These Shawarma Chicken Wraps are full of spicy marinated chicken and topped with fresh veggies, feta cheese, tzatziki sauce, and pickled onions. All of that wrapped in a warm pita to make a delicious and healthy meal!
If you are looking for a homemade meal full of flavor, spices, and healthy ingredients, these Shawarma Chicken Wraps are for you! The chicken can marinate anywhere from 4 hours to overnight to infuse all of that spicy flavor.
Even if you make this entire meal from scratch, you can make it in one day. Or, you can plan ahead and make some of the ingredients ahead of time. Any way you decide to pull this meal together, you will have a delicious and healthy meal.
What are Shawarma Chicken Wraps?
Chicken Shawarma Wraps are full of flavor and a little zest thanks to a delish shawarma-inspired marinade. My recipe adds fresh veggies, feta cheese, tzatziki sauce, and pickled red onions wrapped in a warm pita for a flavor explosion.
According to Wikipedia, Shawarma is an Arabic rendering of Turkish 'turning', referring to the turning rotisserie. The shawarma technique is grilling a vertical stack of meat slices and cutting it off as it cooks.
This recipe doesn't require a spinning spit, it focuses more on the flavors and spices commonly found in shawarma recipes like cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, and paprika. Shawarma is commonly served as a sandwich or a wrap or in a flatbread such as a pita or laffa.
How to Make the Marinade for Chicken Shawarma Wraps
Like most marinades, a shawarma marinade is easy to make. You will need quite a few spices from the pantry, but they all work so well together it's worth it. Measure out the extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, minced garlic clove, ground cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, curry powder, ground cinnamon, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper and mix together in a large bowl or sealable plastic bag.
Add the raw chicken to the bowl or a plastic bag and ensure it is fully coated. If you are marinating the chicken in a bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Place the chicken in the fridge and allow it to marinate for a minimum of 4 hours, 12 hours or overnight is ideal.
Different Methods to Cook the Marinated Chicken
If you are lucky enough to have nice weather, grilling the chicken is an excellent way to infuse even more flavor. I live in a place where grilling isn't always ideal because of the weather, so I cook the chicken in a cast-iron pan. You still get the nice char on the outside and it cooks quickly.
You could also bake the chicken in the oven. No matter how you cook the chicken, make sure the inside temperature gets to 165° F (74°C) for safe cooking.
How to Make a Veggie and Feta Topping
You can just add these vegetables to the chicken wraps but this topping has a lovely lemon dressing that adds a little extra flavor. Dice half of a medium cucumber, 2-3 tomatoes, and half of a red onion (you can omit if adding pickled onions to the wraps).
Place the diced vegetables into a medium mixing bowl along with ½ cup feta cheese and ¼ cup sliced kalamata olives. Add 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Mix everything together and ensure it's all coated in the lemon dressing. Set aside or in the fridge until you are ready to serve your wraps. This topping also makes a great side dish!
How to Make Quick Pickled Red Onions
Slice a medium red onion into crescents and place them into a sealable jar. Place ½ cup water, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ tablespoon sugar, and ¼ cup apple cider vinegar into a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it into the jar with the sliced onions. Cool for an hour and then place the jar in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
Make your own Pitas and Tzatziki Sauce!
Although you can buy pitas and tzatziki sauce at the store, why not make your own?!? My Pita Bread Recipe is pretty easy to make and there is nothing better than fresh pita bread.
Tzatziki sauce is surprisingly easy to make and only takes about 5 minutes. My recipe is a small batch recipe so you don't have to worry about having a ton of leftovers.
How to Cut Calories In This Recipe
If you want a lighter and even healthier meal, skip the pitas and load up on the vegetables! Pita bread has about 180 calories and 33 grams of carbs. This is an easy way to lighten the meal but still get all of those shwarma-inspired flavors!
Shawarma Chicken Wraps
Equipment
- 1 plastic bag for marinating optional
- 1 large cast iron pan or skillet (or you can grill the chicken)
Ingredients
- 1½-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
Chicken Shawarma Marinade
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon curry powder
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 8 pita bread rounds (homemade or store-bought)
Toppings
- tzatziki sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- pickled red onion or fresh onion slices (see notes)
- ½ medium cucumber, diced
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- ¼-½ cup kalamata olives, sliced
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- If you are making your own pita bread, start the process at least 4 hours before you are going to cook the chicken. You can also make the tzatziki sauce and vegetable and feta mixture ahead of time and place them in the fridge until you are ready to plate the meal.
Chicken Shawarma Marinade
- Measure out the olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, ground cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, curry powder, ground cinnamon, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper into a bowl. Mix together in a large bowl.
- Add the raw chicken to the bowl or plastic bag with the marinade and fully coat the chicken. If you are marinating the chicken in the bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Place the chicken in the fridge and allow it to marinate for a minimum of 4 hours, 12 hours or overnight is ideal.
Cook the Chicken
- I like to cook the chicken in a cast-iron pan (see notes for alternative cooking methods). Heat the skillet over med-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil.
- Add enough pieces to fill the pan but ensure each piece has enough room around it to cook. Cook for about 4 minutes on one side before flipping. Cook on the other side and check the internal temperature. Continue cooking and flipping until the center is no longer pink and the chicken reaches 165° F (74°C), about 8-12 minutes.
- Once fully cooked, you can slice the chicken into smaller pieces or into strips so that they fit into the pitas.
Wrap Assembly
- Take one pita bread and place some of the chicken in the middle. Top with tzatziki sauce, vegetables with feta cheese, and pickled red onions. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Cooking the Chicken: You can choose to grill the chicken or bake it in the oven if you do not want to cook it on the stove. Grilling will add extra flavor from the flame and smoke and baking the chicken will keep it nice and moist. Regardless of the method you choose, ensure the chicken gets to an internal temp of 165° F (74°C) for safe cooking.
- Vegetable and Feta Topping: Dice half of a medium cucumber, 2-3 tomatoes, and half of a red onion (you can omit if adding pickled onions to the wraps). Place the diced vegetables into a medium mixing bowl along with ½ cup feta cheese and ¼ cup kalamata olives (sliced). Add 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mix everything together and ensure it’s all coated in the lemon dressing.
- Quick Pickled Red Onions: Slice a medium red onion into crescents and place them into a sealable jar. Place ½ cup water, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ tablespoon sugar, and ¼ cup apple cider vinegar into a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it into the jar with the sliced onions. Cool for an hour and then place the jar in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
- Nutrition facts were calculated for 2 wraps with chicken, feta cheese, and tzatziki sauce.
Nutrition
Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
Did you make these Shawarma Chicken Wraps?
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k says
It's TURMERIC...not tumeric....Thanks for the recipe!
Emily says
Sorry for the typo 🙃, thanks for checking out the recipe!
nancy says
these shawarma chicken is super - well balanced flavours and the chicken was juicy and tender
Emily says
Yay! I'm so glad you liked it, thanks for trying the recipe!
Lisa says
Absolutely delicious! The best shawarma recipe I've found....love the pickled onions with this dish too.
Emily says
Thanks, Lisa! I'm so glad you liked this version 😊
Nic says
Ohhhhh how I love chicken shawarma and these wraps are DIVINE. Will definitely be making again- great recipe!
Emily says
Thanks for giving them a try!
Andrea says
Shwarma wraps are my favorite! I make these every week. Thanks for all the topping ideas. I'm going to try the olives and pickled onions next time.
Emily says
The pickled onions are a game-changer, trust me. Enjoy!
Tayler Ross says
I absolutely love shawarma and these wraps look incredible! I can't wait to make them for dinner this week!