Chicken Shawarma Plate & How To DIY A Vertical Rotisserie

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No travel necessary, you can order this chicken shawarma plate straight from your own kitchen. Recreate the taste of a popular Middle Eastern street food at home with this vertically cooked, oven baked, sheet pan shawarma recipe.

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A fun new twist on a regular sheet pan chicken dinner. Vertically that is, with this at-home shawarma recipe.

What is shawarma?

Shwarma is marinated meat that is stacked and slow roasted on a vertical rotisserie. The meat can include lamb, beef, goat, chicken, turkey—or a combination of these.

The style and flavor of spices will vary between different cultures. Once the outermost pieces of meat are cooked, thin slices are carved off and ready to be consumed.

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Making shwarma at home 

To mimic cooking shawarma on a vertical spit, we’ll have to DIY a vertical rotisserie system. There are a few simple kitchen items you’ll need.

• A sheet pan as a base – a half sheet is large enough to fit the all of the meat along with the roasted vegetables on the side
• Bamboo skewers (6 inches) to hold the stacked meat
• Stabilizing fruit/vegetable to help support the skewers as the meat cooks vertically. This can be adjusted based on what produce you have available. But, make sure you use something that will maintain it’s shape while cooking, otherwise the chicken might collapse in the oven. For example, a potato or piece of pineapple will work better than an onion
• For additional support (optional) surround the bottom of the shawarma with a silicone roasting rack or a crumple piece of aluminum foil, shaped into a ring.

Ingredients

For the shawarma seasoning & marinade:

• spices – including cinnamon, cumin, granulated garlic, paprika, pepper, salt (kosher) & turmeric. You can also purchase a shawarma spice blend that’s already mixed together.
• lemon juice – freshly squeezed from about ½ a lemon
• orange juice – bottled, with or without pulp
• apple cider vinegar
• maple syrup
• olive oil
• garlic cloves – peeled & minced

To make the sheet pan shawarma:

• boneless skinless chicken – I used thighs (“Pargiyot”) here. But this recipe can also be made with white meat chicken cutlets or turkey cutlets too.
• pepper & onion – slice into thick half moons or wedges; these are for roasting around the chicken. You can swap them out for another color or kind of vegetable.
• avocado oil
• white potatoes – used to help stack and stabilize the shawarma on the sheet pan

To make the chicken shawarma plate (You can customize the recipe as much as you like here):

• hummus
• pita bread

How to make a vertical sheet pan shawarma

Start by mixing together the shawarma spice blend recipe with the other marinade ingredients. Spread over the chicken. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours (or more) to marinate.

Space Saving Tip: Mix and marinate everything in a single spot. Either using a large bowl or a quart sized sealable bag.

DIY a vertical rotisserie

Instead of spreading the chicken out on the sheet pan, this recipe is stacked and cooked vertically. So we’ll have to DIY a little support system.

Take a small white potato and insert the flat side of a bamboo skewer into the widest side. Make sure not to go through the entire potato. Repeat this two more time to create a triangle pattern.

Transfer to the center of a parchment lined half sheet pan. (I forgot to line the pan pictured here & it was a mess to clean. Even with these tips.)

For more support, surround the potato with a silicone roasting rack or a crumpled piece of aluminum foil.

Remove the marinating chicken from the refrigerator. One at a time, pierce the cutlets through the skewers. Alternate the way the cutlets are layered, so that it is relatively even and stable on all sides.

Toss the vegetables in oil and spread around the sheet pan.

Cook the sheet pan shawarma

Bake in a 400°F oven. Until the chicken reaches 165°F (on a thermometer) and the edges have browned.

That should take an hour. The vegetables (onion & peppers) will be ready sooner, in 30-40 minutes. Remove them before they burn.

The potato will take longer to cook. Once you remove the chicken, return it to the oven (leave it whole or cut into pieces, like these Barbecue Crisscross Potatoes) to continue cooking. Either wait for them to finish cooking or enjoy with another meal.

Get ready for a chicken shawarma plate

All that’s left to do it slice the shwarma.

This can be done straight from the sheet pan. Hold one side of the shwarma with a pair of tongs. Slice vertically through all the chicken layers. Working your way around.

For an easier option, transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Remove the skewers and potato. Thinly slice the chicken, one piece at a time or work with a stack of a couple pieces.

What to eat with chicken shawarma

These are some of my favorite foods to serve with this dish:

• hummus shawarma – spread hummus onto a plate. Cover with roasted vegetables and sliced chicken
• a preserved lemon spread
• pickles
• chopped salad – Israeli, cabbage
• pita bread – used these mini ones here
• rice
• tahini sauce
• this green, spicy chimichurri sauce

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This post was originally published in 2017 and has been revamped and republished in October 2022 .