Chicken Shawarma Wraps with Garlic Toum
Yogurt-and-spice marinated chicken thighs are roasted until charred at the edges, then rolled in warm flatbread with fluffy, fiercely garlicky toum, tangy pickled turnips, tomato, cucumber and parsley.
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 28 min
- Wait
- 2 hr 5 min
- Total
- 3 hr 18 min
- Makes
- 6 wraps, plus about 1 cup (240 ml) toum (a little left over)
Steps
Before you start
- The chicken needs at least 2 hours in the marinade (up to 12 hours in the fridge), so start early or the night before.
- You need about 3 medium lemons in total: 3 tbsp (45 ml) juice for the marinade and 3 tbsp (45 ml) for the toum.
- Put a small bowl of water with a few ice cubes in the fridge for the toum, and make sure your food processor bowl and blade are completely dry.
- Toum contains raw garlic and oil, so keep it refrigerated and use it within 1 week.
- About 20 minutes before cooking, move an oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).
Mix the marinade
- In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 3 tbsp (45 ml) lemon juice, olive oil, grated garlic, 2 tsp salt, cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, and the cayenne if using.
- Whisk for about 30 seconds until you have a smooth, evenly orange-gold paste with no clumps of spice.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Marinade is smooth, thick, and uniformly colored.
Tip: Grate the garlic on a microplane so it melts into the marinade and doesn't burn in the oven.
Marinate the chicken
- Add the chicken thighs to the bowl and turn them with your hands or tongs until every surface is thickly coated.
- Cover the bowl tightly (or transfer to a zip-top bag) and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Chicken is evenly coated with no bare patches.
Tip: Don't marinate longer than 12 hours; the acid can make the chicken mushy.
Make the toum paste
- While the chicken marinates, make sure the food processor bowl and blade are completely dry.
- Add the peeled garlic and 1 tsp salt and process for about 1 minute, stopping to scrape down the sides every 20 seconds, until the garlic is a fine, almost smooth paste.
- Add 1 tbsp (15 ml) of the lemon juice and process 30 seconds more.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Garlic is a fine, sticky paste with no visible chunks.
Tip: Removing the green germ from the center of each clove gives a sweeter, less harsh toum.
Emulsify the toum
- With the processor running, add the neutral oil literally a few drops at a time for the first 2 tablespoons, then in a very thin stream.
- Every time you have added about ¼ cup (60 ml) of oil, stop and add 1 tbsp (15 ml) of lemon juice or 1 tbsp (15 ml) of ice water, alternating, then continue.
- Scrape the sides as needed.
- This takes about 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a jar and refrigerate.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Toum is bright white, thick, and fluffy like mayonnaise, holding a soft peak on a spoon.
Tip: If the toum looks greasy or splits, you added the oil too fast. Scoop it out, start a new tablespoon of garlic paste or ice water in the clean processor, and slowly stream the broken mixture back in.
Prep the fillings
- Slice the tomatoes and cucumbers, cut the drained pickled turnips into thin batons, and chop the parsley.
- Keep each in a separate bowl or on a plate in the fridge so they stay crisp until you assemble the wraps.
+ Show details− Hide details
Tip: Pat the tomato slices with a paper towel so they don't make the flatbread soggy.
Arrange the chickenOven 450°F / 230°C
- About 20 minutes before cooking, position a rack in the upper-middle of the oven and preheat to 450°F (230°C).
- Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet.
- Lift the thighs from the marinade, letting excess drip off but leaving a thick coating, and lay them flat in a single layer on the rack with space between them.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Thighs lie flat in one layer without touching.
Tip: Crowded chicken steams instead of browning. Use two sheets if needed.
Roast the chickenOven 450°F / 230°C
- Roast the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes, without turning, until the edges are deeply browned and the thickest thigh reads at least 165°F (74°C) on an instant-read thermometer.
