Shawarma Spice Recipe (2024)

You can whip up this aromatic shawarma spice blend anytime you're craving some authentic Middle Eastern food! Use this delicious shawarma seasoning to make beef, lamb, and chicken shawarma. Drizzle with tahini sauce and tuck it inside freshly baked pita bread, along with a Middle Eastern salad on the side.

This shawarma spice blend can be made ahead of time and stored in a spice jar until needed. However, it's easy enough to throw together at the last minute when you decide to make some air fryer frozen chicken wings or beef, or lamb shawarma.

You may be surprised that this shawarma seasoning does not contain any garlic powder. There is a good reason for that. I like to use a boatload of fresh garlic in with the marinade that I create using this seasoning, lemon juice, and olive oil.

If you plan on using this shawarma seasoning as a dry rub, I recommend adding a teaspoon of garlic powder with the other ingredients.

🧐 Why This Recipe Works

• Shawarma seasoning is absolutely delicious and compliments so many dishes.
• Homemade shawarma seasoning is much better than store-bought.
• You can make a double batch and freeze the rest to retain freshness.

🛒 What Goes Into This Recipe

🔖 Ingredient & Substitutions

• Nutmeg: I highly recommend that you grate whole nutmeg instead of using powdered nutmeg. Once you smell and taste the difference, you'll understand why.
• Crushed red pepper & cayenne pepper: Shawarma seasoning should have some heat. I usually list cayenne and crushed pepper as optional ingredients but I recommend including them in this seasoning mix because honestly, they don't make the spice blend that much hotter, but definitely enhance the flavor.

🌶 How to Make This Recipe

Step 1: Measure out all the spices listed for this shawarma seasoning (except the whole nutmeg) and add to a bowl or plate.

Step 2: Grate whole nutmeg on a piece of foil until you have approximately ½ a teaspoon of nutmeg powder. Fold the foil to make a "spout" and pour it with over the other spices.

Step 3: Stir all the shawarma spices until completely combined, then using the same piece of foil, pour the spices into an empty jar.

Step 4: Tighten the lid and store the shawarma seasoning until needed. This mix can be used as a dry rub or mixed with other ingredients to make a wet rub.

🤷🏻‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips

• This recipe makes enough shawarma seasoning to season 3 pounds of beef, chicken, or lamb.
• When using shawarma spices to flavor meat, it's best to mix the spices with lemon juice or vinegar, and some olive oil to make a wet marinade.
• If you're missing one or two of the ingredients, you can still make this shawarma seasoning. With so many delicious spices and flavors, whatever you're preparing will still be extremely flavorful!
• Experiment using this spice blend in other dishes. For example, add a tablespoon to your chicken biryani, or mix some in with your mashed potatoes. Or try sprinkling a little over hummus. Let me know how else you use this versatile spice blend!

If you enjoy making your own spice blends, you may be interested in learning how to make your owncorned beef spice blend,biryani spice,pork rub, bezar Emarati spice mix, andzaatar substitute spice blend.

📖 Recipe

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