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
Juicy Grilled Chicken Kabobs
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.
Hi Suzy
I think the nutmeg can be left out. Too strong
Love your recipes!
Dave
OMG!!! This chicken is sooo good!!! Followed the recipe, used Mesquite wood on my charcoal grill, also made vegetable kabobs of purple onion, mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, paired the chicken and vegetables with Cilantro/lime rice and salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, parsley, with olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing….DELICIOUS!! Will definitely make these kabobs again.
Wonderful! Thanks so much, Meredith!
I used to live in a city where I could buy pre marinated Shish Tawook and it was wonderful. Ive had to try to make it myself and it has never tested quite right. I’m looking forward to this recipe,bit how can I cook it without access to à grill?
Hi, Carole! If you don’t have access to an actual grill, you can make these on your stovetop using a grill pan like this or this instead.
Can I marinade this over night?
Hi, Stephanie. Yes, you can marinate this overnight in the refrigerator. Just be aware that letting chicken sit too long in a marinade containing an acid, like lemon juice, can start to change it’s texture.
This was outstanding. Everyone said the chicken was very flavorful. The yogurt kept the chicken very moist and tender. Will make again.
Really tender chicken due to the marinade. Excellent flavour profile and you can change heat level very easily.
I served with pita, tzatziki and a tomato heavy salad.
For the amount of prep time this took, my family and I were unimpressed with this recipe. Marinaded for 6 hours, grilled, then served kabob. I even added EXTRA garlic. It was really just Meh.
Do you think I could try cooking this in my airfryer?
Thank you for so many amazing recipes!!
I’m sure you could, Kim! I recommend taking a look at the instruction/recipe book that came with your air fryer to see if they have any similar type of recipes so you can get an idea of what timing/temperature may work. If you end up giving it a try, we’d love to hear how it worked out for you!
They came out perfect! You’ve introduced me to so many new and amazing flavors. I cooked them for a total of 18 minutes at 400 degrees. They were nice and juicy with a little char. Thanks, Suzy!
One thing I miss about going to the Middle East during my USAF time is shish-taook. That, with Shwarma, hummus and pita bread fresh off the cooking stone, are all things I loved about the region. I’m going to use your recipe very soon, and perhaps I can replicate it to perfection!
I think you will love it, Patrick!!
Made it for the family and everyone loved it – making it again not adding or subtracting any of the ingredients – absolutely delicious
Thank you for sharing
My pleasure, Timothy! So glad y’all enjoyed it!
Suzy, I love your recipes. I make at least one daily. I would love to try some of your barbecue or grilled ones. However I live in an apartment and have neither. Could they be done in the oven and would they turn out as good?.
Hi Lorna,
I have a Cuisinart Griddler, which has flat griddle plates on one side and ridged grill rows on the other side. I absolutely love it, and use it often for many different dishes.
I made this DELICIOUS Tawook chicken, but did not use skewers nor an outside grill. I used the grilled ridged side of the Cuisinart, and it came out amazing! I wouldn’t hesitate to make it on the flat griddle side, or in a cast iron pan on the stove. Just put down a little olive oil to prevent sticking, and turn with some tongs.
The taste is amazing, and one needn’t have an outside grill to get that yummy taste!
Thanks for sharing this info, Pauly! Great to know!
So delicious! We love a Lebanese restaurant nearby for their Chicken Tawook. This recipe was so close to their dish and equally delicious. I love the simplicity of your recipes.
Thanks, Catherine!
I have made this recipe before and it was delicious and juicy. I made it again and the chicken was dry. In both cases I used breast meat. I followed the recipe exactly.
Where did I Go wrong?
Hi, MaryAnn. Without being there, it’s a bit hard to say. Usually they dry out due to over-cooking. Grills can vary, which can affect cooking time. On my grill, they usually take 15-20 minutes to cook, but they may cook faster on yours. I highly recommend using meat thermometer to test for doneness. The chicken is done cooking when it reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees F. Hope that helps!
Making this for tonight. First observation is that prep time is a whole lot more than 5 minutes 😅 Took longert than 5 to just assemble the spices. And I know my way around a kitchen. Once everything was prepped, the marinade smells wonderful! Will report back on final outcome.
(swoon) OMG this was SO GOOD! I was out of nutmeg and allspice so I used (don’t laugh) a little pumpkin pie spice. Was only able to marinade about 3 hrs, but it was absolutely delicious! Had to use a panini press as a cold front came through today and it was only 12 degrees outside – served in gyros with tzatkizi sauce, diced radish, cucumber, romaine, tomato, olives and feta … I could eat these every single day. Thank you SO much for recipe!
Nice pivot with the pumpkin pie spice! Sometimes you just have to figure out how to use the closest thing you have on hand! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This is a pretty awesome version of Shish Tawook. I marinate the chicken using a vacuum sealer container so it’s done in 15 mins only. I then use metal skewers supported in a lined half sheet baking pan so I can effectively grill the in the oven. Served with home made Hummus, some Turkish pickled vegetables, and Tabbouleh it’s a brilliant midweek dinner. Suzy’s suggestion of using chicken thighs is spot on, such a flavorsome part of the chicken and amazing value, too.