Change Your Life Shawarma
Why It’s Worth Making
Incredibly easy
Perfect to make ahead of time
You can cook it three different ways, all with terrific results
Versatile in how to serve it
Interesting and different without being scary
Surprisingly beautiful
As life-changing as Change Your Life Chicken which surprises even me
The Basics
Marinate chicken in oil and spices for 1-36 hours.
Roast, grill, or saute the chicken whole or in pieces.
Eat over rice, with a salad, wrapped up in pita, or whatever you want, and be very merry.
Picky kids (and husbands) tend to, at the very least, like it if not deeply fall in love.
The Non-Mathematical Recipe
Recipe Principles
The spices don’t have to be exact.
Use chicken thighs if you want less risk in messing it up.
Actually, you can’t really mess it up.
The cooking time is at most 15 minutes and could have virtually no clean-up.
How Much It Makes
This spice mixture is good for one standard pack of chicken, 1.5 pounds or so. If you have more chicken, just double the spices and oil. One package feeds our family of two adults, two boys who eat almost as much as adults, and a picky toddler very well. Leftovers make an extraordinary lunch, so I say always choose too much over too little.
Ingredients You’ll Need
1.5-2 LBS. CHICKEN // I fiercely recommend boneless skinless thighs for this. Breasts are fine but more likely to dry out. (If you’re interested, use the spice mixture for pork. It’s a delight on a tenderloin or chops. Just cook it like you’d cook pork, not according to these directions.) Salt the chicken before adding it to the spice and oil.
1/2 C. OIL // I like olive oil for flavor. Avoid butter. Any clear oil (canola, vegetable, etc.) is fine.
2-3 TBSP. SPICES // If you don’t have this exact mix, don’t sweat it. The general vibe is good enough. You don’t even have to measure. Just grab a teaspoon or even a regular spoon and add spices; just notice that with each group of spices below, you cut the amount by half-ish as you go down the list. Here’s the order of spices from least important to most: cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, sugar, cayenne, allspice, garlic powder, turmeric (this is where a lot of the beautiful color comes from), paprika, cumin, i.e. if you don’t have cumin, you should probably go get some cumin.
2 tsp. each of these: cumin and smoked paprika (regular is fine if that’s all you have)
1 tsp. each of these: allspice, turmeric, and sugar
1/2 tsp. each of these: coriander and garlic powder
1/4 tsp. each of these: cinnamon, cardamom, and cayenne
STUFF TO GO WITH IT // Rice, pita, tomato, cucumber, avocado, pickled onion, lettuce, tzatziki, cilantro, mint, and/or roasted peppers all come to mind.
How to Cook It
Make the spicy oil. Use a gallon bag for the most ease. Stick one corner of the bag into a drinking glass or coffee mug. Pour in the oil, and add the spices directly on top. No need to mix the spices separately in a bowl first unless that’s a Magic Question choice. (More on that in Cheats and Preferences). Use your fingers to mix the spices into the oil (from outside the bag, not inside), still mostly confined to the corner of the bag. This keeps spices from clumping and not mixing well.
Marinate the chicken in the oil. Remember to season the chicken with salt quite well first. Add the chicken to the bag, whole or in pieces (more on which later), and massage it together. Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour for the best flavor and up to a day and a half beforehand, i.e. in the morning on a Monday for dinner on a Tuesday. Give it a squeeze once or twice during marinating time.
Roast, grill, or saute. We’ll lay out all three.
ROAST // Best if you need it quickly, don’t want clean-up, and plan to serve it in pieces. (If you know you’re going to roast it, cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks before adding it to the marinade.) To cook, use a slotted spoon to move the chicken from the bag to a sheet pan covered in foil. Spread it out as much as you can, and roast in a preheated 450 oven for 10-13 minutes. No need to flip. This method makes the chicken incredibly tender. If you want a little crust, leave the pan under the broiler for an additional minute; just be sure to watch it. Toss the foil when you’re done. P.S. Throw some thinly sliced bell peppers tossed in oil and salt on the pan alongside if you want.
