Easy Homemade Shawarma Pitas — No Spit Required

Beef · Grilling · Lamb · Middle Eastern · Poultry

Makes 4 generous pitas | Prep: 15 minutes + marinating | Cook: about 10–15 minutes

For the shawarma

For the pitas

  • 1 cup chopped tomato
  • 1 cup chopped cucumber
  • ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
  • Chopped fresh parsley
  • Pickles or pickled turnips, optional but damn good

Quick Tahini Sauce

  • ½ cup tahini
  • ¼ cup warm water, plus more as needed
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
  • Pinch of salt

Whisk the tahini, lemon and garlic together. It may seize up and get thick at first—that's normal. Whisk in the warm water a little at a time until it's creamy and easily drizzled. Add salt to taste.

Make the shawarma

Cut the chicken, beef or lamb into strips. Toss with the Shawarma Spice, olive oil and lemon juice until everything is thoroughly coated.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Overnight is even better.

Heat a large skillet or cast-iron pan over medium-high to high heat. You want it properly hot because those browned, slightly charred edges are where the magic happens.

Cook the meat in a single layer, working in batches rather than crowding the pan.

For chicken, cook until browned and completely cooked through to 165°F. For beef or lamb, cook until deeply browned and done to your preference. Depending on how thinly you've sliced everything, you're looking at roughly 6–10 minutes.

Build that pita

Warm the pita first.

Pile in the hot shawarma, then add cucumber, tomato, red onion, parsley and pickles. Drizzle generously with tahini sauce.

Fold. Attempt to eat gracefully. Fail. Get sauce on shirt. Worth it.

No skillet? No problem.

For chicken, spread the marinated pieces on a sheet pan and roast at 425°F until cooked through, then give them a couple of minutes under the broiler for those browned edges.

For beef or lamb, I'd stick with the screaming-hot skillet or grill. You get much better browning without overcooking it.

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