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Bringing you all some summery vibes with this Grilled Chicken Shawarma with Golden Butter Fries and Garlic Sauce. These middle eastern-inspired chicken skewers are the homemade “street food” you need in your life. Spicy marinated grilled chicken skewers, served with homemade golden fries, creamy garlic white sauce, and summer cherry tomatoes. This grilled chicken shawarma is simple to throw together, full of fresh ingredients, colorful, super flavorful, and so delicious. The perfect summer grilling recipe to serve any night of the week…or at your next backyard BBQ.
When it comes to summer recipes I tend to favor the fruity, produce heavy recipes over the meaty grilling recipes. You all know I love a fruit-based dessert, a simple summer pasta…with all the cherry tomatoes, crostini with strawberries, or a dinner full of zucchini.
Over the past almost 8 years of HBH, I haven’t shared very many recipes requiring the grill. But with July 4th this weekend I really wanted to share an easy grilling recipe. Enter this chicken shawarma. Chicken shawarma is a classic middle eastern style street food. Traditionally, it is thinly sliced, stacked on a rotisserie, and roasted. But today we’re making it at home and on the grill, with crispy golden oven fries plus the best garlic sauce.
This isn’t your traditional July 4th cookout recipe, but honestly, nothing about this year’s celebrations are going to be traditional. So, I thought we’d break away from the average ribs and BBQ chicken. Very typical of me, I know, but I like to keep things fresh and never boring. That, and my brother has been sending me a lot of messages hinting that I need to make more recipes for the grill…because it’s summer and “the people” love grilling recipes.
I actually took his advice, which I normally hesitate to do, but it all turned out pretty darn good.
Start with the chicken. If you’re unfamiliar with Chicken Shawarma, it’s a simple middle eastern dish that can be made using either poultry, beef, or lamb and is served in or on a pita with a savory yogurt sauce. The chicken is marinated in a mix of middle eastern spices…garlic, lots of lemon, and olive oil. It’s traditional to roast the chicken, but I went for skewers on the grill. You can certainly roast the chicken if you prefer not to use the grill, either works. But the grill adds a nice flavor and chars on the outside while staying juicy on the inside.
For marinating, I toss the chicken with smoked paprika, cumin, turmeric, garlic, lemon, and red pepper flakes. I like to let the chicken marinate while I get everything else together. I’m not sure about you guys, but I can never plan ahead enough to cook a recipe requiring a long marinating time.
It almost never happens, so I usually just do a quick “marinade” of fifteen to thirty minutes. It works.
Golden butter with a little garlic and lots of flaky sea salt, so good. In fact, if you make only one thing from this recipe, maybe it should be these fries. They are delicious. If you love golden rice, but you love potatoes even more, than you’re going to LOVE these fries. They’re hard to stop eating.
Yes, you need to turn your oven on to make these fries (or if you have an air fryer you could certainly air fry them). I promise these fries are so worth it.
There are a few tricks you need to know when it comes to these golden fries.
First, one of the keys here is adding just the right amount of turmeric and garlic. You want flavorful, but not overpowering.
My other tip to these for these crisp oven-baked fries is to be sure not to overcrowd the baking sheet. If you have too many potatoes crowding the pan, the fries will steam instead of crisp. So, if you need to…use two baking sheets…do not overcrowd! It’s better to have extra space on the baking sheet than a pan full of soggy fries. Trust me.
And lastly, add a little butter. The butter adds that richness that the deep frier adds. For whatever reason, it really helps to highlight the turmeric on the fries.
So simple…SO GOOD.
And then finally, the garlic sauce. It’s simple, plain Greek yogurt or avocado mayo, lemon, grated garlic, and salt. But here’s another little tip. The garlic used for the golden fries is roasted whole instead of chopped. If you love a roasted garlic flavor, I highly recommend smashing the roasted garlic cloves into a paste and stirring them into the white sauce. The roasted garlic will add a rich, more in-depth flavor that is so delicious.
Once the fries are close to being ready, and the garlic sauce is made, grill the chicken, and then put it all together. I serve the fries and chicken the classic way they’d do it on the street, with fresh naan/pita, tomatoes, cucumber, and shredded lettuce. I also use homemade naan, but feel free to use your favorite store-bought pita or flatbread.
