Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma

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!

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.

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.

Tools and Ingredients Needed

• An Instant Pot and a trivet – this is the model that I have and love.
• A cutting board, and a sharp 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 seasoning – here’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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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