Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (2024)

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By: DianaPosted: 3/10/20Updated: 2/25/21

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Super juicy and flavorful chicken shawarma made in the Instant Pot! This authentic shawarma dinner is so easy to make, that you’ll want to make it over and over again!

Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (1)

I can’t imagine life without shawarma, it’s just one of those comfort foods that I can never get tired of. I grew up in Jordan, and as you can imagine, I had my fair share of shawarma. It’s a Middle Eastern specialty that you can find everywhere in the Middle East.

Shawarma can be found in every Arab city, town, and village. And it’s probably the most popular Arab dish after Hummus and Falafel of course!

There are many variations of shawarma. It can be made with chicken, beef, lamb, or a mix of beef and lamb. Where meat slices are stacked and shaped in a cone, and slowly roasted and charred on a revolving rotisserie.

Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (2)

So today I’m sharing with you the authentic chicken Shawarma recipe, but made in the Instant Pot! The flavors coming from the chicken marinated in fragrant spices, olive oil, and lemon juice are incredible and will transform you to the heart of the Middle East.

Note: I finished off the shawarma in the Air Fryer, as I wanted it to crisp up a bit to replicate the slow roasting technique that is used in shawarma places in the Middle East, but that’s totally optional and you don’t have to do this if you don’t wish to.

Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (3)
  • AnInstant Pot and a trivet– this is the model that I have and love.
  • Acutting board, and asharp knife.
  • Wooden skewers. I don’t recommend using metallic skewers as they can get pretty hot.
  • A mixing bowl. I have a set of glass mixing bowls that I use for pretty much everything.
  • Chicken breasts or thighs – I personally prefer using skinless and boneless chicken breasts, but you can use chicken thighs if you’re a fan of dark meat and these will turn out juicier than chicken breasts.
  • Shawarma seasoninghere’s the recipe for my homemade blend.
  • Yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt.
  • For the wraps: You will need pita or tortilla bread, tomatoes, onion, pickles (a variation of salad and vegetables). And for the dressing, make homemade toum garlic sauce or use aioli or creamy tahini with garlic.
Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (4)

How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma

  1. Prepare the chicken breast. Slice into thin cutlets, and then cut in halves so that they’re not long.
  2. In a bowl, mix the chicken with shawarma seasoning, yogurt, olive oil, and lemon juice. Make sure that the chicken is well coated. I strongly recommend allowing the chicken to marinate for at least an hour before cooking and up to 24 hours in the fridge.
  3. Thread the chicken onto the skewers, don’t push them too hard as they won’t cook evenly.
  4. Pressure Cook. Place on a trivet in the Instant Pot, and add ½ cup of water to the bottom of the pot. Secure the lid and set the vent to SEALING. Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting and set the cooking time for 6 minutes at high pressure.
  5. The Instant Pot will take around 7-10 minutes to come to pressure and start cooking. When the cooking program ends, quickly release the steam and carefully remove the lid.
Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (5)

You can either cut the chicken up and make a shawarma wrap at this stage. Or choose to crisp it up under the broiler or using the air fryer.

I personally like to Air Fry the chicken shawarma skewers for 5-7 minutes until they’re nice and crispy but that’s totally optional.

  • Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (6)
  • Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (7)

Using a very sharp knife, slice the chicken skewers lengthwise to get thin strips. For the wrap, use warmed up pita or tortilla bread.

Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (8)

Is This Recipe Spicy?

Shawarma is not meant to be spicy but it’s very flavorful as it is as it’s made with a fragrant shawarma seasoning blend. This recipe is not spicy at all (as in heat), but if you like heat then you can add ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the seasoning blend.

Can Frozen Chicken Be Used?

Frozen chicken will be difficult to marinate, and thread on skewers. So make sure that you completely thaw the chicken before seasoning/marinating.

Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (9)

How to Serve Chicken Shawarma?

Shawarma is sold in little shawarma places where you just grab your meal, and have it on the go. It’s sold as a wrap paired with crispy french fries, and a can of coca-cola.

Shawarma is usually served with garlic sauce called toum (easy to make!), or tahini sauce with garlic. I also like to make it a little bit healthier, by adding different salads and chopped vegetables to my wraps.

Or, you can turn this into a complete meal and serve the shawarma meat with Lebanese rice on the side, pickles, and a simple salad.

More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes

  • Instant Pot butter chicken
  • Instant Pot sesame chicken
  • Instant Pot Chinese chicken and broccoli
  • Instant Pot chicken mac and cheese
  • Instant Pot rasta pasta

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe

Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (10)

4.93 from 13 votes(Click stars to rate!)

Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 5 minutes mins

IP to come to pressure cooker: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Author: Diana

Print Rate Recipe

Super juicy and flavorful chicken shawarma made in the Instant Pot! This authentic shawarma dinner is so easy to make, that you'll want to make it over and over again!

3 servings

Super juicy and flavorful chicken shawarma made in the Instant Pot! This authentic shawarma dinner is so easy to make, that you'll want to make it over and over again!

Ingredients

  • 3 large chicken breasts boneless skinless
  • 1 and ½ tablespoons shawarma seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon yogurt Greek or plain natural
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Prepare the chicken breast. Slice into thin cutlets, and then cut in halves so they're not long.

  • In a bowl, mix the chicken with shawarma seasoning, salt, yogurt, olive oil, and lemon juice. Make sure that the chicken is well coated. I strongly recommend allowing the chicken to marinate for at least an hour before cooking and up to 24 hours in the fridge.

  • Thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers, don't squeeze them together too hard as they won't cook properly.

  • Place on a trivet in the Instant Pot, and add ½ cup of water to the bottom of the pot. Secure the lid and set the vent to SEALING. Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting and set the cooking time for 6 minutes at high pressure.

  • The Instant Pot will take around 10 minutes to come to pressure and start cooking. When the cooking program ends, quickly release the steam and carefully open the pot.

  • You can either cut the chicken up and make a shawarma wrap at this stage. Or choose to crisp it up under the broiler or using the air fryer. I personally like to Air Fry the chicken shawarma skewers for 5-7 minutes until they're nice and crispy but that's totally optional.

  • Using a very sharp knife, slice the chicken skewers lengthwise to get thin strips. For the wrap, use warmed pita or tortilla bread, mayonnaise, tomato, sliced onion, and pickles.

Notes:

  • You can substitute the chicken breast with chicken thighs. Keep the cooking time the same.
  • Serve in a platter as shown in the pictures, or make wraps.
  • Serve with french fries on the side.
  • Shawarma can be served with garlic mayo, or garlic tahini. You can also spread hummus on the wrap.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 349kcal, Carbohydrates: 2g, Protein: 48g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 146mg, Sodium: 266mg, Potassium: 836mg, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 68IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 23mg, Iron: 1mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Little Sunny Kitchen

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Reader Interactions

Leave a Review!

  1. Pam says

    Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (17)
    Delicious -everyone raved about it! I used whole chicken thighs, doubled the recipe, didn’t bother with the skewering, upped the presurized time on my Ninja Foodi to 9 minutes, sliced the meat after it was done cooking and finished it in the broiler. Served with homemade sourdough pita, tabouleh, and carmelized onions. I’m now making a big batch of the seasoning mix to give as gifts, along with a link to the recipe.

    Reply

  2. Sarah says

    Hi! I really want to try this. Is the 3 large chicken means 3kilos of chicken?

    Reply

    • Diana says

      Hi Sarah, we used 3 large chicken breasts. Each was around 6-8 ounces (170-225g).

      Reply

      • Sarah says

        Do you have any substitute for yogurt?

        Reply

        • Diana says

          Sour cream, buttermilk, or whole milk if you really need to.

          Reply

  3. Fahed says

    Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (18)
    Give another method of cooking shawarma besides Instant Pot

    Reply

  4. Hallie says

    Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (19)
    I made this last night, and it was AMAZING! My whole family enjoyed it from my spouse who isn’t a huge fan of chicken, to my non adventurous son. Great recipes; definitely a keeper!

    Reply

  5. bill boelke says

    Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (20)
    Am assuming your 3 breasts weighed 1.5lbs. Not sure why the salt or lemon juice are not mentioned in the marinating instructions on the seasoning recipe.
    I used 1 Tablespoon seasoning per pound of meat, plus 1 Tablespoon Olive oil, 1 Tablespoon Greek yogurt, and 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice, each per pound of meat.
    I did not skewer or trivet, simply dumped everything in the instant pot and pressure cooked for 9 minutes, since I was doing a 6.25lb batch.
    We served it on pita bread warmed on each side with olive oil, some garlic hummus, rice and pickles.
    Everyone absolutely Loved it.

    Reply

Older Comments12

Best Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma Recipe - Little Sunny Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

Why does my Instant Pot chicken come out rubbery? ›

Oddly enough, it can be really challenging to get the right texture when cooking boneless chicken breasts. They cook quickly in the Instant Pot, but if you don't cook them long enough they get a weird, rubber-like texture that's nearly impossible to chew, and if you cook them too long, their texture gets dry.

