Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma

Slow cooked lamb shawarma is a mouthwatering Middle Eastern dish that bursts with bold flavors! The lamb marinated in a robust spice mixture with cumin, paprika and fresh herbs before cooking low and slow for hours until fragrant and incredibly tender. Serve lamb shawarma wrapped in pita or in a bowl with all the salads and toppings!

This homemade slow cooked lamb shawarma recipe will take you right back to the streets of Istanbul! Traditionally, you'll find large vertical spits of shawarma sliced thin and stuffed inside of pita bread with fresh additions such as spicy zhug and creamy tahini sauce. For a lemony bright Tahini sauce, try my Lemon Herb Tahini Sauce, It might be the most flavorful meal ever.

Instead, we're taking strong inspiration from bold Middle Eastern flavors and slow roasting a boneless leg of lamb for hours until fall-apart and incredibly tender. The results are mouthwatering, fragrant and tender lamb, sliced thin and served with a zesty and fresh zhug sauce.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• The shawarma marinade is full of bold Middle Eastern flavors with fresh herbs, bright lemon zest and robust spices!
• Customizable: There are so many ways to serve lamb shawarma. Make a lamb shawarma wrap with homemade pita bread and a drizzle of creamy tahini sauce and zhoug. Or serve it like a falafel bowl with my fresh chopped salad and crumbled feta cheese.
• Feeds a crowd! A 3 pound boneless lamb roast feeds up to 6 people. Then add all the additions, such as Turkish sumac onions, tzatziki sauce and a zesty tabbouleh salad, and you have yourself a delicious party!

🧄 What is zhoug?

Zhoug (also spelled "schug," "zhug," or "skhug") is a spicy Israeli condiment and is often called the "Israeli national chile paste".

It is made from a mixture of fresh hot peppers (usually green), fresh herbs, garlic, warm spices and olive oil and is blended in a food processor to create a thick paste. The flavors are fresh, spicy and slightly smoky coming from the cumin.

📋 Ingredients

Lamb Shawarma Ingredients

• Leg of Lamb: Look for a boneless leg of lamb that is butterflied. This is a technique where the bone is removed and the meat is laid flat. You can often ask your meat butcher to do this for you!
• Fresh Herbs: Use a combination of parsley and cilantro or one or the other.
• Spices: There are A LOT of spices in the shawarma mixture. It's ok if you don't have all the spices, use what you have or focus on using cumin, coriander and paprika.
• Garlic: Look for firm cloves and give them a rough chop.
• Olive Oil: Use a light olive oil or grapeseed oil for the marinade. Save the good extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over cherry tomato bruschetta.
• Lemon: Both the zest and juice are used in the shawarma mixture. If lemon isn't available, substitute with orange, lime or red wine vinegar.

Zhoug Sauce Ingredients

• Fresh Herbs: A combination of fresh parsley and fresh cilantro are used in zhoug, but feel free to use all of one or the other. You can also include the stems for even more herbaceous flavor, just give them a rough chop before adding to the food processor.
• Spices: Cumin and cardamom are both warm spices. Cardamom is fragrant and can be more pungent than cumin.
• Jalapeño: For a spicier chili, use serrano or Fresno chili.
• Garlic: Look for firm and fresh garlic cloves.
• Olive Oil: Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil to compliment the other fresh ingredients.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

🍊Substitutions and Variations

• If you don't have all the spices available, focus on using cumin, coriander and paprika.
• Substitute fresh lemon with orange or lime, both the zest and juice. If citrus is not available at all, add 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.
• Use the same marinade on pistachio crusted rack of lamb.
• Use all parsley or all cilantro for both the shawarma marinade and the zhoug sauce.
• If using bone in leg of lamb, cut several small slits all over the lamb and press the marinate into the little pockets as you season the meat. Bone in lamb may take an extra 20-30 minutes of cooking time.
• Slow cooker version: Instead of the oven, place the marinated and tied up lamb in the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

⏲️ Instructions

Make the shawarma marinade. Add the spices, fresh herbs, garlic, olive oil and lemon zest and lemon juice to a food processor and blend until a smooth paste forms. (Photo 1 and Photo 2)

Season the lamb and marinate. Score through the fat layer and any thicker areas of muscle and rub the marinade all over the lamb and into any crevices (Photo 3). Then roll up the lamb with kitchen twine (Photo 4) to form a uniform shape. Marinate for at least 8 hours.

