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My authentic Chicken Shish Tawook recipe is perfect! These chicken skewers start with an easy yogurt, lemon, and garlic marinade loaded with spices. Serve with a side of rice or wrapped as a sandwich with lots of garlic sauce!
Fire up the grill, it’s chicken kabob season!
And these Shish tawook skewers are loaded with all the warming spices.
The marinade is simple. You start by whisking together lemon juice, olive oil, yogurt, tomato paste, and lots of seasonings together in a bowl. And You get perfectly juicy chicken every time.
The hardest thing about making my shish tawook recipe is having the patience to let the chicken marinate. Since I’m not cooking these on a charcoal grill, I’ll show you a simple way to still give them that delicious signature Middle East charcoal flavor – even if you make these on an indoor grill!
We love to order shish tawook pita bread wraps loaded with sumac red onion salad and pickles, at our favorite middle east restaurant. You can’t forget the French fries, extra smooth hummus, and lots of toum (or garlic sauce) to dip it all in.
And now you can have them at home too!
This is so good and differentiated from other grilled chicken recipes. Tender and tangy with a little bit of kick. Sumac and Aleppo pepper were hard to find so I got online. Definitely putting this in the rotation!
Ingredients for chicken shish tawook
- Chicken: Feel free to use boneless skinless chicken breasts, chicken tenders, or even boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. The key is to make even-sized chicken cubes so that they marinate in the same amount of time.
- Yogurt: I like to use plain yogurt for most of my Indian and Middle eastern dishes. If you have Greek yogurt on hand, that will also work. You may just want to thin it out with a tablespoon of water so that the marinade isn’t too thick.
- Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is the acid in the marinade. Unlike chicken shawarma, it provides a delicious tart flavor to the chicken.
- Olive Oil: helps carry the spices through the marinade
- Garlic: Use a handful of minced garlic cloves. Remember, if you mince the garlic, the flavor won’t be as prominent as it will be if you grate or press the garlic. The finer the garlic, the more flavor it packs on.
- Tomato Paste: Tomato paste adds more color and a bit of umami to the shish tawook marinade.
- Spices: You’ll need a ton! We’re using kosher salt, ground sumac, but also sweet paprika, dried oregano, white pepper, ground ginger, allspice, ground cinnamon, and Aleppo pepper. I know Aleppo pepper isn’t something that’s always easily available, but it is something that’s used quite a bit in Turkish and middle eastern cuisine in general. Feel free to swap it with a dash of cayenne pepper and some pepper flakes if you’d like.
- Yellow mustard: is a great addition that adds flavor. You won’t taste the mustard but it bumps up the flavor profile of the dish.
Authentic Lebanese shish tawook recipe
- Marinate the chicken. Grab a large bowl and whisk together all of the seasonings as spices along with the lemon juice, yogurt, mustard, tomato paste, and olive oil. Add the chicken pieces into the marinade, cover, and pop into the fridge for at least an hour and ideally, between 4-8 hours. The longer the chicken sits in the marinade the more flavorful it’ll be. You’ll also want to soak the skewers if you are using wooden skewers for this recipe.
- Smoke the chicken. No – you don’t need a smoker! If you want the chicken to have a smoky charcoal flavor but don’t want to cook the chicken on a charcoal grill, I’ll provide directions on the recipe card on how to give the a smoky flavor.This step is purely optional and should be done at your own risk.
- Grill the chicken. Thread the chicken pieces onto metal or the soaked wooden skewers. Preheat an indoor grill pan or an outdoor grill to 450ºF. If you’re grilling this outdoors, you’ll want to clean and oil the grill grates. Grill the chicken for 10-15 minutes flipping around halfway until the chicken cooks to 165ºF. Allow the skewers to cool for a few minutes before serving. Tons of serving suggestions below!
FAQs about this recipe
You could always grill vegetables and serve with homemade toum and flatbread. If you want to go the rice route, my Lebanese rice pilaf is always a hit with my family or you could even do a cranberry rice pilaf. A Shirazi or Fattoush salad on the side with french fries or batata harra is another option! Leftovers are great in a salad or wrap.
Remove chicken pieces from skewers and place in an airtight container. Keep leftovers in the fridge and consume within 3 days of grilling.
Other delicious chicken recipes to try
- Persian Chicken Kebabs (Jujeh kebab)
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken Skewers
- Greek Chicken Souvlaki Skewers
- Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce
- Simple Asian Grilled Chicken
Chicken Shish Tawook
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, into 1-inch pieces
- ⅓ cup plain yogurt
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic pressed or grated
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground sumac
- ½ teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper or ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Prepared Toum
- Vermicelli Rice
Instructions
- MARINATE: In a large bowl, dish together all the ingredients other than the chicken until combined. Taste and adjust with more seasonings as desired. Place the chicken in the bowl and stir to coat the chicken evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and ideally, 4-8 hours. You’ll also want to soak wooden skewers if you’re using those.
- SMOKE: This step is optional, and should be done at your own risk. See notes for directions
- GRILL:Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers. Preheat an indoor grill pan or outdoor grill to 450ºF. Make sure to clean the grill grates thoroughly and oil the grates. Grill for 10-15 minutes, flipping halfway through until the chicken is done to about 165ºF.
- SERVE: You can serve the Shish Tawook skewers with Lebanese flatbread with toum, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, sliced onions, or with prepared vermicelli rice.
Notes
- How to smoke the chicken: To give the chicken a charcoal flavor, heat a charcoal brickette over medium-high heat on a gas stove until the coal lights up on all sides. Make a small basket out of aluminum foil by wrapping it around the bottom of any bottle. Place the foil (without the bottle) in the center of the chicken with the marinade. Place the lit charcoal with tongs in the foil basket. Grab a lid that will fit the bowl. Pour 1 teaspoon of oil over the hot charcoal and immediately cover the dish with the lid. Allow the chicken to ‘smoke’ for 30-45 seconds. The longer you leave it, the stronger the flavor. Carefully remove the foil basket. I usually pour water on it in the sink to extinguish before allowing it to cool and discard. Smoke the chicken at your own risk though, please. Feel free to omit this step.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Hi. What is the yellow mustard? Can I use mustard seeds that I crush?
I haven’t made this recipe yet but am excited just want to get the ingredients right
I keep making this and it’s so good. I grill on my Big Green Egg. Hands down this is the best chicken recipe of any kind. It’s a little complicated with so many spices and measuring spoons so I made a large spice blend in order to make readily. Amazing.
Absolutely amazing recipe. Only had time to marinate for a little over an hour- still fantastic. Couldn’t find Aleppo pepper, so used red pepper flakes, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Restaurant quality!
This is so good and differentiated from other grilled chicken recipes. Tender and tangy with a little bit of kick. Sumac and Aleppo pepper were hard to find so I got online. Definitely putting this in the rotation!
Made this again. Soooo gooooood!
Made this tonight for my husband and daughter, and they liked it very much. I did not use charcoal indoors, though, as burning charcoal gives off carbon monoxide, which can be deadly. It was great on the grill outside, though. Served with Lebanese yogurt sauce, flatbread, and a watermelon chopped salad for a lovely Sunday dinner. Thanks for the recipe!