Sheet Pan Shawarma Naanwiches
It’s no surprise how street food has made its way into our hearts via our bellies; it’s fucking delicious and takes us to a place we’d otherwise need a passport to travel to. This is my take on the flavors of shawarma, a Turkish delight of thinly sliced meat stacked on a vertical rotisserie (think gyro).
The accompaniments to my naanwich are not tradition, but well thought out, in my humble opinion. Mint and lime to temper the spice-heavy chicken, quick-pickled cucumber to cut through everything, fries cause it’s a free country, sriracha for heat, and fresh cilantro and lime for a bright, fresh note! You won’t believe you at the whole thing.
Sheet Pan Shawarma Naanwiches
Ingredients
FOR THE CHICKEN!
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- ¼ tsp cardamom
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 Tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp Fage Greek yogurt
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 pound chicken thighs, boneless/skinless
- ½ red onion, sliced ½ inch thick
- ½ orange bell pepper, sliced ½ inch thick
FOR THE MINT-LIME CREMA!
- ½ cup Fage Greek yogurt
- ½ Tbsp white wine vinegar
- ½ Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp mint, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh lime juice
- kosher salt
- black pepper
FOR QUICK-PICKLED CUCUMBERS!
- recipe linked below!
FOR NAANWICHES!
- 1 pkg. naan (or pita)
- cilantro, roughly chopped
- frozen french fries
- sriracha/hot sauce
- lime wedges
Instructions
FOR THE CHICKEN!
- To make marinade: in a medium bowl, whisk together cumin, paprika, coriander, black pepper, salt, cayenne, cardamom, and turmeric.
- Add garlic, yogurt, olive oil, and lemon juice. Mix well.
- Place chicken in a ziploc bag and add marinade. Toss to combine and refrigerate for at least two hours, but it's more life changing if you do it overnight.
- When ready to bake, allow chicken to come to room temp, at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Add red onion and bell pepper slices to chicken marinade bag and toss to coat.
- Line a sheet pan with greased tinfoil and remove chicken and veggies from bag, allowing excess marinade to drip off back into ziploc before setting on pan. Spread out, but get some veg on top of chicken so they cook together all yummy and whatnot. Discard excess marinade.
- Bake for 30 minutes, rotating pan and flipping everything over halfway through.
- When finished baking, rest chicken on a plate for 5-10 minutes (this is a perfect time to throw in your frozen fries for the naanwiches!!!).
- In a medium pan over medium heat, drizzle in some olive oil and allow to heat up. Throw in sliced chicken and pan fry until edges crisp and take you to Flavortown. Toss in your veggies at the end to heat them up again! Taste for salt, adding more if needed.
FOR THE MINT-LIME CREMA!
- In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, vinegar, oil, mint, and lime. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Allow flavors to make out in the fridge for at least an hour. This can be made the day before and I highly suggest doing that if you can.
FOR THE QUICK-PICKLED CUCUMBERS!
- Follow recipe HERE! Can be made an hour to a day ahead of time! Longer it sits, the better the flavor will be!
ASSEMBLY!
- Heat up the naan.
- Smother them with mint-lime crema and pile on the quick pickles.
- Top with your chicken and veggies. Squeeze on that fresh lime. Add fries cause sometimes it's like that.
- Drizzle sriracha all over and sprinkle with cilantro.
- Wrap it up, then fuck it up.
Notes
Tag @la_faguette_ on Instagram and hashtag it #lafaguette !
FOR SHAWARMA-SPICED FRIES:
• Halve the dry spice blend and mix with 1 tsp olive oil. Take fries out halfway through baking and toss in a bowl with spice mix. Spread back on sheet pan and finish baking. Season with more salt at the end if necessary.
EQUIPMENT:
The equipment section above contains affiliate links to products I recommend, many of which I love and use daily!
Made this for dinner last night and it was great! I live in a smallish city where good shawarma is hard to find, so I’m happy I stumbled across this recipe . I was patient and waited for the chicken to marinate overnight and it was definitely worth it in the end.
SO HAPPY YOU STUMBLED ACROSS THIS! AND THAT YOU ENJOYED!
I HATE BEING PATIENT WITH FOOD, BUT ALWAYS WORTH IT 🙂
THANKS FOR MAKING!