Short answer
Shawarma is meat marinated in spices, stacked on a vertical spit, roasted slowly and shaved into thin slices. It is served in flatbread or pita, or on a plate or bowl, with salad, pickles and sauce.
Shawarma is a Middle Eastern dish of meat marinated in spices, stacked on a vertical spit, roasted slowly as it turns and shaved off in thin slices. The shaved meat is wrapped in flatbread or pita with salad, pickles and sauce, or served on a plate or in a bowl.
What is shawarma?
Shawarma is sliced, spit-roasted meat served in bread or on a plate, a street food that spread from the Levant and Turkey across the Middle East and then around the world. The usual meats are chicken, lamb, beef or turkey.
The name is generally traced to the Turkish word cevirme, meaning turning, a reference to the rotating spit. English spellings vary: shawarma, shawerma, shwarma and shawirma all appear on menus. In Turkey the same method is called doner kebab, and in Greece it is the gyro.
How is shawarma cooked?
Shawarma is cooked by stacking marinated slices of meat tightly on a vertical spit, so the outside browns against a heat source while the stack slowly turns. The cook shaves the cooked outer layer into thin pieces and the spit keeps turning to brown the next layer.
Seasoned fat between the meat slices bastes the stack as it cooks. Chicken stacks are often made from thighs, while lamb and beef stacks use alternating layers of meat and fat. The shavings are often crisped for a moment on a flat top before serving.
What is in a shawarma marinade?
A shawarma marinade is a mixture of acid, oil and ground spices that flavors the meat and keeps it moist during roasting. Recipes differ by region and by shop.
- Acid: lemon juice, yogurt or vinegar
- Oil: olive oil or neutral oil
- Spices: cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper
- Aromatics: garlic and sometimes onion
- Optional: allspice, cloves, nutmeg and sumac
Chicken shawarma often leans on turmeric, paprika and garlic, while lamb and beef lean on cumin, cinnamon and allspice. A blend sold as shawarma spice is easy to find, though homemade blends are common too.
What is shawarma served with?
Shawarma is served with a flatbread or rice, fresh vegetables, pickles and a sauce. The mix changes from country to country, so the same name can mean quite different plates.
| Element | Common choices |
|---|---|
| Bread | Lavash, pita, saj, laffa, a rice bowl |
| Fresh vegetables | Tomato, cucumber, lettuce, parsley, onion |
| Pickles | Turnip, cucumber, pepper |
| Sauce | Garlic sauce, tahini, hummus, chili sauce |
| Sides | Fries, rice, soup, salad |
Sumac onions, which are sliced onions tossed with the sour, red spice sumac, are a classic topping, especially with lamb and beef.
What is the difference between shawarma, gyro and doner?
Shawarma, gyro and doner kebab all use meat roasted on a vertical spit and shaved thin; the differences are in the spices, the sauce and the bread.
| Dish | Region | Typical bread | Typical sauce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shawarma | Levant and wider Middle East | Lavash, pita, saj | Garlic sauce or tahini |
| Doner kebab | Turkey and Germany | Flatbread or a split roll | Yogurt or chili sauce |
| Gyro | Greece | Thick pita | Tzatziki |
Gyro meat is typically seasoned with oregano and garlic rather than the warm spices of shawarma. Doner is often a pressed cone of meat, while shawarma is more often stacked slices.
How do you eat shawarma?
Shawarma is eaten wrapped, with the bottom of the bread folded or the wrapper held, or as a plate or bowl with a fork. A wrap is a hand-held meal and a bowl is the same filling without bread.
- Wrap: fold the bread around the filling and fold the bottom up so the juices stay inside.
- Plate: eat the meat with bread torn into pieces to scoop up sauce and salad.
- Bowl: mix the meat with rice or greens, then add the sauce.
A wrap is best eaten soon after it is made, because the bread softens as the juices spread.
What is shawarma at Shawarma Center in Brooklyn?
Shawarma Center, at 1418 Avenue Z in Brooklyn, lists shawarma in three meat choices. The Uber Eats store page, read on November 13, 2026, shows chicken, mixed (lamb, beef and chicken) and lamb and beef, with prices that are delivery-app prices and may differ in the shop.
The shawarma comes with shepherd salad, sumac onions, lettuce and tomatoes, served in lavash, Uzbek pita or homemade pita, or as a bowl. The page marks the Chicken Shawarma Lavash, the Lamb & Beef Shawarma Lavash and the Lamb & Beef Shawarma In Uzbek Pita Bread as the three most-liked items.
| Item | Price on Uber Eats |
|---|---|
| Chicken Shawarma Lavash | $16.89 |
| Mixed Shawarma Lavash | $18.19 |
| Lamb & Beef Shawarma Lavash | $19.49 |
| Chicken Shawarma Bowl | $23.39 |
The pages used for this guide do not say how the shop marinates or cooks its meat. The full list is on the menu page, and opening hours are on the hours and location page. This guide is independent and takes no orders.
Where did shawarma come from?
Shawarma grew out of the Ottoman doner kebab, in which meat is roasted on a vertical spit, and it became a staple street food in the Levant: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan. The exact inventor and date are disputed, and no single origin story is firmly established.
The dish then travelled with migrants and cooks. Today there are regional versions: Egyptian shawarma, Gulf versions with a thin bread and pickles, Lebanese chicken shawarma with garlic sauce, and Central Asian styles that serve similar meat in lavash or in local breads such as Uzbek non.
How long does leftover shawarma keep?
Cooked shawarma meat keeps for three to four days in a covered container in the refrigerator, following general food safety guidance for cooked meat. Wraps are best eaten the day they are made.
Reheat the meat in a hot skillet until steaming and slightly crisp at the edges, rather than microwaving it, which can leave it rubbery. Store the bread, salad and sauces separately so the wrap does not turn soggy.
How do you make shawarma at home without a spit?
You can make shawarma at home by marinating thin slices of meat and roasting them on a hot sheet pan or searing them in a skillet. The flavor is close to the spit-roasted version, with less of the long, slow browning.
- Slice boneless chicken thighs or lamb thin and mix with lemon, oil, garlic and the spices above.
- Marinate for at least four hours, or overnight.
- Roast at 450°F on a sheet pan, turning once, until the edges are browned; chicken must reach 165°F inside.
- Chop the meat and serve it in warm bread with tomato, pickles and sauce.
Thighs stay juicier than breasts because of their fat. Crowding the pan steams the meat, so give the slices room.
Common questions
Is shawarma the same as a gyro?
They are close cousins. Both use meat stacked on a vertical spit and shaved thin. Shawarma is Middle Eastern and spiced with warm spices, while a gyro is Greek, usually served in pita with tzatziki.
What meat is shawarma made from?
Chicken, lamb, beef and turkey are all common. Some shops stack a single meat and others combine several, so a mixed shawarma may carry lamb, beef and chicken together.
Can you make shawarma without a spit?
Yes. Thin slices of marinated meat can be roasted on a sheet pan or seared in a hot skillet. The texture is a little different from spit roasting, but the flavor is close.
What is the white sauce on shawarma?
It is usually a garlic sauce or a tahini sauce, depending on the region. Garlic sauce is common in the Levant, while tahini sauce is popular with lamb and beef.
What does shawarma mean?
The word comes from the Turkish word cevirme, meaning turning, which refers to the rotating spit. It is spelled many ways, including shawerma, shwarma and shawirma.
This page is part of the independent guide to Shawarma Center, which has the address, hours and menu.
This article is general information from an independent guide, not from Shawarma Center itself. For the store’s current details see hours and location.