I came up with the idea for this recipe when my husband was doing the whole30 diet. I don’t actually do the diet with him. It’s just not for me, but since I cook for the family, I end up having a lot of whole30 meals. I suppose you could say I’m doing the half thirty diet? Anyway, I do enjoy a challenge, and coming up with a variety of interesting and tasty meals that fit within the diet’s restrictions for an entire month certainly is.
These skewers don’t feel like diet food!
When I think of dieting, I think of eating flavorless, unappetizing food. This is very much the opposite of that. This chicken is smoky, spicy and aromatic. The marinade makes it so tender and creates a golden crust that locks all of the juices in.
Here’s what you need:
If I were cooking shawarma in the oven, I would use chicken thighs, but since I wanted to skewer and grill them, I decided to go for breasts simply because they’re easier to cut equal sized cubes. I cut mine into approximately 1 1/2 inch pieces. With 2 pounds of chicken, that makes about 5 -6 skewers. You could make more skewers using smaller cuts. It’s up to you.
Here’s what you need for the spice blend:
Heres a tip: make a large batch of the spice blend and keep it in your pantry so you won’t need to measure out all the spices individually each time you make it. When you’re hungry for shwarama, measure out 1/4 cup.
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together and pour over the chicken, tossing well to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic and put it in the fridge for hours. Overnight yields the absolute best results but at least give it a 2-4 hours.
When you’re ready to cook, soak your skewers in water for a half hour to prevent them from burning up on the grill. Then, alternate the chicken with pieces of yellow onion on the skewers.
Grill them up for a few minutes on each side until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Enjoy these tasty chicken skewers with a big spoonful of Simple, Traditional Tzatziki Sauce, or Fresh Avocado Tzatziki!
Other recipes to try:
Grilled Chicken Shawarma Skewers
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts boneless/skinless
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 yellow onion quartered
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cayanne pepper
- 1 lemon juiced
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into approximately 1 1/2 pieces and place in a bowl with the garlic, olive oil, cumin, paprika, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, cayanne, salt and lemon juice. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours. For best results, marinate overnight.Place 6 wooden skewers in water to soak at least 30 minutes before assemby. Turn grill on to medium-high. Remove marinated chicken from the fridge. Skewer the chicken alternately with the pieces of yellow onion.Place skewers on hot, clean, and oiled grill grates and grill until internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Serve immediately.