Chicken Shawarma Wrap - Lunchbox meal

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🌯 Chicken Shawarma Wrap

A flavourful homemade shawarma wrap made with juicy spiced chicken, crunchy homemade pickles and a creamy tahini shawarma sauce — all wrapped in soft chapathi and toasted until warm and delicious.

This is one of those meals that works beautifully for lunchboxes, quick dinners, or even party-style wraps. I especially love making the filling, pickles and sauce ahead so assembling the wraps in the morning takes hardly any time.

Chicken Filling

Ingredients

• Boneless chicken breast
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Turmeric powder
• Paprika
• Garam masala or 7-spice blend
• Olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tomato, finely chopped
• Fresh dill, finely chopped
• Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method

• Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika and garam masala or 7-spice blend.
• Heat a little olive oil in a pan and shallow-fry the chicken until completely cooked.
• Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
• In the same pan, add the finely chopped onion and sauté for a few minutes.
• Add the chopped tomato and cook for a few more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Chop the cooked chicken into small pieces and add it back to the pan.
• Mix everything together, turn off the heat and finish with chopped dill and parsley.

🥕 Quick Homemade Pickles

These crunchy pickles are perfect not just for shawarma wraps but also for sandwiches, burgers or as a side with rice.

I used:

• 3 carrots, cut into sticks
• 3 cucumbers, cut into sticks
• Garlic cloves
• Coriander seeds
• Black peppercorns
• Cumin seeds
• Fennel seeds
• Fenugreek seeds, a pinch (optional)
• Dried red chilli or chilli flakes, to taste
• Green chilli, to taste
• Fresh dill leaves

Pickling Brine

• 250 ml water
• 250 ml vinegar
• 3 tbsp sugar, or to taste
• Salt, to taste

Method

• Add the carrot and cucumber sticks, garlic, spices, chillies and dill to a clean, completely dry glass jar.
• Combine the water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a saucepan.
• Bring the mixture to a boil.
• Allow it to cool slightly before pouring over the vegetables if you prefer them to remain firm and crunchy.
• Pour the brine over the vegetables and make sure they are well covered.
• Close the jar and leave it overnight at room temperature, then transfer it to the refrigerator the next day.

Tip: Pouring the brine while it is still hot will soften the vegetables slightly and pickle them faster. I prefer letting it cool a little so the vegetables stay crunchy.

🤍 Creamy Shawarma Sauce

Ingredients

• 1–2 tbsp tahini
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Ground cumin
• Juice of ½ lime
• A little water
• ¼ cup yogurt
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• Sumac, a little (optional)
• Method
• Add tahini, salt, pepper, cumin and lime juice to a bowl.
• Add a little water and whisk well until the tahini becomes pale and creamy.
• Add yogurt and mayonnaise in a 1:1 ratio and mix until smooth.
• Add a little sumac for extra tanginess.

🌯 To Assemble

• Chapathi
• Chicken filling
• Pickles
• Shawarma sauce

1. Place a chapathi on a flat surface.
2. Spread some shawarma sauce over it.
3. Add the chicken filling and plenty of pickles.
4. Drizzle with more sauce.
5. Roll tightly into a wrap.
6. Toast in a sandwich maker or on a stovetop until lightly toasted and warm.
7. Allow it to cool on a mesh/wire basket before packing.

🎒 Lunchbox Tips & Make-Ahead

This is where this recipe becomes especially useful for busy mornings.

• ✓ Prepare the chicken filling aheadI usually make the filling the previous day and refrigerate it in an airtight container.
• ✓ Make the pickles aheadThe pickles can be stored in the refrigerator and used throughout the week for wraps, sandwiches or even as a side with rice.
• ✓ Make the shawarma sauce aheadPrepare the sauce and refrigerate it so it's ready to use when assembling the wraps.
• ✓ Chapathi can be prepared aheadYou can cook chapathi and refrigerate them, or even prepare them half-cooked and finish cooking when needed.
• ✓ Assemble in the morningSpread the sauce, add the filling and pickles, roll and toast. That's it!
• ✓ Keep the wrap from getting soggyI like to let the toasted wrap cool on a mesh basket before packing. I also line the lunchbox with sandwich wrapping paper to absorb any excess moisture.

My little lunchbox formula:Prep the filling + sauce + pickles the night before → assemble and toast in the morning → cool → pack.

And honestly, this one is a family favourite.

So flavourful, filling and delicious that my family couldn't get enough of it! 🤍

Can use bun/bread instead of flatbread