If you’re a fan of shawarma, you’re going to love this homemade beef shawarma recipe! With some pantry staple ingredients, you can re-create this popular street food in the comfort of your own home for a flavor-packed meal that is sure to please a crowd.
What is shawarma?
Shawarma is a popular Middle Eastern dish that is made from marinated meat, such as lamb, beef, and chicken. Traditionally, meat is marinated in a mixture of spices and cooked on a slow-turning vertical spit or rotisserie. Once cooked, the meat is thinly shaved off the spit and served in a stuffed pit with tahini sauce and an assortment of vegetables or served on a platter with sides of fries, pickles, and salads such as tabouleh or fattoush.
Why You’ll Love This Beef Shawarma Recipe
- Easy – Not only is this recipe easy to make but it’s quick to prepare.
- Full of Flavor – The combination of shawarma spices creates a mouthful of flavor in every bite.
- Good for Meal Prep – It keeps really well in the fridge so you can make it ahead of time.
- High-Protein – It’s a high-protein meal that will keep you full.
- Healthy – Made solely of real food ingredients, this beef shawarma recipe is delicious and nutritious.
Beef Shawarma Ingredients
You’ll need the following ingredients to make homemade beef shawarma:
- Beef: The recipe calls for flank steak, but flap steak and skirt steak would also work well.
- Shawarma Spice Mix: A mixture of spices to make to season the beef; cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, allspice or cloves, black pepper, and salt.
- Garlic: To flavor the beef.
- Olive Oil: To create the marinade and cook the beef.
- Lemon: To marinade and tenderize the beef.
- Vinegar: To further tenderize the beef and balance the flavors.
To serve the beef shawarma as wraps, you’ll also need pitas and some toppings, I’ve noted some suggestions below.
Dietary Adaptions
To Make it Gluten-Free: No adaptations are needed, the beef shawarma is gluten-free. Just be sure to serve it with a gluten-free pita.
To Make it Dairy-Free: No adaptations are needed, this recipe is dairy-free.
How to Make Shawarma Seasoning
While you can find shawarma spice mixture in many major grocery stores, it’s also very easy to make at home with some dried spices. Plus, you can make a double or triple batch and leave it in an airtight jar in the pantry to use later. Here’s how to make homemade shawarma seasoning:
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice or cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
How to Make Beef Shawarma at Home
- Slice the beef. Place the flank steak on a cutting board and slice it into very thin strips.
- Marinate the beef. Add the sliced steak to a bowl with olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, and the shawarma spice mixture and toss until well-coated.
- Cook the beef. Once the beef has marinated, cook the beef strips in a large skillet or pan until cooked through, slightly crispy, and lightly browned.
- Serve as desired. Serve the beef shawarma on warm pita bread with garlic tahini sauce and toppings of your choice.
See the detailed instructions in the recipe card below.
Red’s Nutrition Tip
I’ve designed this recipe to be served in a pita as a wrap, however, the beef would work very well as a topping to a big green salad with the garlic tahini sauce as a dressing. You could also make this recipe with chicken if you like, however, it’s important to understand that beef and chicken are much more similar nutritionally than you may think.
Toppings for Shawarma Wraps
Once your beef shawarma is cooked, you can serve the beef strips on pitas to make shawarma wraps. Suggested toppings include:
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Cucumber
- Red onion
- Pickled turnips
- Pickles
- Tahini sauce
- Hummus
- Plain yogurt
- Parsley
In addition to the toppings, you can also serve the wraps with a side of baked French fries or roasted potato wedges.
FAQs
Yes, meat shawarma made with beef, chicken, or lamb, is a great source of protein and micronutrients that can help to make a balanced meal and contribute to a healthy diet.
The primary difference between gyro and shawarma is that Gryos are Greek, and shawarma is Middle Eastern. While both gyros and shawarma can be made with beef, lamb, or chicken, and made in a vertical rotisserie and served on pita bread, the seasoning, and toppings are different. Greek chicken gyro is typically seasoned with lemon juice, or red wine vinegar, oregano, and garlic, while shawarma includes a variety of warming spices such as cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon. Moreover, a gyro is commonly topped with tzatziki and fresh vegetables, while shawarma is typically served with tahini sauce and a combination of fresh and pickled vegetables Although similar, gyros and shawarma are not the same thing.
