat the chicken really well in the marinade, then set aside in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. PRO TIP: You can marinate the chicken up to 24 hours in advance if you’d like to get ahead.
2. Make the tahini sauce. Add 1/2 cup tahini, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 2 crushed garlic cloves to a small bowl. Use a fork to combine well into a thick paste. Add about 1/4 cup of water and mix again – it’ll seem like the sauce won’t come together but just trust the process – keep mixing until the sauce thickens up again and reaches the consistency of double cream. Add a little more water if you like it thinner. Set aside.
3. Cook the chicken. Place a large frying pan or skillet over high heat, then add the chicken thighs. Let them cook without touching them, for 7 minutes. This is to let a lovely charred crust develop – if you move them around, this won’t happen. After 7 minutes, flip the chicken over and cook for 7 minutes on the other side. Remove the chicken from the heat and set aside to rest for about 5 minutes.
4. Assemble the wraps. Lay a flatbread on a plate, then spoon on a little hummus. Smooth it all over the flatbread, then top it with some sliced lettuce, cucumber and scallions. Slice the chicken thighs, then pile them on top of the salad. Drizzle over tahini sauce, aioli and finally the pomegranate seeds. Repeat with the rest of the flatbreads. 

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES: You can use chicken breasts here, but I recommend flattening them out with a rolling pin to ensure quick and even cooking. Use any flatbreads or wraps you like, though I love using my super easy two-ingredient dough flatbread recipe.

SUBSTITUTIONS: Use any crunchy veggie toppings you like here – add diced tomatoes, spinach, red peppers, red onion or pickled onion. I also love swapping the tahini sauce for green tahini sauce or tahini yogurt sauce. Spice things up with 2-minute gochujang aioli rather than regular aioli.

STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The chicken will keep for 5 days once cooked, stored in an airtight container in the fridge so this is a great recipe for meal prepping. You can also marinate the chicken up to 24 hours in advance, then cook it when you’re ready so it’s great for prepping ahead of time. 

• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 15
• Category: fakeaways
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: mediterranean

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 flatbread
• Calories: 752
• Sugar: 7.3g
• Sodium: 1899.1mg
• Fat: 42.2g
• Saturated Fat: 6.6g
• Unsaturated Fat: 24.7g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 60.3g
• Fiber: 8.7g
• Protein: 39.1g
• Cholesterol: 128mg