Chicken Shawarma
Juicy marinated chicken thighs with warm Middle Eastern spices, served in flatbread with garlic sauce and fresh vegetables.
14 recipes using chicken — Hummus, falafel, kibbeh and the jewels of Levantine cuisine.
These 14 lebanese chicken recipes are ready in about 60 minutes on average, with 380–820 kcal per serving, and 29% are rated easy enough for a weeknight. Every recipe includes exact ingredient quantities, step-by-step instructions and full nutrition per serving.
Lebanese food is fresh, herb-forward and built around the table of meze — bright with lemon, garlic and good olive oil. When Lebanese cooks work with chicken, they reach for olive oil, lemon, garlic, tahini, sumac and za'atar, and the techniques that come up most across these recipes are marinating, grilling, simmering and boiling.
The world's most-cooked protein — mild, lean and endlessly adaptable to almost any spice profile or cooking method. In this collection it's most often cooked with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, ground allspice, ground cumin and ground cinnamon. The dishes here span lebanese classics ready in as little as 35 minutes to slower, more involved cooking that rewards a relaxed afternoon.
Juicy marinated chicken thighs with warm Middle Eastern spices, served in flatbread with garlic sauce and fresh vegetables.
Lebanese marinated chicken skewers with garlic sauce.
Juicy, spiced marinated chicken layered in flatbread with garlic sauce, pickles, and fresh vegetables.
Lebanese spiced rice with chicken and toasted nuts — the ultimate comfort dish.
Palestine's most iconic dish — roasted chicken thighs over flatbread soaked in sumac, caramelized onions and olive oil.
Juicy Lebanese-spiced chicken shawarma roasted in the oven and served in warm pita with creamy toum garlic sauce, pickled turnips, and fresh vegetables.
Dramatic Levantine maqluba — fragrant spiced rice layered with fried cauliflower, eggplant, and chicken, cooked in a pot and dramatically flipped onto a platter.
Beirut Lemon Tahini Chicken Rice Bowl brings lebanese flavor into a practical home recipe with chicken thighs, tahini, lemon, allspice and olive oil, and a finish of parsley.
Fluffy Lebanese rice toasted with vermicelli noodles, topped with garlicky spiced chicken for a simple, comforting lunch bowl.
Garlic and yogurt marinated grilled chicken rolled in pita with pickles, garlic sauce and fresh vegetables, a Lebanese street food favorite.
Marinated, spiced chicken thigh strips wrapped in warm pita with garlic sauce, pickles, and tomato, Lebanon's iconic street food.
Tender chicken skewers marinated in yogurt, garlic, and lemon, grilled until charred and juicy, served with garlic sauce and flatbread.
A whole chicken marinated in garlic, lemon, and seven-spice blend, roasted until the skin turns deeply golden and fragrant.
A one-dish baked chicken and rice casserole scented with cinnamon, allspice and orange zest.
Look for plump, pinkish flesh with no grey patches and a clean smell. Thighs stay juicier than breasts and forgive overcooking; bone-in, skin-on pieces deliver the most flavour.
Pat dry before searing for proper browning, and bring it to room temperature for 15 minutes so it cooks evenly. Marinades with acid or yoghurt tenderise lean breast meat.
Cook to an internal temperature of 74°C / 165°F — the juices should run clear and there should be no pink at the bone.
A lean, high-protein choice: a skinless breast delivers roughly 31 g of protein per 100 g with very little saturated fat.
Most of these 14 Lebanese chicken recipes are ready in around 60 minutes from start to finish. The quickest, Shish Tawook, takes about 35 minutes, while the slower-cooked dishes run up to 105 minutes.
Across this collection they range from about 380 to 820 kcal per serving, averaging 505 kcal — Shish Taouk (Lebanese Grilled Chicken Skewers) is the lightest option at 380 kcal.
Chicken Shawarma is a great place to start — it's rated easy and comes together in about 40 minutes. 29% of the recipes here are beginner-friendly.
In these recipes, chicken is most often paired with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, ground allspice, ground cumin and ground cinnamon. Lebanese kitchens also lean on olive oil, lemon, garlic, tahini, sumac and za'atar.
Cook to an internal temperature of 74°C / 165°F — the juices should run clear and there should be no pink at the bone.
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