Sheet-Pan Chicken Shawarma: Spit-Style Flavor, No Spit Required

Shawarma without a spit

Shawarma is street food built on a vertical spit, which no home kitchen has. A hot sheet pan gets you the same result: thighs marinated in warm spice, roasted until the edges catch, finished under the broiler for the crisp bits. The sumac onions are not optional. Their sourness keeps the spice from sitting heavy.

Quick facts

• Serves: 4 to 6
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Marinate: 1 hour to overnight
• Roast: 30 minutes

What you'll need from the spice rack

• Shawarma Seasoning: the marinade. Does the work of eight separate jars.
• Sumac: the onions, and a final scatter over the platter.

Ingredients

Chicken

• 2 lb (900 g) boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tbsp Shawarma Seasoning
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a little salt
• 1 tsp fine sea salt

Sumac onions

• 1 large red onion, sliced as thinly as you can manage
• 1 tbsp Sumac
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly torn
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• A pinch of salt

To serve

• Warm pita or flatbread
• Toum, tahini sauce, or plain yogurt
• Pickled turnips or cucumbers

Method

1. Marinate. Whisk the Shawarma Seasoning, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic paste and salt. Add the thighs and turn until coated. Refrigerate at least 1 hour; overnight is better.
2. Salt the onions early. Toss the onion with a pinch of salt and the lemon juice, then leave it while the oven heats, at least 20 minutes, to take the raw bite out. Hold the Sumac and parsley back until serving so the sumac stays bright red.
3. Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
4. Roast. Spread the chicken in a single layer with space between pieces, using two pans rather than crowding one. Roast 25 to 30 minutes, until cooked through and browning at the edges.
5. Broil. Move the pan close under the broiler 3 to 5 minutes until the high points char properly. This is the step that stands in for the spit, so do not walk away.
6. Rest, then slice. Let the chicken sit 5 minutes, then slice across the grain into strips and return them to the pan juices.
7. Finish. Toss the onions with the Sumac and parsley. Pile the chicken on a platter, heap the onions over the top, and scatter a little more Sumac across everything. Serve with warm bread and a sauce.

Notes and swaps

• Thighs, not breasts. Shawarma depends on fat to survive the heat. Breast meat goes dry before the edges char.
• Add heat with 1 tsp Aleppo Pepper in the marinade if you want warmth without changing the character of the dish.
• Sumac is a souring agent, closer in job to lemon than to pepper. If the platter tastes flat, it needs more sumac, not more salt.
• Leftovers are better the next day. Reheat in a hot dry skillet, never the microwave, or the edges go soft.

More from the spice rack

This recipe calls for Shawarma Seasoning and Sumac from Beirut Spice Co., sourced from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.