Inspired by Middle Eastern chicken shawarmas, these wraps are stuffed with slices of marinated chicken and loads of vegetables. The chicken doesn’t require any marinating time and everything gets cooked on a sheet pan in the oven. Pile everything onto warm tortillas, top with a drizzle of the easiest lemon-garlic sauce and dinner is served.
- Prep Time:
30 mins - Cook Time:
20 mins - Total Time:
50 mins

One pan meals for the win
I love a good one-pan dinner.
Recipes like Salmon with Coconut-Miso Sauce and Sheet Pan Fried Rice can save your sanity on a busy night. It’s even better when the meal is semi-healthy and vegetables are included without making another dish on the side. These chicken shawarma wraps check all those boxes.
Traditional chicken shawarmas don’t include many vegetables and they definitely aren’t served on flour tortillas but I wanted this recipe to be an easy and approachable meal. I’ve kept the list of spices as short as possible (while still ensuring the marinade packs a lot of flavor) and offer some substitutions below if you don’t have some of the spices on hand.
Tips for the easiest chicken shawarma meal
- Don’t worry if you don’t have the exact set of spices called for in the recipe. You can swap them out for other similarly flavored warm spices like ground coriander, allspice, or ground cardamom.
- For easy clean-up, line the sheet pan with aluminum foil before adding the chicken and vegetables.
- Since fresh lemon juice is needed for both the marinade and the lemon-garlic sauce (and optionally for the shredded lettuce and cabbage), squeeze 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice into a small bowl and just measure out from there.
- Use a microplane to zest the lemon and grate the garlic. It makes fast work of those tasks.
- Don’t replace the mayonnaise in the marinade with yogurt. Although yogurt is more traditional in most chicken shawarma marinades, mayonnaise (with its egg proteins) works better for coating the chicken (ensuring great flavor without the long marinating time) and improves browning. Food expert, Kenji Lopez-Alt, wrote a great article about the magic of mayonnaise in marinades for the New York Times if you want to learn more.
Sheet Pan Chicken Shawarma and Vegetable Wraps
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Dinner, Main
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
Inspired by Middle Eastern chicken shawarmas, these wraps are stuffed with slices of shawarma spiced chicken and loads of vegetables. The chicken doesn’t require any marinating time and everything gets cooked on a sheet pan in the oven. Pile everything onto warm tortillas, top with a drizzle of quick lemon-garlic sauce and dinner is served.
Ingredients
For the chicken and vegetables
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (from about 2 large lemons)
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced or grated with a microplane
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 pounds carrots
- 1 sweet bell pepper (any color you prefer)
For lemon-garlic sauce
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, minced or grated with a microplane
- 1 tablespoon water (or more for thinner sauce)
- Pinch of kosher salt
For serving
- 6–8 flour tortillas
- Shredded romaine lettuce (see Note 1)
- Shredded red cabbage (aka purple cabbage)
- Chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro
Instructions
For the chicken and vegetables
- Prep oven. Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Prep chicken. Place the chicken thighs in a large bowl. Add lemon zest, grated garlic, salt, and pepper. Using tongs (or your hands), toss chicken until evenly coated. Set aside.
- Prep vegetables. Peel carrots then cut them into about 3-inch long pieces. Cut each piece in half lengthwise. Set aside. Trim bell pepper by cutting it in half then cutting out the stem and removing the ribs and seeds. Then cut each piece in half. Set aside.
- Make marinade. In another medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon until smooth.
- Coat chicken. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of the marinade over the chicken and toss until all the pieces are evenly coated. Spread the chicken into a single even layer on a large rimmed baking sheet reserving some space on the pan for the vegetables. Set aside.
- Coat vegetables. Add the prepared carrots and bell pepper to the remaining marinade. Toss the vegetables with marinade until coated (I use my hands for this part). Place the vegetables (cut side down) on the sheet pan with the chicken.
- Cook chicken and vegetables. Roast chicken and vegetables in oven for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and dark brown in spots (see Note 2). While the chicken is roasting, make the lemon-garlic sauce (see instructions below) and cut the lettuce and cabbage.
- OPTIONAL Broil. For extra char, broil the chicken and vegetables under the broiler for 5-10 minutes or until there are blackened spots on the chicken.
- Slice. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before slicing. While the chicken rests, cut the roasted carrots and bell pepper into 1/4-inch thick strips.
For lemon-garlic sauce
- Whisk. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, lemon juice, grated garlic, water, and salt until smooth.
For serving
- Warm tortillas. Place tortillas on a plate and cover with a barely damp paper towel. Warm the tortillas in the microwave for 15-30 seconds depending on the power of your microwave.
- Assemble the wraps. Fill tortillas with chicken and vegetables as desired then drizzle on some of the lemon-garlic sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley or cilantro and serve.
Notes
- For extra flavor, you can toss the shredded lettuce and cabbage with a little lemon juice, olive oil, and a pinch of salt before adding them to the wraps.
- If you like your bell pepper more crunchy than tender, remove the bell pepper pieces to a plate after about 10 minutes of roasting.
- Recipe inspired by the chicken shawarmas at Shooq Bali.
- Recipe for lemon-garlic sauce adapted from Iowa Girl Eats.
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