If you love grilling, be sure to check out some other reader favorites like Grilled Cajun Chicken Sandwiches, Easy Grilled Shrimp Skewers, and Juicy Grilled Turkey Burgers. The flavor is exotic but the spices in these Grilled Chicken Shawarma Wraps are pretty much every day! Plus, you can start the chicken marinating ahead of time to minimize the prep before dinner. Full disclosure: The only countries I have been to in the middle east are Turkey and Egypt (which I’m not even sure is truly considered part of the middle east). And while I have a teeny, tiny bit of middle eastern ancestory according to my DNA results, I most definitely was not raised on middle eastern flavors. That said, I’ve done my best to research and recreate a chicken shawarma recipe that uses spices and flavors that would be at least close to a flavor profile of a true, authentic chicken shawarma wrap. See, while I’m only very minimally middle eastern in genetic makeup, our youngest daughter is predominantly middle eastern according to her DNA test. Both our girls were adopted and a while back, before I ever started House of Nash Eats, we had our whole family tested to see what our results would be. It was fascinating and eye-opening for us, as I talked a little about in my Dublin Coddle post, and it got me thinking about exploring each of our genetic histories and ancestries through food. And incidentally, I really think should be spelled ancestories rather than ancestries because I like the idea of learning the stories and history of where you come from, not just names and dates. We should make it a thing. Who’s with me? So this recipe for Grilled Chicken Shawarma Wraps was motivated by my desire to incorporate more Iranian/Persian cuisine into our meal rotation. It’s a way of embracing the beauty of culture and heritage and adoption for our girls which I hope will give them a sense of identity and confidence and strength as they grow up. It’s also why I often post recipes like Crispy Mexican Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas or Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Beef – I’m trying to be sensitive to cultural appropriation while still understanding and exploring where we come from since both of our girls have Hispanic heritage as well. All that said, these Grilled Chicken Shawarma Wraps have all the flavors of the middle east like garlic, lemon, yogurt, crispy fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and soft flatbread along with a good handful of middle eastern spices, of course, all of which you likely already have in your pantry.
Grilled Chicken Shawarma Wraps vs. Traditional Chicken Shawarma
Traditional shawarma is slow roasted or grilled on a spit for as long as a day. It’s basically street food that can be made with chicken, beef or lamb and is served as a wrap or sandwich type meal on a flatbread like a pita or naan with a garlicky yogurt sauce to go with it. It’s a great way to break out of your chicken routine, which I’m always trying to do. If you are in similar circumstances, definitely also check out my Grilled Cajun Chicken Breast Salad with Creamy Cajun Dressing! I opted to skewer and grill my marinated chicken to incorporate a bit of that smokey char flavor, but you could just as easily roast chicken breasts or thighs whole in the oven and then slice them if grilling isn’t a good option for you, and I’ve included those instructions in the recipe notes. Lately though, I’ve been loathe to turn on the oven and heat up my kitchen any more than necessary so the grill has been doing the trick for me, plus it’s faster than roasting. Also, you can use either chicken breasts or chicken thighs with this recipe, depending on your preference, although thighs are probably going to give you the more authentic experience and result in a richer chicken shawarma. This grilled chicken shawarma would be wonderful as-is served right on the skewer with rice pilaf and tabbouleh or as a protein added to a salad with a Greek Vinaigrette or other dressing (totally what I did with the leftovers the next day, which were just as delicious as day 1), or you can wrap them up with hummus and veggies and of course, a wonderful garlic yogurt sauce. If you love this recipe, and try it yourself, let me know! And I would love to hear of any dishes that you cook that remind you about your heritage, whether that heritage is familiar to you or not!
More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
Slow Cooker Applesauce Pulled Chicken Sandwiches Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas Chicken Spaghetti Casserole Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken Skewers Cambodian Chicken Red Curry [Somlar Kari Saek Mouan] Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken Thighs Cast Iron Blood Orange Chicken Thighs Green Chili Chicken Chimichangas Skillet Lemon Chicken & Rice Crispy Cast Iron Skillet Chicken thighs
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