GRILL // Best if you want the most robust flavor. Bonus: clean-up is easy because it’s the grill. Keep the chicken thighs whole to marinate and grill. (Lazy Genius grilling tips are here.) You’re looking at 5-7 minutes per side depending on the size. Remember that thighs are forgiving and tough to overcook. An instant digital thermometer (that’s the one I use + it’s an affiliate link FYI) is great here if you’re nervous. Look for 165 degrees F. If you don’t have a thermometer, the chicken should feel mostly firm, like the fleshy part between your thumb and index finger if you were to make a tight fist. Serve whole or cut into chunks for rice bowls, wraps, salads, etc. The chicken in the photo is grilled and shockingly delicious. We cubed it up and served it with rice and extras. P.S. Thickly slice onion circles, and grill them on the well-oiled grill. Salt them, please. Let them char next to the chicken, flip them like burgers, and you’ll be very happy.
SAUTE // My least favorite way but still great. You get the crust and texture of the grill, the quickness of the roast, but a little more cleanup, plus maybe a little kitchen smoke. You can saute the chicken whole or in pieces (I almost always prefer pieces) over medium-high heat until it’s cooked through. Once you put it in the hot pan, do not move the chicken for at least 3-4 minutes until it’s time to flip/stir it. That’s how you get texture and color. Sorry you have to wash a skillet. Turn on your oven vent.
Cheats and Preferences
Things You Can Do In Advance
Make the spice mix. Mix it in a bowl in the morning and leave it on the counter until you’re ready that night. Days, even weeks in advance is great; just put it in a container.
Cube the chicken. This is absolutely best done when the chicken is a little bit frozen. You just zip through it like a block of cheese, and it’s magically fast, your knife doesn’t slip, and it’s not as slimy.
Cook the chicken completely. It reheats like a dream on a sheet pan or even in the microwave. If you need dinner, like, right now, already having it cooked works.
Prep whatever is going with it. Chop the tomatoes and cucumber. Make a tzaztiki. Wash some lettuce. Pull the pita bread out of the freezer. Use The Magic Question - “what can I do now to make dinner easier later?” - and answer it however you need to based on what you’re making.
If You Must Use Chicken Breasts
You guys. THIGHS. But okay.
Roasting is your best bet for tenderness. Roasting pieces is preferred over whole, but both will work. Follow the same temperature but trim the time by a couple of minutes. And if you roast the chicken breasts whole, drop the temp to 425 and roast 20-25 minutes.
Grilling and sauteing will both work; just watch that you don’t overcook the meat. To get the crust, do not move the chicken pieces once they come into contact with the hot pan or grill. Only mess with them when it’s time to flip. Keep your temperature a bit lower, too; chicken breasts cooked on high heat tend to seize up and get tough.
Story and Summary
Inspiration
When I first came across the idea of shawarma-inspired chicken, Tori Avey led the way, and a lot of you really enjoy her recipe. I did too and still do, but some of the cooking techniques weren’t as easy as I liked, plus I wanted a slightly different takes on the spices. Here we are.
Your Kids Will Eat It
I think the chances are a solid 80%. The chicken is so tender, it’s not hot spicy (if you’re worried, use less cayenne), and it’s such a great family meal since everyone can dress up the rice bowl or pita wrap however they want to. Two of my three kids are skeptical of mostly everything, and they love this chicken. It took the preschooler a little reverse psychology to get her to try it, but once she did, she kept going back. I promise it’s happy for most eaters. It’s kind of a universally delicious food.
The Change-Your-Life Factor
It’s tough to get something that tastes ridiculously good and be as easy as this. It’s seriously some of the tastiest chicken ever, and we eat a lot of chicken. When you add on the versatility of how to cook it and what to eat it with, this shawarma really will change your life. It’s a welcomed staple in our house, and I can’t wait to hear how it becomes the same in yours.