Why does chicken shawarma taste so good? ›

The signature shawarma spice blend is the backbone of the dish, giving it that popular and recognizable pop of flavor that separates shawarma from other classic Middle Eastern foods. While the spice blends offer a ton of flavor to the shawarma, it's also important for the deep, rich color of the outside of the meat.

How do you keep chicken from getting tough in Instant Pot? ›

Pressure Cook: add your chicken breasts back in and top with butter. You can skip the butter, but it does add nice flavor and keeps them juicy! Cook on high pressure for 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breast. Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes then release the remaining pressure.

Does cooking chicken longer in Instant Pot make it more tender? ›

This dinner staple cooks up perfectly every time in the Instant Pot. You can aim for firm but juicy chicken for cubing, or let it cook a little bit longer for tender shredded chicken.

Is woody chicken breast safe to eat? ›

The specific cause is not known but may be related to factors associated with rapid growth rates. Companies often use a three-point scale to grade the woodiness of a particular breast. Although distasteful to many, meat that exhibits woody breast is not known to be harmful to humans who consume it.

What causes woody chicken breasts? ›

The underdeveloped organs of abnormally fast-growing chicken breeds often struggle to pump enough oxygen. As a result, their muscles become inflamed. The increase in collagen and fat in the muscles results in distinctive white stripes that look like scars and are tough and fibrous.

What is the secret of shawarma? ›

Shawarma is all about the delicious sauces that accompany the meat – typically garlic yoghurt or tahini and hommus – and the secret ingredient: pickles. Pickled vegetables are what take shawarma to a whole new plane: pickled cucumbers, turnips, and even carrots or mangoes are common.

What makes shawarma taste like shawarma? ›

The distinctive flavor of shawarma spice comes from its main ingredients, including ground cumin, coriander, and black pepper. Other additions include cinnamon, cloves, allspice and dried mint. In some recipes, you'll also find nutmeg and cardamom.

Can you overcook chicken in the Instapot? ›

Typically, it's very easy to overcook chicken, but in the instant pot, it is difficult to do. Pressure cooking really locks in the flavor and moisture of chicken. I wouldn't cook 1 lb of chicken for 20 minutes in the pressure cooker, but if you do, it probably won't even be overcooked!

Can you overcook chicken in a pressure cooker? ›

Unfortunately, once you overcook a piece of meat in the pressure cooker, there's no going back. You'll be left with a pile of dry, crunchy, tasteless fibers and no amount of additional pressure cooking is going to put that moisture back into the meat.

Does pressure cooking chicken make it more tender? ›

By placing cooking liquid in the bottom of the pressure cooker and placing the chicken in the steamer basket above the liquid, you are guaranteed tender, moist chicken every time. However, you can also use the cooker to make a sauce and cook your chicken submerged in flavour.

Do you cover meat with liquid in a pressure cooker? ›

While you may cover meat almost completely for a conventional braise, use just enough liquid for the cooker to reach pressure – during pressure cooking the meat will release it's own juice and braise in that flavorful liquid, instead.

What is the best meat to pressure cook? ›

You can still pressure cook leaner pieces – like eye of round and top sirloin – but these work best if they've been stuffed, shredded or rolled (with other ingredients). Best cuts of beef to use: Chuck steak, Round Roast, Shoulder, Pot roast, Ribs, Brisket, Oxtail.

Can pressure cooker soften chicken bones? ›

You use quite a bit of water in the pressure cooker so you can cook the bones for enough time so the bones become soft. Then you can grind them up easily with this grinder. Chicken bones, cooked at high pressure in a pressure cooker, take about 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Why is shawarma yummy? ›

Cooking Methods

We roast our shawarma slowly for hours in front of an open-flame. As a result, it keeps its flavor and juices. Some cooking methods include heat-produced by electric or gas, or open flames produced by coals or wood. So, no matter how you slice it, shawarma is delicious.

Why do I like shawarma so much? ›

It is rich in nutrients and can serve as a dish or a snack. Indulge in the flavorful world of Shawarma—a delectable sandwich bursting with meat, veggies, and sauce encased in pita bread. Beyond its taste, Shawarma offers a nutritional punch, making it a versatile dish or snack.

Is chicken shawarma healthy or unhealthy? ›

The fatty meats used in shawarma are often high in saturated fats, which can lead to heart problems if consumed in excess. For these reasons, it is important to enjoy shawarma in moderation.” “Shawarma is very high in sodium, which may make it bad for heart health.

Is chicken shawarma healthier than chicken kebab? ›

Kebabs have fewer calories than shawarmas, so it's considered healthier. While these dishes are highly fatty and calorie-dense, they're still a better alternative than other street food, which are usually deep-fried. We recommend choosing chicken over beef if you want a low-calorie meat option.

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