5-Minute Shawarma White Sauce Recipe – Easy & Flavorful!

This easy 5-minute shawarma white sauce recipe blends yogurt with tahini, fresh lemon juice, and garlic for a delicious savory sauce. Swap out half of the yogurt with mayo for an even creamier texture!

Takeout from your favorite Middle Eastern restaurant will be a thing of the past when you find out how easy it is to make the secret sauce at home.

Give me 5 minutes and I’ll give you a healthy, flavorful sauce that you can drizzle on wraps, spread on sandwiches, dip into with raw vegetables, or serve along with grilled chicken, meat, or fish.

This quick and easy sauce simulates traditional sauces you’d find served with shawarma in the Middle East, but is blended and mellowed. It’s a versatile sauce that lasts in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, which makes it a good option for meal prep!

Ingredients

• Plain whole milk Greek yogurt – Or for a richer flavor and texture, use half Greek yogurt and half mayo. If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can substitute with an equal amount of sour cream. You can also use regular plain yogurt instead of Greek yogurt, and reduce the added water.
• Tahini – Tahini is a common ingredient in traditional Middle Eastern cuisine. It adds a subtly nutty, bitter flavor. This recipe goes light on the tahini, but feel free to add up to 4 tablespoons of tahini if you like the flavor (and increase the water as needed).
• Lemon juice – When you first add lemon juice to tahini, it will thicken significantly. After that, we add water a little at a time until it becomes a pourable sauce.
• Water – Add water to thin out the sauce until it reaches your desired consistency. It should be thick, but thin enough to pour or drizzle.
• Garlic – Garlic lends a ton of flavor to shawarma sauce! Skip the garlic powder because it makes all the difference in the world to use fresh garlic here.
• Salt – To make sure our sauce isn’t bland.
• Cumin – Cumin adds an earthy warmth and subtle underlying smokiness.

Instructions

1. Add the yogurt, tahini, and lemon juice to a medium bowl and mix to combine.
2. Whisk in the water until it reaches your desired consistency (it should be pour-able, but not watery).
3. Whisk in the garlic, salt, and cumin.
4. Taste and add more tahini, lemon, and/or salt if desired.

Storage

Store this sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Variations

• Spicy – Add up to 1 teaspoon of ground cayenne, hot paprika, or your favorite ground spicy pepper. (Aleppo pepper is delicious here; it adds an intense fruity flavor, subtle heat, and notes of smokiness.) As always with spicy-hot spices, it’s best to start with less, taste it, and add more as desired!
• Herby – Add up to 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh herbs, such as mint, parsley, cilantro, or dill.

Tips

• You can use regular plain yogurt instead of Greek yogurt. Just decrease the amount of water added. And while we’re talking about yogurt, you don’t have to use whole milk yogurt; low-fat yogurt will work fine, but the sauce will be less rich and creamy.
• If you aren’t familiar with the flavor of tahini, it can be quite a surprise. Yes, it’s rich and nutty, but it’s also quite bitter! The yogurt helps mellow the flavor here, and if you want it even more subtle, swap out half of the yogurt for mayonnaise.
• Go for fresh lemon juice and fresh garlic here. With minimal ingredients in this sauce, fresh makes a huge difference.

Shawarma White Sauce Recipe FAQs

More Middle Eastern Recipes to Try

• Authentic Shish Tawook Recipe
• Adas (Middle Eastern Red Lentil Soup)
• Basbousa Recipe