Name: Chicken Shish Tawook
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 3 lbs chicken breast cubes; 1½ cups yogurt; ¼ cup olive oil; 3-4 garlic cloves (minced); juice of 2 large lemons; 2 large tablespoons ketchup; 1 tbsp pomegrante molasses (optional); 1 teaspoon allspice; dash Lebanese 7 spices; dash white pepper (substitute black pepper); 1 teaspoon salt

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Lebanese grilled chicken kabobs, also known as shish tawook (or shish taouk), is a popular dish served on Sunday lunch tables across my homeland. This authentic shish tawook recipe is made with cubed chicken breast and a yogurt-based marinade.

grilled chicken shish tawook skewers in a bowl

If you're ready to spice up your week with grilled chicken kebabs, let it be this one. Two of the most popular chicken recipes at Middle Eastern restaurants is chicken shawarma and chicken shish tawook.

Shish Tawook Marinade Ingredients

The secret to the best shish tawook is the shish tawook marinade. The marinade has lots of warm spices, crushed garlic, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and yogurt giving you the juiciest, most delicious Lebanese chicken shish tawook. What's even better is that the yogurt marinade is super easy to make.

ingredients needed to make chicken shish tawook

How to Make Chicken Shish Tawook

adding the wet ingredients to the chicken breast chunks

Cube the chicken breast into similar-sized chicken cubes. In a large bowl, add the cubed chicken and marinade ingredients: mashed garlic, regular yogurt, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, ketchup, olive oil, Lebanese 7 spice, all spice, white pepper (or black pepper), and salt.

marinating chicken breast cubes in a baking dish

Mix the chicken cubes in the yogurt-based marinade. Marinate the chicken overnight (for the best results) or at a minimum of 2 hours in the fridge.

Skewer the marinated chicken pieces on wooden skewers while the outdoor grill is getting prepared.

Use charcoal or a gas grill. Grill the chicken shish tawook skewers for about 8 to 10 minutes, or 4 to 5 minutes on each side.

How To Eat Shish Tawook

Traditionally, chicken tawook is served with a Lebanese garlic sauce called toum, fresh Lebanese pita bread, and fried potatoes (like french fries or batata harra). You can also make a shish tawook sandwich or serve it up with Lebanese vermicelli rice and tabbouleh. Lebanese cuisine has no shortage of flavor!

Recipe Tips

Use fresh chicken. This chicken kabob recipe is best using fresh, organic, free-range boneless skinless chicken breasts.
The longer you marinate, the juicier the chicken: I like to marinate the Lebanese chicken shish tawook overnight and feel that's the perfect amount of time for them to tenderize and be ready for grilling. That said, we're all in a rush sometimes, so if you're short on time you can marinate them for a minimum of 2 hours.
Save some of the marinade and brush it on the shish tawook skewers while you're grilling them for an added layer of flavor.
Don't overgrill: This is very important, because grilling the cubes for too long results in dry chicken.

Chicken Tawook Variations

Oven baked shish tawook: Follow the same marinade steps for this recipe however bake the chicken skewers instead of grilling them. If you make this variation make sure to double the marinade ingredients so that the chicken doesn't dry out in the oven.
Use an indoor grill pan. Grill these Middle Eastern chicken skewers on an indoor grill pan instead of a charcoal grill.
Grilled Lebanese chicken veggie shish tawook: Add chopped onions, bell pepper chunks or even mushrooms to the chicken skewers to give them a colorful twist.
Change up the shish tawook marinade: Add in a little bit of lemon zest to the shish tawook marinade. I sometimes play around with the spices when marinating the chicken. A dash of paprika, some oregano, or thyme will also work.
Use different cuts of chicken and skip the skewers. Marinate boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken tenders. Here's a shish tawook marinade with chicken tenders.

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