Full of warm and toasty spices, Chicken Shawarma Meatballs are flavorful and versatile. This quick and easy recipe makes a great weeknight meal.
Baking the chicken shawarma meatballs makes getting dinner on the table a little easier since you aren't tied to the stove. Serve with a variety of ingredients such as rice, roasted peppers, marinated chickpeas, feta, and tzatziki sauce.
What is shawarma?
Shawarma, originating in the Ottoman Empire, is made with layers of meat that are stacked on a spit in a cone shape. Generally, meat such as lamb, beef, veal, or chicken is used to make shawarma. The meat is seasoned with a variety of spices such as cumin, coriander, cardamom, paprika, and turmeric. Sometimes pieces of fat are added to the spit so that the meat is basted as it spins on the rotisserie. The meat is shaved off the rotating spit, ready to be served in flat bread such as pita. A mixture of vegetables such as lettuce, tomato, or cucumbers as well as sauces like tahini or hummus are often added.
Meatball Ingredients
- ground chicken breast
- ground chicken thigh
- egg
- garlic
- cumin
- smoked paprika
- cardamom
- turmeric
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- coriander
- cayenne
- lemon juice
- plain yogurt
- olive oil
- chopped parsley
- chickpeas
- fresh bread crumbs
Chicken Meatball instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, give ⅓ cup of chickpeas a rough mash.
- Add 8 ounces ground chicken breast and 8 ounces ground chicken thighs to the bowl.
- Pour in ½ cup of fresh bread crumbs.
Ground chicken, mashed chickpeas, and fresh bread crumbs.
Spice mix
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- pinch cayenne pepper
Spice Mix
Continue mixing
- Mix all the spices.
- Add minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
- Using your hands, mix everything together. Don't overmix the ingredients.
- Add one egg, ½ cup of plain yogurt, and the spice mix to the bowl.
- Again, resist the temptation to overmix the ingredients. The meatball mixture is loose and wet.
Once all ingredients are distributed in the meatball mixture, stop mixing.
Making the meatballs
Because the mixture is wet, it helps to use a small scoop to form the meatballs, about 1 ½-inch. You can also use two spoons - one to scoop and one to help remove the meatball from the other spoon.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
1 ½-inch meatballs
Baking meatballs
I like to use a rack to bake the meatballs. Place the rack on a sheet tray to catch any drips from the baking meatballs. Also, it is very helpful to coat the rack with cooking spray or olive oil so that the meatballs will not stick. Bake the meatballs for about 15 minutes.
The recipe makes approximately 24 meatballs.
Glaze
When the meatballs come out of the oven, I like to brush on a glaze to keep the meatballs tender on the outside.
Mix a small minced garlic clove with 1 ½ teaspoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I microwave the glaze for 8 seconds to help warm the oil which helps to release the scent of the garlic.
Brush each meatball with the glaze.
Glazed!
How to serve the meatballs
There are a couple of ways to serve the meatballs.
- Serve the meatballs as hors d'oeuvres. Have small toothpicks or small appetizer forks handy to dip the meatballs in tahini, tzatziki, or hummus.
- Create a pita sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers to the meatballs. Drizzle on your preferred sauce.
- Make a chicken shawarma bowl.
Making a Chicken Shawarma Bowl
This is a full meal that comes together quickly and is all about color and layers of flavor. Prepare the ingredients while the meatballs are baking.
Ingredients
- Lightly caramelize thinly sliced onions for sweetness. Here is a recipe with instructions - https://tenpoundcakecompany.com/chicken-and-artichoke-spread-sandwich/
- Roast bell peppers. I like to use red and yellow peppers. If you like spice, roast jalapeno peppers or serrano chiles.
- Slice cucumbers to add bright freshness.
- Mix chickpeas with a quick dressing of 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, and ½ teaspoon of chopped fresh dill.
- Add a scoop of tzatziki sauce, homemade or store-bought
- feta cheese (I forgot to add the feta to the bowl!)
- briny olives
- cherry or grape tomatoes
- toasted pine nuts for crunch
Tzatziki sauce recipe
Mix together
- one small clove of garlic, minced
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- ½ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup of grated cucumber with the water squeezed out.
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh dill
- ½ teaspoon lemon
- salt and pepper to taste - just a pinch of each
Tips
- The meatballs can be frozen - raw or baked. To freeze them, place the meatballs on a sheet tray in a single layer. Once they are frozen, you can place them in a ziplock bag.
- To bake the raw meatballs, place frozen meatballs on a cooking spray-coated rack. Let them thaw before placing them in a 425-degree oven. Bake for 15 minutes.
Make a shawarma bar
Maybe your family has some members who eat everything but maybe you have a few who are a little picky. Make a shawarma bar so that everyone picks out their favorite ingredients.
One of the best things about Chicken Shawarma Meatballs is that you have the flavors of shawarma in one package - a meatball. These little flavor bombs are very adaptable and full of tang.
Chicken Shawarma Meatballs
Equipment
- 1 medium-sized bowl
- 1 cutting board
- 1 knife
- 1 sheet pan (13 x 9)
- 1 rack (Should fit the sheet pan)
- 1 scoop (.75 ounce size if you are making 24 meatballs)
- 1 pastry brush
- 1 large pot and lid (for making rice if you are making shawarma bowls)
- 1 box grater
Ingredients
Chicken Shawarma Meatballs
- 8 ounces ground chicken breast (458 grams)
- 8 ounces ground chicken thigh (458 grams)
- 1 15 ounce can of chickpeas (425 grams)
- ½ cup fresh bread crumbs (.8 ounce/22 grams)
- 1 egg
- 1¼ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced (4 cloves)
- ½ cup plain yogurt (3.6 ounces/101 grams)
Marinated Chickpeas
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh dill
Tzatziki Sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup plain yogurt (3.6ounces/101 grams)
- ½ cup sour cream (3.6 ounces/101 grams)
- ⅓ cup grated English cucumber with water squeezed out
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh dill
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
Meatball Glaze
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1½ teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Chicken Shawarma Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 425°
- Prepare baking pans. Place a wire rack over a sheet pan of the same size. Coat the rack with cooking spray or olive oil.
- In a medium-sized bowl, give ⅓ cup of chickpeas a rough mash.
- Add 8 ounces ground chicken breast and 8 ounces ground chicken thighs to the bowl.
- Add ½ cup of fresh bread crumbs.
- Add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Using your hands, mix everything together. Only mix until the ingredients are incorporated.
- Mix together all the spices - cumin, smoked paprika, kosher salt, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, and cayenne.
- Add one egg, ½ cup of plain yogurt, and the spice mix to the bowl.
- Again mix everything only until all ingredients are distributed. The meatball mixture will be wet.
- It helps to use a small scoop to make the meatballs, about 1 ½-inch in size or .75 ounce in weight. You can also use two spoons - one to scoop and one to help remove the meatball from the other spoon.
- Place the meatballs on the rack. The recipe makes 24 meatballs.
- Place the sheet pan and rack in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Combine the meatball glaze ingredients. I microwave the glaze for 8 seconds to help warm the oil which helps to release the scent of the garlic.
- Brush each meatball with the glaze.
Marinated Chickpeas
- Make a quick dressing of 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, and ½ teaspoon of chopped fresh dill.
- Toss the remainder of the can of chickpeas with the dressing.
Tzatziki Sauce
- Using a box grater, shred ½ of an English cucumber on top of a paper towel.
- Fold the paper towel and squeeze the cucumber, releasing water. Try to squeeze out as much as possible.
- Mix the cucumber with one minced clove of garlic, plain yogurt, sour cream, fresh dill, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Notes
Nutrition
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