These chicken shawarma wraps are super quick, super easy and PACKED with gorgeous Middle Eastern flavours. 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 flavour 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 the flavour of shawarma in a quick and easy package, perfect for busy weeknights, meal prep or work-from-home lunches.
Ingredients
I know it looks like a lot of ingredients here, but everything is easy to find at a regular store and you probably have the spices already.
- Chicken thighs. I love using chicken thighs here because they’re super juicy and stay that way after cooking over high heat. You can use chicken breast, but you’ll want to flatten them out slightly using a rolling pin so they cook quicker and more evenly. Always use free-range.
- Spices. We’re using ground cumin, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon here to get that lovely, shawarma flavour. Cinnamon might seem strange in a savoury recipe but I promise it works here and provides a lovely warmth to the flavour.
- Toppings. I’m using crunchy gem lettuce, cucumber and scallions (spring onions), but you can really 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 coriander.
- 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 garlic aioli or creamy hummus yourself.
How to make them
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. Chop your lettuce, cucumber and scallions (spring onions, mix your tahini sauce and get your flatbreads ready to go.
Pop a large skillet over high heat, then add your chicken. Let it cook for about 5 minutes without disturbing it (this will create a lovely charred crust), then flip and cook for another 5 minutes.
PRO TIP: You can marinate your chicken up to 24 hours ahead of time if you like, just store it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it.
Once your chicken is looking lovely and charred and 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.
Smooth the hummus onto the base of your flatbreads, then top with the lettuce, cucumber and scallions (spring onions). Layer on the sliced chicken, then drizzle with the tahini sauce, and a little aioli then finish with pomegranate seeds.
Got a question?
You can! I like to pound my chicken breasts down a little with a rolling pin (this tenderises the meat and also will help it cook more evenly) before cooking. You can also use chicken tenderloin.
You definitely can. You can either cook the chicken and then enjoy the wraps cold, or marinate the chicken up to 24 hours ahead of time. Then just cook the chicken and arrange the wraps when you’re ready.
Yes! This chicken would actually be even BETTER on the BBQ. Follow the same cooking instructions as in the recipe.
You certainly can, and I’d recommend popping it under the grill (broiler) for the last couple of minutes just to mimic the lovely caramelisation you get in the pan. Cook the chicken on a lined oven tray for 15 minutes at 220C/425F, then turn your oven to grill (broil) on the highest heat (250C/482F) for another 4 or 5 minutes, until lovely and charred.
Like this recipe? Here are some more chicken ideas you might enjoy
If you make this recipe, I’d love to know! You can leave me a comment below.
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Chicken Shawarma Wraps
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 wraps 1x
- Diet: Low Calorie
Description
These chicken shawarma wraps are super quick, super easy and PACKED with gorgeous Middle Eastern flavours. Juicy, charred chicken thighs are piled onto soft flatbreads with lots of crunchy veggies and delicious sauces for a wonderful weeknight winner.
Ingredients
For the chicken shawarma –
- 400g (14oz) 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 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 4 flatbreads
- 1/2 cup hummus
- 1/2 cup aioli
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 5 minutes. This is to let a lovely charred crust develop – if you move them around, this won’t happen. After 5 minutes, flip the chicken over and cook for another 5 minutes on the other side. Remove the chicken from the heat and set aside to rest for about 5 minutes.
- 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 spring onions (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 breast 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 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: 10
- Category: fakeaways
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: mediterranean
Keywords: chicken wraps, chicken flatbreads
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