- You're gonna learn how to make authentic shawarma today
and you're gonna be surprised at how easy it is.
(light music)
Hey guys, I'm Yumna, AKA Feel Good Foodie,
and this shawarma recipe is one that I learned from my mom
and it's one of the most popular street foods
you'll find in Lebanon.
It's basically meat cut into thin slices,
then stacked on a vertical slowly churning spit.
But we don't need anything fancy like that for this recipe.
It has all the flavor without the fuss.
So my mom actually perfected the recipe
because she makes this all the time,
and I'm gonna share it with you today.
So let's get started
because this meat needs to be marinated.
All right, we're gonna get started with two pounds
of flank steak that I have the butcher cut
into thin strips like this.
You can just get the flank steak yourself
and cut it into thin strips,
and you can use different types of meat.
Just make sure that it's not too tough,
like a chuck meat, or not too tender, like a tenderloin.
You want something in the middle
that's gonna have a little bit of fat
that's not gonna be too rough or too soft.
We're gonna start with 1/4 of a cup of vinegar.
I'm just using white distilled vinegar,
and I know this sounds like a lot for the meat,
but just trust me on it.
Then we're gonna add 1/4 of a cup of olive oil.
We're gonna use the juice and zest of one lemon.
Now we're gonna add four cloves of minced or pressed garlic.
And my mom doesn't measure the garlic.
She just kind of throws it in there,
whatever she's got, sometimes it's like 10 pieces of garlic,
sometimes it's four.
So yeah, you can definitely play around with the garlic
depending on your preference.
Now we'll add one thinly sliced onion.
This is optional with the mix,
but I really like marinating the shawarma with the onions.
It just kind of soaks in the flavor
and when you cook it,
it becomes nice and caramelized and soft.
Final step is the shawarma seasoning.
This is what gives it all the flavor.
I'm lucky enough to have a grocery store next to me
that sells beef and chicken shawarma seasoning,
but you can totally make it on your own
and I'm gonna show you how.
You'll need salt,
allspice, ground cloves,
cumin, cardamom, cinnamon,
paprika, and oregano.
So this is about two tablespoons of shawarma seasoning.
All right, let's mix it all together.
And now we wanna refrigerate this for one to two hours
and let the meat marinate.
So the marinating process is actually really important
because what happens is,
all that acid from the vinegar and the lemon juice
helps to tenderize the meat
so it's juicy and moist.
Just be careful not to marinate it for too long
because all that acidity can actually toughen the beef.
So while the shawarma is marinating,
we're gonna go ahead and make the tahini sauce.
The tahini sauce is one of the best parts of this,
especially when you're making a shawarma into a sandwich.
It's super simple to make.
You're gonna need tahini, garlic, lemon juice,
and a little bit of water just to thin it out.
So we'll start with two cloves of garlic,
then we'll add 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.
And I like to just get started by just mashing the salt
with the garlic.
You can do this with a whisk or you can do it
with a mortar and pestle, which is more traditional.
It just helps to break down the garlic
and bring out all the flavor.
Next, we'll add 1/3 of a cup of lemon juice
and 1/2 a cup of tahini.
So tahini is basically just ground sesame seeds
and I actually have a video
all about just making tahini sauce.
But here, we're just gonna go ahead and add it to the bowl.
Now we're gonna whisk it together.
And you'll notice at first it starts to separate,
but just keep whisking and pretty soon,
it'll thicken and become lighter in color.
And this is what it looks like
when it's all whisked together.
So at this point, I like to add a little bit of water
to thin it out.
And depending on what I'm using the tahini sauce for,
I'll add more or less water.
When it comes to sandwiches,
I like to add just a little bit of water
because I don't want it to be too runny in the sandwich.
And for me, this is the perfect consistency.
All right, we let the meat marinate for about an hour
and now it's time to cook it.
So we're gonna transfer it to a heavy-bottomed pan
and cook it for seven to 10 minutes.
All right, it's been about seven minutes,
so we're gonna check up on the shawarma.
And look at that, it's all fully cooked.
There's a lotta juices at the bottom,
which is really good for just keeping it hydrated
and moist and delicious.
So here's the final product.
And we love this dinner so much.
My mom makes it all the time.
I make it all the time for my family.
And what we usually do is,
we usually make a platter like this
with lots of different vegetables on it.
So I've got some tomatoes, parsley, onions, and pickles,
and then I usually like to add some salt on the tomatoes
and a little bit of summaq or sumac on the onions.
The summaq has like a lemony, peppery flavor to it,
which is really hard to replicate,
but it's so good on onions.
And if you add it to the onions and just kind of toss it
around a little bit with your hands,
it just moistens them a little bit,
softens up that harsh onion flavor,
and it tastes so good.
And now it's time to put it all together
in a fabulous shawarma sandwich.
I'm gonna show you how I like to make it.
So we're starting with some Arabic pita
and we're gonna do a double-ply sandwich.
This is the best pita ever and I get it
at a local grocery store in Dearborn.
I'll add some shawarma on top of the pita
and then I'm just adding all the vegetables on top
of the shawarma.
(light music)
The most important part,
the tahini sauce.
This is what makes it just all come together so wonderfully.
It's garlicky, it's lemony, it's creamy,
and it's just the perfect sauce for the sandwich.
All right, let's roll it up
and I'm so excited to dig in.
This is one of my favorite sandwiches ever.
It's such a popular street food in Lebanon
and for good reason, just one of those things
that you get on the go
and you just have the best lunch ever.
So, time for a taste test.
You guys, this is so good.
The meat is nice and juicy and tender.
The vegetables add so much texture and crunch.
The tahini is creamy and garlicky.
And overall, it's just the best sandwich ever.
It's great for lunch, for dinner,
and everything in between, if you ask me.
There is so much to love about this recipe
and I hope you love it as much as I do.
If you make this beef shawarma recipe or any of my recipes,
feel free to DM me, Tweet me, Facebook me,
or send me a message on the website
because I love to hear and see all of your recreations.
And if you enjoyed this video,
please feel free to share the love
and I'll see you at the next video.