Shish Tawook is a beloved authentic Lebanese kebab dish of grilled chicken, in a yogurt-based marinade with lemon, garlic, and spices. These Middle Eastern chicken skewers are so tender and huge in flavor! 

What is Shish Tawook?

Oh, how the Lebanese love their grills! This juicy, highly seasoned Lebanese chicken recipe is a traditional Lebanese food favorite. “Shish Tawook”, pronounced TAH-wook, means chicken skewers or chicken kebabs, and they’re always grilled.

This is one of many versions of shish kebabs to enjoy. I consider this one of the most delicious ways to cook skinless, boneless chicken breasts that are just as juicy as you find from the pros in Middle Eastern restaurants. Lean, healthy chicken gets the royal treatment in a simple but lush marinade. 

This shish tawook recipe comes together easily, too: dice the chicken, whisk the marinade, combine, and let those chill and marinate. Skewer the marinated chicken, grill for about 15 minutes, and you’ve arrived! 

Shish Tawook Ingredients

The list of ingredients for shish tawook may seem long, but these are mostly spices that give the marinade, and in turn the chicken, its incredibly wonderful flavor.

Yogurt functions as a tenderizer for the chicken because of the lactic acid in yogurt. Plus flavor!

Fresh lemon juice. Together with the yogurt, a key flavor maker.

Garlic. Because garlic! Lots of it, a whopping 8 garlic cloves impart tons of savory flavor here.

Tomato paste. For a hit of color and more of the acidic flavors like lemon and yogurt. Paste from a tube is a great way to use just a couple of tablespoons. Powdered tomato paste is also very handy.

Spices: the following make for a combination of warm spices shish tawook is known for: paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon, allspice, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Together these form the Middle Eastern flavors we love so much.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts aren’t known for being the juiciest choice of meat, but the marinade makes them so tender and juicy. You can substitute boneless skinless chicken thighs, but because they are thinner and less uniform, the kebabs may not be quite as uniform looking as with breast meat.

Keep a little neutral oil (such as canola or avocado oil) to coat the grill grates. Don’t skip this as it makes such a difference when turning the skewers.

How to make Shish Tawook

Step 1. Make the marinade. The many spices in the Shish Tawook marinade make for the “wow” flavor factor that this grilled chicken is known for. Use plain yogurt. Labneh or plain Greek Yogurt is thicker, so if you use either of these, just add more lemon juice and olive oil to the marinade to loosen it. In a large bowl whisk the yogurt, lemon juice, and spices.

Step 2. Cut the chicken. Dice the chicken cubes about 1 1/2 inches in size; make sure the cubes are similar in size to ensure even cooking. 

Step 3. Marinating the chicken. Add the chicken to the yogurt marinade. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours and up to one day.

Step 4: Skewer the Chicken. Thread the marinated chicken pieces on the skewers just before grilling. The marinade will coat the chicken cubes rather heavily. Wipe away some of that marinade as you pull the chicken from the bowl to skewer it. Don’t crowd the chicken; be sure each cube rests next to the last one but don’t push them tightly together. This ensures the chicken can cook all the way through.

Step 5: Grill the chicken. Coat the grill grates on your outdoor grill with oil before heating it to medium-high heat. Place the skewered chicken on the grill and cook for 10-20 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken cubes) or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Turn the skewers once midway through cooking. Look for a golden brown color with some charring.

How to serve Shish Tawook

Serve Kebabs, or grilled skewers, off the skewer. Anything that is cooked on a skewer is much easier to serve and eat when it is already removed from the cooking instrument, the skewer. 

A great way to remove the chicken from the skewer is with a piece of pita, flatbread, or other piece of sturdy bread. Be sure the skewers are cool enough to handle or use a hot pad to grab the skewer. Wrap the bread around the meat at the handle end of the skewer and push all of the meat off the pointed end onto a board or platter.

P.S. This pita bread, now laden with juicy chicken flavor, tastes divine! 

Serve chicken tawook with a sauce such as Lebanese garlic sauce (toum) or tahini sauce. This popular dish in restaurants often includes a side of french fries! Another popular dish you need to try is these Lebanese stuffed grape leaves.

FAQs

What to Serve with Tawook:

Toum Lebanese Garlic Sauce

Tahini Sauce

Lebanese Vermicelli Rice

Grilled Vegetable Platter

Fattoush Salad

Homemade Pita Bread Recipe

More Lebanese recipes for kebabs

Kafta Kebabs are a mixture of ground lamb or beef with lots of spices, so flavorful.

My Grilled Chicken Shawarma recipe is the ultimate! The marinated grilled chicken is pushed off the skewer and sliced to help create that shawarma-style chicken.

Lamb Skewers are just simply divine with quality lamb meat as the star of the show.

Grilled Shrimp is a natural for kebab-style cooking on the grill, and so flavorful.