I ran across a recipe for Chicken Shwarma on the blog, Jersey Girl Cooks. Lisa roasted her chicken in the oven and it looks fabulous. But being the lazy cook that I am, I decided this would work in the slow cooker.
Hot dog! I was right! My family loved this meal and I know I’ll be making it again.
I only made minor alterations to Lisa’s recipe. I changed the cooking method and more than doubled the recipe so it would feed my family. I never could find tahini, so I served it with cucumber-yogurt sauce instead. If I ever find tahini paste (Walmart, are you listening?) I’m going to try Lisa’s sauce.
Here’s what you’ll need: 
Chicken Shwarma in the Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 6 Tbs. lemon juice
- 6 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. curry powder
- 2 dashes cayenne pepper
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 3 lbs. boneless chicken thigh strips
- 8 oz plain or Greek style yogurt
- 1 small cucumber chopped
- pita bread
- tomatoes
Instructions
- Stir lemon juice, olive oil, salt, curry, cayenne pepper and garlic together in a small bowl.
- Place chicken in slow cooker.
- Pour olive oil mixture over the top, stirring to coat the chicken.
- Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
- Stir cucumber and yogurt together.
- Serve chicken in pita bread, topped with yogurt sauce and tomatoes.
I’m showing this off at Gooseberry Patch One Pot Meals link up.
I have a chicken destined for the crockpost this very day, and I LOVE chicken shwarma! The ones we get here always have a pickle wrapped up in the sandwich as well.
Chicken shwarma in the crockpot? LOVE it!
If I look around, I can find tahini, but the ones I find near me never have an expiration date, which kinda squicks me out, especially since they’re not refrigerated on the shelf. So I use the big bag of sesame seeds I keep in my freezer (Asian store), toast some in the toaster oven, then whiz them in the blender with olive and/or sesame oil. It won’t get silky smooth like commercial tahini though. And don’t add any other ingredients to the blender until it’s as smooth as it’s going to get, for it will be even “grittier”. But letting it go a while before adding other stuff makes it in between silky and slightly gritty.
I recently read an idea (in a Yelp review of all places LOL): Find out if a nearby Middle Eastern restaurant will sell you some. I checked a few menus of nearby Middle Eastern menus and they sell side dishes of tahini for 75cents. I’m pretty sure a frequented restaurant’s tahini would be much fresher than those unmarked dusty plastic jars on grocery store shelves.
I have this in the slow cooker now! I saw this recipe and knew it had to be dinner – Im getting ready to make some pitas to go with it.
If you have a good Meijer store in your area, with a fairly good ethnic aisle (i e more than just Mexican, Italian and Chinese) they should carry tahini. If not there, then try your local health foods store, or if all else fails, World Market. Wal-Mart just isn’t that ethnically diverse. You could even make your own tahini by grinding up sesame seeds in your food processor but I think that’s more trouble than making pesto (with or without a food processor).
Our smallish southwest city Walmart has it. It’s over with the Oriental food things. It’s a round, kind of short, fat can with a white and orange label.
This chicken was great! Teen loved it and polished off all the left overs. This is a definite keeper and a great use up for curry powder!
this looks great – I’m going to try it! Our Walmart has tahini in the kosher foods section, if that helps.
Tahini tastes very much like peanut butter – you might try substituting that. I have found it at Sprouts, Central Market, and at Asian stores.
I went to a part of Brazil that is populated with a lot of immigrants from Lebanon. Schwarma was THE street food there. The best part is the VERY garlicky sauce that accompanies it! I know I saw tahini at the store yesterday but it was in a weird place. Have you ever tried it again?
I haven’t tried to find it again, but I really should. I know that sauce is so good! I just substitute plain yogurt and cucumbers. Not as good, but it works.
This sounds great! How many people would you say this serves?
6-8 people