A flatbread-based salad with chicken shawarma and a four-ingredient dressing! Easy to prepare and flavorful like shawarma!
Salad with chicken shawarma There isn’t a salad that can be eaten any better!
Without having to leave home, this LOADED salad satisfies every hankering for Shawarma! As with authentic Shawarma meats, the chicken is juicy, tender, and slightly scorched from the Shawarma flavors and spices.
This extremely popular Middle Eastern street meal is typically heaped and roasted on a vertical spit for hours, basting and dripping in its juices and fat, similar to a Doner Kebab for us in Australia.
From the meat block, thin slices are cut off and rolled into a heated flatbread with lettuce, tomato, and onion. Garlic sauce or tahini is then drizzled on top.
Chicken Shawarma Salad (Pinterest)Shawarma is spiritual nourishment.
It’s extremely simple to make it at home without needing to terminate a vertical spit! While grilling your chicken, the spices in this paste/marinade combine so quickly that the aromas of Shawarma fill your home.
If you’re pressed for time, the chicken can marinate for a few hours OR overnight.
Then, this garlic yogurt sauce adds the real kick. Tahini is a flavor that I generally bathe my rolls in because I knew it would be an important component of this salad.
We serve this salad atop hot flatbreads, which sets it apart from other salads.
Let me just say that once you complete your salad, you’re left with soft wraps that are pouring in flavor because the liquids from the chicken, tomatoes, and garlic sauce start soaking into the bread. Gah! BEST component!
INGREDIENTS
Chicken Shawarma:
- 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon Tahini (sesame paste)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper (or red chili powder) — optional
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thigh fillets
Salad:
- 4 cups shredded lettuce
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 ripe avocado, diced
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, diced
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Garlic Yogurt Sauce / Dressing:
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Salt to season
Additional:
- 3 flatbreads or wraps of your choice (I used white flour)
Chicken Shawarma Salad (Pinterest)INSTRUCTIONS
- All the ingredients for the Chicken Shawarma should be mixed into a smooth paste in a small bowl. Give the chicken a thorough coating and, if you have the time, let it marinate for two hours or overnight. (The flavor of the chicken gets better and more strong the longer it marinates.)
- When you’re ready to cook, preheat a cast iron pan, grill pan, or barbecue grill plate. The chicken should be grilled or seared with a small quantity of oil until cooked through and slightly browned on the edges.
- Prepare the flatbreads in a bigger pan over low to medium heat while the chicken is cooking. Cook the flatbreads until golden on both sides and heat through. Place in a serving dish.
- Add the salad ingredients to the flatbreads and lightly toss the salad.
- To make the garlic yogurt sauce, combine the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and salt to taste.
- Sliced cooked chicken should be added to a salad. Serve the salad after drizzling it with garlic sauce.