The most delicious homemade shawarma seasoning! This is the perfect amount for 1 pound of chicken or beef, or for 1 can of chickpeas!

Shawarma Seasoning

I’m finally starting to make headway on posting some of our tried and true favorite recipes that we’ve been using for years (but have somehow never gotten around to posting – how does that happen!?).

I just posted my all-time favorite white shawarma sauce recipe yesterday, and I’m following it up today with our small batch homemade shawarma seasoning recipe.

We love shawarma. Like we really love it. We’re not big takeout food people (I mean, I am cooking for this site basically all the time), but with everything going on in the world right now, we’re starting to miss travel and all the tasty street food.

We’ve been making this at home lots lately, and I think you’ll love this easy 2-minute recipe just as much as we do!

Regardless of whether or not you cook meat on a rotisserie, it’s going to add tons of delicious Middle Eastern flavor.

What To Use It On

My favorite things to use this spice on are grilled chicken thighs and on roasted crispy chickpeas. It’s also SO good on chicken breast, lamb, and beef.

If you happen to have some fresh pita on hand, it’s also really good sprinkled on that with a bit of oil and toasted.

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How Much Should You Use?

Here’s the thing about me and spice blends. I love small batch recipes. That’s because we have a small kitchen and I need all the space I can get in our cupboard.

Most of the spice blend recipes make enough for a lot of meat, but I only ever really need enough for a pound at a time. This makes a total of 1 Tablespoon of seasoning, which is literally the perfect amount for 1 pound of meat.

If you want to have more on hand, this recipe multiples perfectly! Feel free to make as much as you want to store. Just be sure to store it in an airtight container in a cool dry place.

How Much Salt Should You Add?

I made this spice blend salt-free because I think everyone should really add as much (or as little) salt as they want or their diet permits.

I also really love sodium-free seasonings because then I can add the type of salt I want to use.

I don’t typically add a lot of salt to this recipe (maybe 1/4 teaspoon) because it’s so flavorful as-is.

How To Make The Best Marinade

This spice blend makes an incredible marinade when it’s mixed with salt, lemon juice, and olive oil. Seriously, it’s SO worth trying. If you don’t have time to marinade, just use this as a dry rub for tons of flavor.

If you prefer a yogurt based marinade, you can also mix this with Greek yogurt and marinade your meat in that.

Shawarma Seasoning vs Garam Masala

This shawarma spice blend is a little bit similar to garam masala because they both use a lot of warming spices. The main difference is that garam masala relies heavily on a couple of spices that we’re not using (cumin and coriander).

Spice and Sauce Recipes

If you love homemade spice and sauce recipes, be sure to check out our whole category dedicated to them! They’re basically our favorite, so we’ve got tons of amazing ones.

Some reader favorites are:

• Shawarma Sauce
• Mediterranean Seasoning Blend
• Authentic Greek Tzatziki

I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe in the comments or on Instagram! @KeyToMyLime #KeyToMyLime

Click here to pin this recipe for later!

Try this delicious shawarma seasoning on roasted chickpeas or on one pound of chicken!