Roast the lamb. Before roasting the lamb, remove it from the fridge 30 minutes before roasting. Then place the lamb in a dutch oven or roasting pan and roast at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. Add a cup of water to the bottom of the pan (Photo 5) and continue cooking for 2 ½ hours, basting every 30-45 minutes (Photo 6).

Let the lamb rest. Once the lamb shawarma is done cooking, remove it from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving (Photo 7).

Recipe FAQs

Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.

Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma

Samantha Ferraro

LittleFerraroKitchen.com

Slow cooked lamb shawarma is a mouthwatering Middle Eastern dish that bursts with bold flavors! The lamb marinates in a robust spice mixture before cooking low and slow for hours until fragrant and incredibly tender.

5 from 14 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Marinate 8 hours hrs

Total Time 11 hours hrs 50 minutes mins

Course Main

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Servings 6 servings

Calories 453 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  Dutch Oven Braiser
• ▢
  Food Processor

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Lamb Shawarma

• ▢ 3 pound boneless leg of lamb butterflied
• ▢ ½ cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
• ▢ ½ cup fresh parsley roughly chopped
• ▢ 1 lemon zested and juiced
• ▢ 4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
• ▢ ½ cup olive oil or grapeseed oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon paprika
• ▢ 1 tablespoon cumin
• ▢ 1 tablespoon sumac
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cardamom
• ▢ ¼ teasopoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ 1 cup Water for basting

Zhoug

• ▢ 1 cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
• ▢ 1 cup fresh parsley roughly chopped
• ▢ 1 jalapeno
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cardamom
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ cup olive oil
• ▢ water as needed, to thin consistency

Additional Ingredients and Toppings

• ▢ Pita bread
• ▢ Israeli chopped salad
• ▢ Sumac onions
• ▢ Tahini Sauce
• ▢ Pickled turnips

Instructions

 

Lamb Shawarma

• Make the shawarma marinade. Add the spices, fresh herbs, garlic, olive oil and lemon zest and lemon juice to a food processor and blend until a smooth paste forms.
• Use paper towels to pat the lamb dry very well. Use a knife and score through the fat layer and any thicker areas of muscle and rub the marinade all over the lamb and into any crevices. Use kitchen twine to roll up the lamb into a uniform shape. Then place in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours to overnight.
• When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and remove the lamb from the fridge 30 minutes before roasting.
• Place the lamb in a dutch oven or roasting pan and roast 1 hour. Pour in 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pan and continue slow roasting for another 2-21/2 hours, basting with the pan juices every 30-45 minutes.
• If the outside of the roast is getting too dark, cover the lamb with a sheet of foil for the last 30 minutes.
• Once done, remove the lamb from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Zhoug Sauce

• While the lamb shawarma is cooking, make the zhug sauce.
• Add the cilantro, parsley, chopped garlic, jalapeño, cardamom, cumin and olive oil to a food processor. Blend until a smooth paste forms and there are no large leaves. Add water as needed if the mixture is too thick.
• Transfer to a resealable container until ready to use.

Assemble the Shawarma

• Slice shawarma into thin slices and serve as a wrap in a pita or bowl, topped with sumac onions, dollop of zhug and tahini sauce.

Notes

• • Use paper towels to pat the meat dry on all of the sides before adding the shawarma marinade. This will help the mixture stick to the meat easily.
  • If you don't have all the spices available, focus on using cumin, coriander and paprika.
  • Remove the lamb from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. This takes the "chill off" of the meat and helps the meat cook more evenly.
  • Marinate for at least 4 hours to overnight if you have the time. The longer, the more flavorful the lamb will be!
  • Slow cooker version: Instead of the oven, place the marinated and tied up lamb in the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
  • Recipe is inspired by Ottolenghi's lamb shawarma from his cookbook, Jerusalem with adjustments using ground spices, easier to find spices available near me and adjusting measurements.

Nutrition

Calories: 453kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 30gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 91mgSodium: 788mgPotassium: 578mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1491IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 62mgIron: 5mg

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