Flank steak and skirt steak are most commonly used for beef shawarma. Other cuts of steak can be used; however, the tougher more flavorful cuts tend to work best in shawarma.
Storage + Reheating
To Refrigerate: Allow the beef to cool completely and then store it in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
To Freeze: Once cooled, the beef can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 months.
To Reheat: Once thawed, the beef can be reheated on the stove in a pan on medium heat for 3-5 minutes – this will help to create the best texture. It can also be reheated in the oven at 350°F for 5-10 minutes or in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.
More Shawarma Recipes:
Print
Beef Shawarma Wrap
This easy homemade beef shawarma recipe is great in a wrap or served on a platter with sides of your choice. Plus, it keeps well in the fridge so it makes good leftovers too.
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Prep Time: 15 minutes -
Cook Time: 15 minutes
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Total Time: 30 minutes
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Yield: 4 wraps 1x
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Category: Main
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Method: Stovetop
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Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
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Cuisine:Ingredients
Beef Shawarma:
- 1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon for cooking
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice or cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Garlic Tahini Sauce:
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons water, plus more as needed
- Salt
- Pepper
Wraps:
- Pitas
- Tomatoes, sliced
- Lettuce, shredded
- Red onion, thinly sliced
- Parsley, roughly chopped
- Pickles, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Place the steak on a cutting board and slice it, across the grain, into very thin strips – no more than 1/4 inch thick.
- In a large bowl, add olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and garlic, and whisk to combine.
- Add the strips of beef to the bowl, along with the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, cardamom, allspice, black pepper, and salt, and – using thongs or your hands – toss until everything is well combined and the beef is well coated. If time permits, allow the beef to marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight, otherwise, let it set for a few minutes at room temperature.
- In a large skillet on the stove on medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then add the marinated strips of beef and cook for 1-2 minutes per side, or until browned and cooked through. Depending on the size of your pain, you may need to work in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan, which will cause the beef to boil as opposed to fry. Once the beef strips are cooked, taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed, then remove them from the pan and set them aside.
- While the beef is cooking, prepare the garlic tahini sauce. In a small bowl, add the tahini, minced garlic, lemon juice, water, and a pinch of salt and pepper and stir to combine. If the mixture is too thick – this can vary depending on the tahini brand – just add a bit more water until you’ve reached the desired texture. You want the sauce to be creamy and smooth, but not runny. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
- Optional: If you’d like to serve the pitas warm, place the pitas in the microwave and warm them for 15-30 seconds or in the oven at 300°F for 5-10 minutes.
- Once the beef is cooked, assemble the wraps; lay a pit on a plate or cutting board and top with slices of beef shawarma, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, red onion, and tahini sauce as desired.
- The wraps can be served immediately, and any leftover beef can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 wrap
- Calories: 562 calories
- Sugar: 5 grams
- Fat: 29 grams
- Carbohydrates: 46 grams
- Fiber: 6 grams
- Protein: 34 grams
Tasty, easy to prepare and everyone enjoyed!
I’m SO happy you liked them, thank you for sharing! ♥️
Made the beef shawarmas with my family and it was a hit!!! Delicious and easy to make!Thank you Stephanie
That’s awesome, Sylvie! I’m so happy you liked it, thank you SO much for sharing.
This is a great recipe! So good, even my picky 6 year old loved it. This one is now in our dinner rotation.
I’m so happy to hear it, thank you for sharing!
I’d love to try the gyros version. Do you have the spice recipe for that? Thanks!!
Not yet, but I can certainly add it to my list of recipe ideas! Stay tuned. 🙂
Absolutely loved this! It was so tasty and filling. Thanks, Stephanie for another amazing dinner recipe!
So happy you enjoyed it, Carine, thanks for sharing!
Delicious!! It took a bit longer for the prep but I suspect next time will be quicker since I now k ow what to do. Also, k added more lemon juice, garlic and salt to the Tahini sauce and it was excellent.
Thanks for sharing!