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This authentic Shish Tawook recipe (aka Shish Taouk) features tender, juicy chicken that’s marinated in a mixture of spiced yogurt, lemon, and garlic, and then grilled to perfection.
When I lived in Syria, I remember buying incredibly delicious pre-marinated Shish Tawook from a local butcher.
It wasn’t fancy. It came in a plastic bag with the open end tied into a knot. The marinade had a pretty pinkish color flecked with spices and pieces of garlic. It smelled divine.
We’d get it home and cook the chicken on the little grill on the balcony or roast it in the oven. It was amazing served on top of fresh flatbread (from the baker whose bread shop was downstairs on the bottom floor of our building!) to soak up all the flavorful juices from the grilled chicken.
We usually ate the chicken along with grilled onions and tomatoes from the vegetable shop on the corner. That shop was owned by a man who brought fresh produce into Damascus from his family’s farm every morning. Talk about supporting local!
And we always had this meal with Toum (garlic sauce) for dipping. Toum is a pungent fluffy white dip that’s redolent with garlic. It only has four ingredients – garlic, salt, oil, and lemon juice – but it’s packed with flavor. Its creamy texture is perfect for using as a condiment or dipping sauce, and it perfectly complements the smoky, garlicky, spiced flavor of this chicken.
The beautiful thing about this recipe is how easy it is to make, and how few ingredients it calls for. You’ll be surprised at how flavorful the end result is. And how moist, tender, and juicy the chicken is!
The Best Authentic Shish Tawook Recipe
What is Shish Tawook?, you ask. It’s is a type of Middle Eastern grilled chicken skewers! I’m sharing the authentic recipe I learned to make in Syria.
The secret ingredients that result in juicy, tender chicken every time are so common that you probably already have them in your kitchen: yogurt and fresh lemon juice!
Tomato paste lends beautiful color to this dish. Garlic adds aromatic flavor. A few spices add depth, mainly paprika with a touch of allspice, and cayenne adds a touch of spicy heat.
If you prefer, you can use boneless skinless chicken breasts; that’s actually what I had every time I had this dish in the Middle East. However, I love the rich flavor and juicy texture of dark meat chicken so I like to use boneless skinless chicken thighs here.
Ingredients
Breaking It Down
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
- Plain yogurt – Regular unflavored plain yogurt is the base of our marinade. Yogurt makes a great marinade for chicken because unlike vinegar-based marinades, yogurt works slowly to tenderize the meat, and doesn’t result in a rubbery texture.
- Fresh lemon juice – The acid in fresh lemon juice also helps to tenderize the chicken. Additionally, my Syrian mother-in-law taught me that lemon helps to take away the fishy flavor and aroma that chicken can sometimes have.
- Olive oil – Oil slows down the tenderizing effect of the yogurt and lemon juice so that the meat tenderizes gradually without breaking down too much.
- Tomato paste – Mostly for red color, but it also adds another layer of flavor.
- Garlic – We use a generous amount of fresh garlic here.
- Paprika, salt, allspice, cayenne pepper, and black pepper – This is the spice blend that the butcher in Damascus told me he uses to marinade the chicken for this dish.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs – Or you can use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Instructions
- Whisk together the ingredients for the marinade.
- Add the chicken pieces to the marinade, toss to coat, and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for 1 to 24 hours.
- Skewer the chicken and grill it!
Storage
Once the chicken is grilled, let it cool to room temperature and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Variations
- You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of thighs.
- The tomato paste is optional; it’s mostly used to lend color to this dish.
- Play with the level of spicy heat. Feel free to add more or less cayenne pepper to taste.
Chef’s Tips
- Be sure to let the chicken marinate for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
- If you’re using wooden skewers to grill the chicken, soak them in water for 20 minutes before skewering the chicken.
- If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can use a grill pan inside. Alternatively, you can roast the chicken pieces in the oven at 400F for about 20 minutes.
Shish Tawook Recipe FAQs
There are a few ways to keep chicken from drying out on the grill.
For starters, use dark meat instead of white meat. Here we use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
Also, marinating chicken helps keep it moist and juicy when grilling. The yogurt and lemon juice in this marinade do a great job of not only tenderizing the meat, but also preventing this chicken from drying out on the grill.
Another important factor is to not over-cook it. Chicken is fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165F.
It’s a common dish in the Levant area of the Middle East, which includes present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine.
An old family friend told me that this particular recipe came to the Levant area from Turkey during the time of the Ottoman Empire.
This recipe is commonly transliterated as Shish Tawook, Shish Tawouk, Sheesh Tawook, and Shish Taouk.
Traditionally, this grilled chicken recipe is served on top of Middle Eastern flatbread to soak up the juices. You can either tear off a small piece of flatbread and use it to scoop up a bite-sized piece of chicken, or wrap the chicken inside the bread to make a Shish Tawook sandwich.
Grilled onions and tomatoes are commonly served on the side. Salads, such as Fattoush and Tabbouleh are popular side dishes, and so are fried potatoes (aka French fries). If you’re in the Middle East you’ll also find this dish commonly served as a platter with a generous portion of rice.
Additionally, in the Middle East, Toum (a creamy garlic spread) is frequently served with these grilled chicken skewers.
More Authentic Middle Eastern Recipes to Try
- Red Lentil Soup
- Arabic Breakfast
- Ma’amoul (Middle Eastern Date Filled Cookies)
- Tangy Arugula Salad with Sumac (Salatat Jarjeer)
- Foul Mudammas
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Shish Tawook Recipe (Middle Eastern Grilled Chicken Skewers)
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Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 5 large cloves garlic crushed
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
Optional Additions:
- Chopped or sliced tomato
- Sliced cucumber
- Sliced onion
- Fresh parsley
- Flatbread
- Toum Lebanese Garlic Sauce
Instructions
- Whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, oil, tomato paste, garlic, paprika, salt, allspice, cayenne pepper, and black pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or up to 24 hours).
- Thread the chicken onto skewers. I like to divide the chicken onto 6 skewers so each serving gets 1 skewer.
- Remove the chicken from the grill. Serve.
Video
Notes
- Net Carbs: 3g per serving
- Nutritional Information: The information this recipe was calculated for the marinated chicken only (not the optional additions).
- Soak Wooden Skewers: If you’re using wooden skewers to grill the chicken, soak them in water for 20 minutes before skewering the chicken.
- Other Ways to Cook This Chicken: If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can use a grill pan inside. Alternatively, you can roast the chicken pieces in the oven at 400F for about 20 minutes.
- Recipe Inspiration: Recipe adapted slightly from the recipe in my cookbook An Edible Mosaic, published by Tuttle Publishing.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
Free Bonus
So I thought I had my Mediterranean-style, grilled, shawarma-type chicken perfected but this one is delicious. Definitely going in the rotation. My son ate 4 chicken thighs!
Tender and juicy with great flavor!