- Thighs taste best and most tender at 175°F (80°C), so roast toward that if you can.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Edges are browned and the thickest thigh reads 165–175°F (74–80°C); juices run clear.
Tip: Ovens vary. Start checking the temperature at 18 minutes.
Char under the broilerOven 500°F / 260°C
- Switch the oven to broil on high (about 500°F / 260°C).
- Broil the chicken for 2 to 4 minutes, watching closely, until the tips and thin edges are blackened in spots, like shawarma from a rotating spit.
- Remove from the oven.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Edges are dark and crispy with charred spots, but not burnt black all over.
Tip: Don't walk away: the yogurt and sugars in the marinade can go from charred to burnt in under a minute.
Rest and slice
- Let the chicken rest on the rack for 5 minutes so the juices settle.
- Then slice the thighs crosswise into thin strips about ¼ inch (6 mm) wide, and toss with any juices that collected on the baking sheet.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Slices are juicy, with no pink at the center.
Warm the flatbread
- Heat a large dry skillet over medium heat.
- Warm each flatbread for 15 to 20 seconds per side, until soft, pliable, and lightly blistered.
- Stack the warm breads in a clean kitchen towel to keep them from drying out.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Bread is soft and bends without cracking, with a few light brown spots.
Tip: Don't toast until crisp or the wraps will crack when rolled.
Assemble and roll
- Lay a warm flatbread on a work surface.
- Spread about 2 tbsp of toum down the center, leaving a 2-inch (5 cm) border at the sides.
- Top with about a sixth of the chicken, then pickled turnips, tomato, cucumber, and parsley.
- Fold in the two sides, then roll up tightly from the bottom like a burrito.
- Wrap the bottom half in foil or parchment and repeat with the remaining wraps.
- Optional: toast the rolled wraps seam-side down in the dry skillet for 1 minute per side.
+ Show details− Hide details
Ready when: Wraps are tight, closed at the seam, and hold together when lifted.
Tip: Don't overfill. Roughly 1 cup of filling per wrap is the limit for a clean, tight roll.
Good to know
Tips
- For stovetop cooking, sear the marinated thighs in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat for 5–6 minutes per side in batches, until deeply browned and 165–175°F (74–80°C) inside.
- Add the oil to the toum slowly, a few drops at a time at first. Fast addition is the most common reason it splits.
- Use the toum as a dip or spread for roast potatoes and grilled meat too; a little goes a long way.
- For extra char and a more authentic stacked-meat texture, slice the cooked chicken and crisp it in a hot skillet for 2 minutes before assembling.
Make ahead
"Marinate the chicken up to 12 hours ahead. Make the toum up to 1 day ahead (it mellows and thickens as it chills). Roast and slice the chicken up to 2 days ahead and reheat before assembling. Chop the vegetables up to 4 hours ahead."
Storage & reheating
"Cooked chicken: refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a hot skillet over medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes until sizzling, or on a baking sheet at 400°F (200°C) for 8–10 minutes. Toum: refrigerate in a sealed jar for up to 1 week (do not leave at room temperature; it contains raw garlic in oil). Assembled wraps are best eaten right away; leftovers keep 1 day in the fridge but the bread will soften. Don't freeze assembled wraps or toum."
Substitutions
- boneless, skinless chicken thighs → boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Pound to an even ¾ inch (2 cm) and roast about 15–18 minutes to 165°F (74°C); they will be drier, so don't skip the marinade time.
- pickled turnips → dill pickles or pickled cucumbers. Use the same amount, sliced thin. You lose the beet-pink color and the turnip's crunch but keep the tang.
- neutral oil such as sunflower or canola → light olive oil. Don't use extra-virgin, which turns bitter when processed at high speed.
- thin flatbread, such as lavash, saj, or large thin pita (9–10 inches / 23–25 cm) → small soft pitas or large flour tortillas. Warm until pliable. Pitas should be split open and used as pockets rather than rolled.