This homemade chicken shawarma wrap is one delicious and easy meal that can be prepared in less than 30 minutes! Chicken thighs are marinated in a delicious chicken shawarma marinade before being cooked and loaded into pita with all your favourite toppings! {Dairy-free}
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Chicken Shawarma Wraps
Skip ordering takeout this week, and whip up this homemade chicken shawarma wrap instead!
Marinated in olive oil, lemon, garlic and shawarma spices, this Middle Eastern favourite is easy to make at home with ingredients you most likely have on hand already. The chicken is oven baked, incredibly flavoured and super juicy with deliciously crispy edges.
We love serving it up on pitas topped with lots of fresh veggies, tzatziki, hummus and extra chicken shawarma sauce. It makes for one quick, easy and delicious dinner that everyone always raves about!
Be sure to try these Healthy Turkey Wraps and Falafel Wraps too!
Why we love this pita shawarma recipe
- Easy: This recipe is surprisingly simple to make. Simply marinate the chicken earlier in the day, bake in the oven and then serve in a pita with your favourite toppings!
- Healthier: This is a much healthier alternative to your typical takeout shawarma. It’s high in protein, and a good source of fibre, vitamins and minerals due to all the fresh veggies and whole-grain pitas. Plus, you can control the amount of salt used so these wraps contain a lot less sodium than restaurant options.
- Family-friendly: These wraps are full of flavour, but aren’t overly spicy, so this meal something that the whole family can enjoy.
- Totally customizable: Once you bake up the chicken, you can load up the pitas with whatever toppings you like. Or, you can even skip the pita and serve the chicken on a salad or make chicken shawarma bowls instead. So many options!
Ingredient notes
- Lemon juice: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the marinade. This gives it a fresh and zingy flavour.
- Oil: Use olive oil to marinate the chicken. Oil helps the flavours absorb more easily and will help to crisp up the chicken when it’s baking in the oven.
- Seasonings: Garlic, paprika, cumin, pepper, salt, turmeric and red pepper flakes are the shawarma spices and seasonings used to flavour up the chicken. You can also add in a pinch of cinnamon too if desired.
- Chicken: I like to use skinless and boneless chicken thighs for this recipe. You can also use diced chicken breast if you prefer, but it most likely won’t turn out as juicy.
- Pita: I like to serve the chicken in whole grain pita, but you can use regular as well or sub in Naan bread.
- Toppings: Add all your favourite vegetables to these wraps like tomatoes, lettuce and onion. For a burst of flavour, add some feta cheese and top the pita with some hummus and/or tzatziki.
Homemade Shawarma – Step by step instructions
- To prepare the chicken shawarma marinade, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, paprika, cumin, pepper, salt, turmeric, and red pepper flakes to a small blender or bowl and mix until well combined.
- Add the chicken thighs to a shallow bowl, tray or resealable freezer bag and pour in the marinade. Toss until the chicken is well coated. Store in refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours. You can skip this step if you’re in a rush.
- When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a tablespoon of oil evenly across a rimmed baking sheet. Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade and place evenly spaced out on the greased pan.
- Place in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and browned and crispy around the edges. You may wish to broil it for the last 2-3 minutes to get it extra browned and crispy on the outside.
How to make chicken shawarma wraps
- Remove chicken from the oven and allow it to rest for 2 minutes. Using a sharp knife, cut chicken into slices or small pieces.
- Divide chicken among pitas along with hummus and/or tzatziki, tomatoes, lettuce, red onion, feta or other desired toppings. Finish with a sprinkle of parsley, fold up the wrap and serve.
Recipe Tips
- I like to blend the shawarma marinade in a mini blender (we love the Ninja) as I find it combines it really well and saves on mincing up the garlic since you can throw the whole cloves in there. This is totally optional, but gives the marinade a thicker and smoother consistency that can also be used as a sauce.
- Sometimes I’ll reserve a quarter of the marinade (that hasn’t been exposed to the raw chicken) and use it as a chicken shawarma sauce to drizzle over the cooked chicken on the pita. It adds an extra kick of shawarma flavour to the wrap.
- If you like crispier chicken shawarma, place the chicken under the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.
- If you’d like, you can also toss some sliced red onion into the marinade and cook the onion slices along with the chicken to provide even more flavour to the wrap.
- I typically like to serve this shawarma on a pita, but you can serve it on Naan bread or a large flour tortilla as well.
- For an even more delicious wrap, you can warm the pitas in the oven for several minutes before adding the chicken and toppings.
- For easy meal prep, you can also freeze the raw chicken thighs in the marinade. Thaw it out first thing in the morning or overnight, and then bake when ready to serve!
- The nutritional information may not be 100% accurate since it accounts for all of the marinade. Much of the marinade will be lost once you transfer the chicken to the baking pan, so the calories, fat and sodium will be lower than what is noted below.
Recipe FAQs
You can store the wraps in the fridge for up to two days wrapped in saran wrap or stored in an air-tight container. For best results, store the chicken shawarma, pita and toppings separately and assemble just before serving to prevent the pita and fillings from getting soggy.
