Broiler chicken shawarma at home: ingredients, method and safe handling

Chicken shawarma is a familiar dish in restaurants and food courts, but it can be made at home with a few ingredients. On 15 July 2026 Jagonews24 published a recipe for shawarma made with broiler (farm) chicken: chicken marinated in yoghurt and spices is cooked in a pan, then rolled in soft bread with a garlic-mayonnaise sauce and a cucumber, tomato and onion salad. It makes an easy afternoon snack or a dish for guests. The recipe follows, with health authorities' advice on handling raw chicken safely.

Shawarma is a popular Middle Eastern street food that originated in the Levant during the Ottoman Empire. Thinly sliced meat is stacked in an inverted cone and roasted on a slowly turning vertical spit, and the cooked outer layer is shaved off to serve. The Arabic name comes from the Turkish word çevirme, meaning "turning". It is usually wrapped in flatbread such as pita or lavash, and chicken shawarma is often eaten with toum, a garlic sauce. Since a home kitchen has no vertical spit, this recipe cooks the meat in a pan.

• 2 cups boneless broiler chicken
• 4-5 soft flatbreads (pita or wheat-flour roti)
• 2 tablespoons yoghurt
• 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice (for the marinade) and half a teaspoon (for the sauce)
• Half a teaspoon ground black pepper
• Half a teaspoon garam masala
• Half a teaspoon chilli powder
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• Finely chopped garlic
• 1 cucumber, 1 tomato, 1 onion thinly sliced
• A little sugar, salt to taste

• In a large bowl, mix the chicken with the yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, black pepper, garam masala, chilli powder and salt, and coat well. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the spices get into the meat.
• Heat the oil in a pan, add the chicken and cook covered over a medium flame. When the liquid from the meat has dried up and the meat is fully cooked, fry for a few more minutes. When it shows light golden marks, take it off the heat and slice it thinly or shred it.
• Sauce: whisk the mayonnaise, chopped garlic, lemon juice and a little sugar in a small bowl. A little yoghurt makes it milder.
• Salad: toss the chopped cucumber, tomato and onion lightly with a little salt and lemon juice.
• Warm the bread slightly, spread the sauce evenly over it and put the chicken and salad on one side.
• Roll it up tightly and wrap the bottom in tissue or foil. Serve with tomato sauce, chilli sauce or extra garlic sauce.

The original recipe began by washing the chicken, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says raw chicken is ready to cook and does not need washing; washing it can spread germs to other food, the sink and the counter. That step has therefore been left out here. Other advice from health authorities:

• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw chicken (CDC).
• Use a separate cutting board for raw chicken, and never put the salad vegetables or cooked meat on a board or plate that held raw chicken (CDC).
• Always marinate in the refrigerator, not on the counter (U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health).
• Chicken pieces should reach an internal temperature of at least 74°C (165°F); check with a food thermometer if you have one (Health Canada, CDC).
• Refrigerate leftover cooked chicken within 2 hours (CDC).

Photo: Zebaarts / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health, Wikipedia