Last up, add a very generous amount of that garlic sauce…which my oldest brother says is key. He also says to use mayo, never yogurt, in the sauce. Oh, and to crumble on some feta too, because why not?
D.E.L.I.C.O.U.S.
And you know what I love about this recipe?
It’s not just a grilled chicken recipe. Nope, it’s so much more.
It’s an all-in-one meal, there’s even a little salad…if you count the tomatoes and lettuce that I say are “for serving”. It’s all just really good food. The chicken is tender, flavorful, and extra juicy due to the marinating. The fries are pretty much just addicting, and the creamy white sauce really ties it all together.
Just add that naan and the vegetable toppings and you”ll have a complete dinner. I love an all-in-one style recipe that makes getting dinner together simple and easy!
Looking for other summer grilling recipes? Here are some favorites:
Lebanese Chicken with Charred Lemon Cauliflower
California Chicken, Veggie, Avocado and Rice Bowls
Lastly, if you make this grilled chicken shawarma with golden butter fries and garlic sauce, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Hi,
I am planning to make these this weekend but I have a question. I hope it’s not a dumb question…
When you roast the shallots, do you skewer them? Or roast them whole on the grill?
I tried to watch the video on your IG stories but am too late.
Thank you in advance!
Caroline
Hey Caroline!
I just roasted the shallots on the grill. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This was amazing!! Made it tonight, everyone loved it!!
Thank you so much Tiffany!! I am really glad you loved this one! xTieghan
This was delicious! The whole family loved it ❤️
Thanks for creating such great recipes!!
Thank you so much Barbara! xTieghan
I just made the skewers tonight. I found it difficult to make sure the inside of the chicken cooked (the part closest to the skewer) without over cooking the outside. When it was almost done, I took them off the stick and cooked the other two sides a little longer. It was fine for eating and I don’t really need to make a presentation for my meals, but doesn’t that defeat the purpose of using the skewers from the beginning? Any suggestions? I cooked on 7 heat level (out of 10) on my stove top.
Hi Rebecca,
So sorry you were having issues with the chicken. As long as you follow the recipe and cooking times as is you shouldn’t have any issues with the chicken being raw. Please let me know if you have any other questions. xTieghan
Another amazing recipe! I have always wanted to try shawarma and this did not disappoint! My family gave it an 11 out of 10. Thank you!
Thank you Shelby!! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Tieghan –
Could you provide steps for cooking the fries in the air fryer? We just got one the week so I’m not too familiar. Thanks!
Hi Ellen,
Sorry I do not own an air fryer. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
My local grocery store didn’t have shallots…can I substitute regular onion? If so, which type would be best and how much? Thanks!!
Hi Emily,
I would do white onions, about 1/4 cup. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Made this last night and it was Delicious!! Thanks for a great recipe. Excited to try some of your other recipes ?
Love that!! Thank you so much Wendy! xTieghan
Loved the recipe; but I baked in the oven since I don’t have a grill. I did burn the fries using the temperature that you suggested; so i lowered to 370 and they came out perfectly!
Thanks 🙂
Amazing!! Thank you for trying this Maya! xTieghan
Greatly Recipe
Thank you so much Shawon! xTieghan
sounds delicious
Thank you Ruth! xTieghan
I made this recipe tonight, and oh my goodness — it is delicious!!! My husband absolutely loved it and all five of our kids asked for more. (high praise in our house) I made it exactly as it was written (except doubled it) and I would not change a thing. I decided to use yogurt (ah-mazing) instead of mayo and also used dill and mint as my herbs. It was absolute perfection on a plate. It has heat, but is not overwhelming, and is balanced so well with the garlic sauce. This dish has so much flavor- I wish we had leftovers! Thank you so much for this recipe!! It will definitely go into our regular rotation.
Thank you so much! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you, Sarah! xTieghan
You need to use boneless thighs…and roast the whole for 30 minutes on a high heat, before grilling them until the skin crisps
Thank you so much Pickle! xTieghan
YUMMY!!! KEEP POSTING !!!
Thank you Clare! xTieghan
OH my gosh, this had me at shawarma!! Gonna hopefully try these out for Saturday and I love that I can easily make these, being gluten free and all! Thanks Tieghan!
Thank you Jennifer!! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan