Shawarma Chicken Wraps

Why I Love This Recipe

I love Shawarma Chicken Wraps for their combination of tender and flavorful chicken, aromatic spices, and a variety of fresh toppings, similar to my Greek Chicken Pita Wraps. The warm, grilled chicken, wrapped in soft and fluffy pita bread, creates a satisfying and healthy meal that everyone seems to like.

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 like the pita bread. 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 delicious 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 pinning spit, thankfully, but it does have some classic flavors and spices like cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, and paprika. Shawarma is commonly served as a sandwich or a wrap or in a flatbread such as a pita.

How to Make the Marinade for Chicken Shawarma

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. If you don't like tzatziki sauce, try my Mediterranean Hummus instead.

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!

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