Chicken Shawarma Meatballs

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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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

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.

How to serve the meatballs

There are a couple of ways to serve the meatballs.

1. Serve the meatballs as hors d'oeuvres.  Have small toothpicks or small appetizer forks handy to dip the meatballs in tahini, tzatziki, or hummus.
2. Create a pita sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers to the meatballs.  Drizzle on your preferred sauce.
3. 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

1. one small clove of garlic, minced
2. ½ cup plain yogurt
3. ½ cup sour cream
4. ⅓ cup of grated cucumber with the water squeezed out.
5. ½ teaspoon chopped fresh dill
6. ½ teaspoon lemon
7. salt and pepper to taste - just a pinch of each

Tips

1. 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.
2. 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.