With a bold yogurt chicken marinade infused with lemon, garlic and warming spices, this authentic Shish Tawook recipe is next level delicious!
Shish Tawook, sometimes spelled shish taouk, is a irresistible dish of grilled chicken skewers, bathed in a garlicky yogurt marinade with citrus and warming spices like cinnamon, allspice, and ginger. It’s fragrant, juicy, a touch spicy, and absolutely delicious!
Originally this dish was a part of Ottoman Cuisine. (In Turkish, şiş (pronounced “shish”) means skewer and “tavuk” means chicken.) Tawook has become a popular dish across the Middle East and Mediterranean, with many variations like Persian joojeh kabob.
If you’ve ever had chicken shawarma, you’ll love this tangier cousin! The Greek yogurt marinade makes the chicken thighs so tender and flavorful. Serve in a pita with whipped garlic sauce, or plated with a bright salad and creamy hummus for an easy, healthy meal.
What is in Shish Tawook?
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Shish Tawook recipe, along with some easy swaps:
- Plain Greek yogurt: Makes the chicken tender and tangy.
- Lemon juice and zest: Adds a great zing. Substitute lime.
- Olive oil: Use a high quality extra virgin variety, which will infuse the chicken with a rich flavor.
- Tomato paste: Adds a deeply savory quality. Swap with roasted red pepper paste, if you’d like.
- Garlic: Substitute green onion, red onion, or shallot.
- Seasoning: Sweet paprika, allspice, dried oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, salt. (For a milder option, swap the cayenne pepper with Aleppo pepper.) Stock up on these Mediterranean spices and more at our shop!
- Chicken: I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you can swap with other cuts and adjust the cook time accordingly.
How to Make Shish Tawook
This recipe is fairly hands-off, but try to budget at least 4 hours to marinate the chicken. It will make a huge difference for the flavor! Here are the steps:
- Make the spiced yogurt marinade. To a large mixing bowl, add 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt,1/4 cup lemon juice, the zest of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, And 8 minced garlic cloves. Season with 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon allspice, 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, and cayenne pepper.
- Marinate the chicken. Pat 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs dry, then cut into large pieces for skewering. Season all over with salt. Add the chicken to the marinade and toss to coat, making sure all the chicken pieces are well covered in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours.
- Get ready to grill. Heat a gas grill to medium and lightly oil the grates. Thread the chicken pieces through skewers. Fold larger pieces so they fit better through the skewers–they also look better this way and are more manageable on the grill.
- Grill the chicken. Arrange the chicken skewers on the heated grill in one layer. Cover and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 to 7 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Enjoy!
What to Serve with Shish Tawook
Here’s what I would serve with this shish tawook recipe–it’s a kebab party, after all!
- A fresh salads (or two): My go-to Mediterranean salad or fattoush.
- Sauces: I always go with cooling tzatziki, but my Lebanese friends say whipped toum is a must!
- To make it a sandwich: Ditch the skewers and load up a pita with chopped fresh veggies and tahini sauce.
- Make it a bowl: Add a side salad and serve with rice and/or hummus.
More Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Recipes
Meat and Poultry
Chicken Kofta Kebabs with Harissa and Garlic-Mint Yogurt
Middle Eastern
Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Zesty Garlic Marinade
Meat and Poultry
Grilled Chicken Shawarma on a Spit
Browse all Mediterranean recipes.
Visit Our Shop.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup lemon juice, plus the zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into large pieces
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, zest, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, and spices. Pat the chicken dry and season all over with salt. Add the chicken to the marinade and toss to coat, making sure all the chicken pieces are well covered in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours.
- Get ready to grill. Heat a gas grill to medium and lightly oil the grates. Thread the chicken pieces through skewers. Fold larger pieces so they fit better through the skewers–they also look better this way and are more manageable on the grill.
- Grill the chicken. Arrange the chicken skewers on the heated grill in one layer. Cover and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, turning every 5 to 7 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including the olive oil and spices used in this recipe.
- For best flavor, do allow a few hours of marinating time in the fridge. If you don’t have the time, let your chicken marinate for 30 minutes or so while you prepare the grill.
- Serve tawook with any number of Mediterranean salads and dips. I shared a few ideas in the post including my 3-ingredient Mediterranean salad and sauces like tzatziki and hummus.
Nutrition
Build Your Own Spice Bundle
Stock your spice cabinet with the vibrant flavors of the Mediterranean. Buy 4 or more spices and save 5%. Buy 8 or more spices and save 8%!
*This post has recently been updated with new information for the readers’ benefit.
Wow!!!!! Unbelievably tasty. Everyone in my family raved upon first bite. Keeper for sure! Thank you
Oh my gosh! I served this with grilled vegetable skewers. The combination was delectable! So easy. I will definitely be doing this again and again. Thanks Suzy!
I love the middle eastern recipes Suzy shares on this site! I don’t know anything about middle eastern food, but she makes the recipes easy to follow and we love discovering new flavor combinations to try. The mix of spices in this dish were very intriguing and we just had to try them. We were blown away! All the flavors are balanced beautifully with no one spice dominating the others. The result is a very pleasant melange of flavors that harmonize perfectly. I encourage everyone to try this delicious marinade. It’s a new favorite for us.
What a sweet note, Victoria! Thank you so much for the kind words!
Deep rich and flavourful.
I will definitely be making this again.
Thank you 🙏
Another wonderful recipe! Thank you! Other than a garlic sauce, do you have any other suggestions?
I have made these a few times now and everyone always likes them. Even my daughter who was afraid of the yogurt in the marinade, but it makes them tender. We went to a beach barbeque today and people brought lobster, steak, ribs and I brought this chicken, but not on skewers this time. When we left there was hardly any chicken left despite all that other yummy food. It will remain a favorite with us.
Hi Suzy, I love your recipes and use several different ones frequently. The shish towook, is really good and I’ve made it a few times. Everyone loves it! I’m going on a sailing trip and I was wondering if you think it would work to marinate the chicken and freeze it? Then when we want to cook defrost and skewer? I was thinking maybe leave the lemon juice out until we defrost it?
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Hi, Nancy. I wouldn’t recommend freezing this one in the marinade due to the Greek yogurt. To other ones that are delicious that would work with this method, though, include our Greek Chicken Marinade and our Chicken Kabobs. And I’d definitely leave out the lemon until they chicken + marinade has thawed. Great call on that one :).
Such a fantastic marinade ! I’m lucky enough to have travelled throughout the Middle East and Southern Europe the best I’ve tasted an so easy ! X
I don’t have a grill. Can I broil or bake these?
Sure, Dawn! Another reader has had success baking these un-skewered on a sheet pan in a 425 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes.
This gave me an absolutely incredible birthday dinner! My favorite restaurant for this is over an hour away and it can be hard to travel that far for (some seriously good) food. Was a little worried that this wouldn’t hit the spot quite the same but holy guacamole, this was it. This was the recipe. This hit the spot. Had it with some rice pilaf, grilled veggies, and pita with oil & za’atar! This is going to be on the summer rotation, without a doubt. Thanks, TMD team!!!