Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Shish Taouk
Lebanese chicken skewers marinated in garlic, lemon and yogurt with warm spices, grilled until charred and tender, and served with pillowy toum garlic sauce and pita.
Lebanese · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 15 min
~437 cal · 59g protein · 10g carbs · 16g fat · 2g fiber · 3g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Shish taouk is one of the most beloved grilled dishes of Lebanon, a fixture of Beirut street corners, Sunday family lunches and every mixed-grill table. The name is Turkish, shish for skewer and tavuk for chicken, a legacy of the Ottoman centuries in the Levant, but Lebanon made the dish its own with a marinade built on garlic and lemon.
Cubes of chicken are steeped in yogurt, plenty of crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a warm spice mix, the yogurt's gentle acidity tenderising the meat without turning it to mush. Threaded onto skewers and grilled over high heat until golden and lightly charred, the chicken is served with pita, pickles and a fierce, fluffy toum, the emulsified garlic sauce whipped from nothing but garlic, lemon, oil and salt, alongside tabbouleh or fattoush.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut in 1 1/2 in cubes
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (laban)
8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Lebanese seven-spice
to serve toum (garlic, lemon, oil and salt whipped smooth)
4 pita breads, to serve
Instructions
1
Whisk the yogurt with the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, tomato paste, paprika, seven-spice and salt into a smooth marinade.
✎ Chef’s note
Yogurt is the secret to tender shish taouk: its lactic acid softens the chicken gently, unlike a harsh all-lemon marinade that can turn the surface mushy.
2
Turn the chicken cubes through the marinade to coat, then cover and chill at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
✎ Chef’s note
Overnight is genuinely better here, the garlic and lemon need time to work all the way through the cubes.
3
Thread the chicken onto skewers and grill over medium-high heat, turning, until golden, charred at the edges and cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Oil the grates first and get them hot: you want colour and char, not a slow steam that dries the meat out.
4
Meanwhile make the toum by whipping peeled garlic and salt with lemon juice and a slow stream of oil until it turns into a thick, pale, fluffy emulsion.
5
Rest the skewers a few minutes, then serve with the toum, pita, and pickles or a herb salad.
Lebanese grilled-chicken tradition, Beirut.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Beirut. Beirut sets the Levant's most generous mezze table, hummus, tabbouleh, kibbeh, and manakish, eaten slowly and shared widely. Mountains, sea, and a cosmopolitan history flavor the Lebanese capital.
🗺️
Lebanon. Lebanese cooking is the generous heart of the Levant, famous for its mezze, dozens of small plates like hummus, tabbouleh, and kibbeh meant for sharing. Olive oil, lemon, garlic, and fresh herbs brighten a table where hospitality means abundance.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Lebanon
MujadaraLentils and rice under a deep pile of slow-caramelized onions, the Levant’s humble masterpiece.
Manakish Za'atarFlatbread baked with a fragrant za'atar-and-olive-oil topping, the Levantine morning staple.
FalafelCrisp herb-flecked chickpea fritters tucked into pita with tahini, pickles, and salad, a Levantine street classic.
Browse all Lebanon recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Grill or barbecue, Whisk.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
Make it a Lebanon meal
JallabDrink
KnafehDessert
MujadaraDinner
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Shish Taouk?
Lebanese chicken skewers marinated in garlic, lemon and yogurt with warm spices, grilled until charred and tender, and served with pillowy toum garlic sauce and pita.
Where does Shish Taouk come from?
Shish Taouk is a Lebanese dish from Beirut, Lebanon.
Can Shish Taouk be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Shish Taouk recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Shish Taouk safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Shish Taouk take to make?
About 35 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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