Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma

My mouth actually waters when I think of this recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma.  This is one of those dishes that I cook in the Instant Pot when I am tired of barbequing and just want to make a delicious meal packed with flavour.  It does take a bit of planning though so you should consult the ingredients below and make sure you have a good shopping list before you hit the grocery store and pick up your supplies.  The spices should already be in your pantry if you followed my recommendations in the Pantry  blog.

You can eat Chicken Shawarma in a pita with delicious toppings and sauce or you can always eat it on a plate with rice and salad on the side. Either way, this Chicken Shawarma recipe works well. Here, I have featured it my favourite way, on a pita with creamy garlic sauce, hummus, and veggies.

If you want your chicken to be crispier than how it comes out of the Instant Pot and you are OK with firing up the BBQ, you can always make this same recipe but grill it on a medium-high grill for about 8 minutes per side.  Internal temperature should be 165 degrees.  I have tried both methods and they are equally as delicious with the Instant Pot method being a bit moister and the grilling method having a nice smoky bbq flavour.

The chicken that comes from the Instant Pot is flavourful, moist and mouth watering and you can simply cut it up and put it on some pita bread and eat it.  But, oooh it is so much better with the extra toppings; humus, garlic sauce, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions…..  Picture yourself at one of those great Shawarma restaurants where they put all those yummy toppings on as you walk down the line.  They usually wrap it carefully in paper and hand it to you at the end of the line like a prized package you need to carefully unwrap and enjoy.   You can go ahead and decide what you want to put on top of your chicken but make sure when you bite into it that you have a napkin standing by and maybe a bib?

Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma

Recipe by KatherineCourse: Instant Pot, Main CourseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Marinating Time

1-3

hours

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
  

• 2 T lemon juice

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

• 2 cloves garlic minced or 1/2 tsp garlic powerder

• 1/2 tsp black ground pepper

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 small onion, roughly chopped

• 4 chicken thighs boneless and skinless

• pita bread (Greek style)

• Garlic Sauce

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 2 T lemon juice

• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

• 1 fresh egg white

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 

• Toppings

• garlic sauce

• hummus

• cucumbers

• tomato

• red onions

Directions

• Add olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, garlic, pepper, salt and onions to your food chopper and blend until they form a paste.
• Put into to a ziploc bag, then add the chicken thighs. Smoosh the chicken and the spice mixture together and put the bag in the refrigerator.
• Marinate for 1-3 hours.
• Place the chicken in your Instant Pot. Close the lid and set the Instant Pot to the Manual setting and set the timer to 8 minutes on high pressure.
• Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is done, should take about 15 minutes.
• Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot (or your grill if you have chosen to BBQ) and chop it into pieces for the Shawarmas.
• To assemble the Chicken Shawarma, spread the desired amount of garlic sauce and hummus over the middle of the pita. Top with the chopped chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions.
• Garlic Sauce
• Clean your food chopper and add all of the ingredients to blend for 1-2 minutes, until smooth.