Yes they can be made in advance, although they tend to taste best when freshly prepared. Your best bet is to prepare the chicken shawarma in advance and then add to the wrap along with the toppings just before serving.
Yes! You can freeze the chicken in the marinade, so that it’s ready to use at a later date.
To freeze: Place the chicken and marinade ingredients into a freezer safe container or ziplock bag, toss the chicken until coated and freeze. Thaw fully in the fridge overnight before cooking as per the recipe instructions.
To reheat the cooked leftovers, place the chicken onto a baking sheet, along with a couple of tablespoons of water so that it doesn’t dry out. Cover with foil and cook in the oven at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes or until warmed through.
Definitely! You can use an outdoor grill or a grill pan to cook the chicken thighs. Oil and preheat the grill and cook on both sides until browned, crispy and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F.
Yes it’s a great balanced option! Because this wrap is homemade, you can control exactly which ingredients are going into it. It makes for a balanced and filling option with 36 grams of protein and 6 grams of fibre per serving. You can also load in some extra vitamins and minerals by adding lots of fresh veggies when serving. Not to mention, it’s much lower in sodium than your typical takeout shawarma options. If you’d like to lower the sodium even more, just add less salt to the marinade.
You can wrap up the pitas tightly and eat them with your hands, or if you really like to load on the extra veggies and toppings like we do, you can lay out the pita flat on a plate, top with chicken and other toppings and eat it with a fork and knife. Totally up to you!
Serving suggestions
These chicken shawarma wraps can be served with all of your favourite toppings.
Try adding:
- Chopped fresh parsley
- Tomatoes
- Lettuce
- Arugula
- Red onion
- Feta
- Hummus
- Tzatziki
- Cucumbers
- Roasted eggplant
- Olives
- Hot sauce
- Romaine Lettuce
- Pickled peppers
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Roasted Garlic Spread
You can also serve it alongside your favourite salad or vegetable sides like this Greek Lentil Tabbouleh Salad or Curly Sweet Potato Fries.
Recipe variations
- Different wrap: Instead of pita bread, try using naan bread or use a flour tortilla
- Grill instead of bake: Cook the chicken on an oiled and preheated outdoor grill or a grill pan. Use an instant read thermometer to check that it’s cooked through. It should register at 165F.
- To make gluten-free: Use a gluten-free pita, naan or tortilla wrap.
More similar recipes
- Curry Chicken Marinade
- Spicy Chicken Wraps Recipe
- Mayo-Free Creamy Tuna Lettuce Wraps
- Smoked Salmon Wrap
- Mediterranean Chicken Kabobs
- Healthy Chicken Pizza
Did you make this recipe? Scroll down to leave a rating and review!
Chicken Shawarma Wrap Recipe
Ingredients
For the chicken shawarma marinade:
- 2 lemons juiced
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on how much spiciness you like)
- 2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs
For the wraps:
- 6 whole-grain pitas
- Diced tomatoes
- Lettuce
- Red onion
- Feta cheese
- Hummus
- Tzatziki
- Fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- To prepare the chicken shawarma marinade, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, paprika, cumin, pepper, salt, turmeric, and red pepper flakes in a small blender or bowl and mix until well combined.
- Add the chicken thighs to a shallow bowl, tray or resealable freezer bag and pour in the marinade. Toss until the chicken is well coated. Store in refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a tablespoon of oil evenly across a rimmed baking sheet. Remove the chicken thighs from the marinade and place evenly spaced out on the greased pan.
- Place in the oven and roast for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and browned and crispy around the edges. You may wish to broil it for the last 2-3 minutes to get it extra browned and crispy.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 2 minutes. Using a sharp knife, cut chicken into slices or small pieces.
- Divide chicken among pitas along with hummus and/or tzatziki, tomatoes, lettuce, red onion, feta or other desired toppings. Finish with a sprinkle of parsley, fold up the wrap and serve.
Notes
- I like to blend the shawarma marinade in a mini blender (we love the Ninja) as I find it combines it really well and saves on mincing up the garlic since you can throw the whole cloves in there. This is totally optional, but gives the marinade a thicker and smoother consistency that can also be used as a sauce.
- Sometimes I’ll reserve a quarter of the marinade (that hasn’t been exposed to the raw chicken) and use it as a chicken shawarma sauce to drizzle over the cooked chicken on the pita. It adds an extra kick of shawarma flavour to the wrap.
- If you like crispier chicken shawarma, place the chicken under the broiler for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.
- If you’d like, you can also toss some sliced red onion into the marinade and cook the onion slices along with the chicken to provide even more flavour to the wrap.
- I typically like to serve this shawarma on a pita, but you can serve it on Naan bread or a large flour tortilla as well.
- For an even more delicious wrap, you can warm the pitas in the oven for several minutes before adding the chicken and toppings.
- For easy meal prep, you can also freeze the raw chicken thighs in the marinade. Thaw it out first thing in the morning or overnight, and then bake when ready to serve!
- The nutritional information may not be 100% accurate since it accounts for all of the marinade. Much of the marinade will be lost once you transfer the chicken to the baking pan, so the calories, fat and sodium will be lower than what is noted below.
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