Sheet Pan Shawarma Chicken with Potatoes

This sheet pan shawarma chicken uses the popular middle eastern shawarma spice mix to add flavor and dimension to your weekday sheet pan recipe. This simple, easy and effortless recipe gets done in an hour. And, this chicken shawarma is hearty and healthy baked alongside roast potatoes, caramelized onions, lemon, and garlic.

Table of Content

• So what is shawarma? How to make shawarma homemade?
• Ingredients and substitutes
• Step by step instructions
• 7 Tips for perfect sheet pan recipes
• Frequently asked questions
• You may also like
• Printable Recipe

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My absolute favorite Middle-Eastern food has got to be shawarma, followed by falafel and then hummus. Do you remember my very popular recipe for Quick Homemade Shawarma Chicken or shawarma pockets?

Here, the three foods that make for a quick lunch on weekdays are hummus, followed by falafel and then shawarma. And, shawarma meat can be anything from beef, veal to lamb or turkey and chicken. Or, also a mix of some of them.

So what is shawarma? How to make shawarma homemade?

In short, shawarma chicken is stacked meat on a horizontal rotating spit surrounded by a grill. Furthermore, meat is surrounded by fat which melts while grilling; keeping the meat moist and juicy.
But, the main highlight of this shawarma meat is that it is heavily spiced with a special aromatic shawarma spice mix.  And, that is what makes shawarma even more special.

So, while we won't stack our meats, and grill it on a rotating spit that spice mix, which is a star of this dish, enables us to make homemade shawarma. And, making a sheet pan shawarma version means making simple every day cooking more easy, full of flavor and healthier. Here we have replaced the saturated animal fat with good old olive oil.

Ingredients and substitutes

• Chicken - I prefer to use chicken thighs and legs with bone on for baking. Since the bones add so much more flavor to a dish. Also, it's a lot cheaper to buy bone on than boneless. Having said that, you can also use boneless chicken thighs. However, I would not recommend using breast. It cooks much faster so by the time the potatoes get done the chicken breast will be dry.

• Spices - These spices are mostly used in Middle-Eastern and Indian dishes. But, if you don't have these individual spices, you can also use ready-made shawarma spice mixes. In fact, you can find them in most supermarkets these days. For example, I have used one in my recipe for Quick homemade Shawarma Chicken.

• Potatoes - I highly recommend using baking potatoes. They hold their shape and get nice brown caramelized edges.
• Onions - Use red onions and it will be the best thing you will eat with this dish. And, if you don't like onions, just omit them.
• Lemon - It's optional, so feel free to omit it. But, if you have never tried roasted lemon before - OMG - Please do try!!
• Garlic - If you have not tried roasted garlic, you are in for a treat. And, no, they are not garlicky. The roasting transforms them into this sweet delicious jam-like paste. And, leave the skin on as the protect the garlic and prevent them from burning.

The shawarma spice blend

The shawarma spice mix differs slightly from region to region; mostly in the quantity and number of spices used. Therefore, I like to try store-bought spice mix, so I can try different variations.

Over the years, I have come to define my own flavor and combination that works best for me. So, I make my own shawarma seasoning recipe. And, this blend works best for me and is one that will tantalize your taste buds. Absolute heaven!

In the recipe below, I have used fresh ginger and garlic instead of powders because I always go with fresh ingredients when I can. You can also find my Shawarma Spice Blend aka Shawarma Seasoning Mix here.

Step by step instructions

Marinate chicken

• Preheat the oven at 200 C / 390 F.
• Clean and skin chicken pieces. And, remove any excess trimmings.
• Next, season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
• Then, rub grated ginger and garlic into the chicken pieces.
• Prepare the spice mix blend - mix thoroughly.
• And, rub the spices all over the chicken.
• Then, let chicken marinate while you prepare the veggies.
• This chicken can be left to marinate overnight in the fridge as well.

Prepare veggies

• Wash, peel and cut potatoes into bitesize pieces.
• Cut onions and lemon into round slices - remove seeds from lemon slices.
• Separate garlic cloves from the bulb but leave the skin on.
• Grease the sheet pan with  2 tbsp olive oil to prevent sticking.
• Then, place potatoes on the sheet pan.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper for seasoning.
• Next, lay chicken pieces over the potatoes.
• Place onion and garlic slices all over chicken pieces.
• Sprinkle salt and pepper over onion and lemon slices.
• Drizzle remaining olive oil all over the ingredients.

Bake

• Bake in a preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes.
• Turn the chicken and potatoes every 20 mins to encourage even cooking.
• When done - remove from the hot sheet pan to a serving platter if desired.

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7 Tips for perfect sheet pan recipes

1. Always use the right size pan for cooking. Too large and the meat will stew rather than roast giving you mussy veggies. Too small will not give even cooking.
2. Line the pan with parchment for easy clean-up. Having said that, baking directly on the pan can give you crisp edges, which some of us enjoy.
3. Layer moist meats or veggies on top of dry ones so the top will keep the bottom from becoming dry.
4. Use veggies with similar cooking times or give the veggies that need longer cooking a head start.
5. Keep the veggies moist by spraying them with oil so they won't dry out.
6. Use the right cooking time for the right cuts of meat. Chicken breast usually cooks quicker than chicken thigh or red meats.
7. Not everything gets browned well on a sheet pan - so, if necessary, sear the meat on the stovetop so you don't overcook just for browning.

Frequently asked questions

You may also like

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Printable Recipe