How To Cook Trader Joe’s Chicken Shawarma

06 Jun 2023 1 Comment

by promacnyc in General, Trader Joes Tags: Cooking, Food, How To Cook, ideas, review, SHAWARMA, Shwarma, Trader Joes

The most popular post on this site is usually my original review of TJ’s CHICKEN SHAWARMA THIGHS so I thought I would revisit this topic again but specifically about “How To Cook” the chicken.

Let’s start with your Shopping List which might include the following items:

TJ’s Shawarma Chicken Thighs
Naan (frozen or fresh, or pita or flour tortillas)
Tzatziki Sauce – cucumber garlic yogurt sauce goes great with this
Onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, parsley or cilantro (optional)
Zhoug Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce, optional)
other things as you see fit, for example Hummus if you want to do a Shawarma Hummus bowl.

Now there are a number of ways you can cook the chicken. Grilled in a pan, baked in the oven and I’ve even read some people cook these in an Air Fryer. Please don’t even consider cooking this in a Microwave. The chicken needs to be browned to taste good). My simple preferred and I think easiest method is the first: grilling on the stove top. I like to use a cast iron pan but if you don’t have one of those babies any fairly heavy pan will do. Naturally cooking it on an outdoor grill would be great if you can do that. If you want to bake the thighs, you can put them on a sheet pan (use parchment or foil for easy cleanup) and bake them for about 20-25 minutes at 450.

COOKING : Remove the chicken from the package carefully as the marinade can stain; it has both turmeric (yellow) and anatto (red) which in addition to being spices are both excellent natural dyes! If your cutting board gets a bit stained, just use diluted bleach to clean up later.

To even out the cooking in the thighs which have a thick and thin part, I put a few shallow slashes in the thickest parts. This will open let them cook more evenly. You can pat off some marinade with a paper towel if you like. Next what I do is I actually sprinkle on more seasonings just before I put them in the pan to help them brown. No really. Dry spices will help the chicken brown even better, but this is completely optional. I give them a dusting of spices such as Ajika seasoning blend or Smoked Paprika and ground cumin. I may do a bit of all three. If you are cooking the chicken with veggies – which I recommend – prep and slice them. I recommend at least adding a few cloves of fresh garlic sliced up. Onions (and maybe peppers) will be great cooked with the chicken. I add my veggies to the pan 1/2 way during the cooking when I flip the chicken, so I use a large pan.

Get your pan heated on medium; add olive oil or oil/butter mix, say a good tablespoon of oil plus a tbl of butter. When it’s sizzling, carefully put the chicken into the pan. Now DO NOT TOUCH IT. At all. Let it cook at least about 5 minutes and resist all urges to touch it to get a really good sear on the first side (see picture below). It may take about 8 minutes to cook the first side.

When the first side is nice and golden brown, flip the chicken over. This is when I add my sliced onions, garlic (maybe green, red or yellow peppers…) which I place around the chicken – if there is room in the pan (if no room you can cook them in in the same pan when you take out the chicken but they may take about 8 minutes too).

When the thighs are done on the second side, which may take about another 8 minutes, you can remove them to a cutting board or plate. Let the chicken rest a few minutes before slicing. Slice as thicky or thinly as you wish. Put the sliced chicken back into the warm pan (heat is off) scraping in any juices from your cutting board. If you made veggies, you can mix the chicken with them or keep them separated as you see fit. Below is chicken, onions, and some fresh arugula mixed into the warm chicken.

ASSEMBLY: If using Naan, warm up your bread (Naan, pita or tortillas…). For a Shawarma Wrap, put a little sauce down the middle of your Naan, etc. Next add your sliced chicken in the center. Top with grilled onions or peppers if you made these. A little more Tzaziki on top. If you want it spicy then maybe some Zhug mixed in. Optional, a few chopped tomatoes, cukes, parsley, or cilantro. Fold up gently to eat kind like a taco with your hands, or eat it with a knife and fork if you are stuffy!

*Chicken Shawarma as Wraps using TJ’s whole wheat home style tortillas*

Other ideas how to serve them? Besides doing eating the chicken with Naan or bread you could just put the shawarma chicken on top of a bed of rice. Or salad greens. Or eat with hummus, served with side dishes like Basmati rice, or maybe Harvest Grain Blend. Or you could make a Shawarma Hummus Bowl. Put hummus in a bowl and top it with slices of the chicken with pita bread on the side. This style is very popular at Middle Eastern places.

Hope this gave you some ideas and that you really enjoy some great Shawarma soon.

DIY Shawarma Chicken (Recipe)

04 Jun 2022 1 Comment

by promacnyc in All Natural, DIY, New, News, Prices, Products, recipe, Recipes, spices, Trader Joes, Uncategorized, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: budget, dinner, DIY, do it yourself, healthy, homemade, idea, ideas, inflation, Isreali, lunch, mediteranean, middle east, prices, Products, save, SHAWARMA, Trader Joes, Yemini

The other day, I wanted SHAWARMA CHICKEN but I was a bit resentful at the current price of a package of TJ’s Shawarma Chicken. It now costs about $11-12 ($6.50/lb. currently) way up from what it orginally cost. I knew I had some boneless chicken thighs in my freezer, and I have spices of course and Greek yogurt. Why not just do a DIY SHAWARMA style chicken on my own and save some dough!? So I did just that. How did it turn out? Delicious! You can easily do a DIY Shawarma Chicken if you want to save some money, and who doesn’t these days with the constant inflation and sticker shock when you go shopping?

I used Trader Joe’s boneless skinless chicken thighs that I had in my freezer (I defrosted the chicken overnight in the fridge) Or buy fresh boneless skinless thighs; they will easily be about $2 cheaper per pound (if not more) Vs. TJ’s Shawarma Chicken which has crept up in price a few times from the original $3.99/lb to $6.49/lb as of this post.

DIY Shawarma Chicken Recipe: Put chicken in a bowl and add 3 tablespoons of Greek Yogurt. Add a few teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. Crush 4 cloves of garlic with a little salt and mix into chicken. Add a few spoons (to taste) of ZHOUG Yemeni spicy green sauce. Mix. Even this very simple version will work fine, however to make this better we should add ground spices with “Middle Eastern” flavors. Here’s some ideas for Trader Joe’s spices you can add :

Trader Joe’s EVERYDAY SEASONING (grinder), Onion Salt, Ground Turmeric, Ground Cumin, TJ’s AJIKA blend, TJ Smoked Spanish Paprika, TJ Zaatar spice blend, Black pepper, PINK SEA SALT. A pinch of cinnamon. A small glug of olive oil. MIX everything well so all the spices are mixed in. Let it marinate in fridge for 2-6 hours or overnight or up to 2-3 days. When ready to cook, just make it as you normally grill TJ’s Shawarma chicken thighs. You can of course also make this instead with CHICKEN BREASTS if you prefer white meat but just be very careful about not overcooking them. I like to cook a sliced onion in the same pan as I grill the chicken.

Trader Joe’s SHAWARMA CHICKEN THIGHS

02 Apr 2019 12 Comments

by promacnyc in New, Products, Rave, spices, Trader Joes, update, WhatsGoodAtTJ? Tags: chicken, healthy, homemade, Middle Eastern, no preservatives, product, Products, Rave, review, SHAWARMA

SHAWARMA SPICE MARINATED BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN THIGHS

RAVE

(update: I still give this a Rave but I do have a Rant about the continuous price increases since I originally wrote this post. (from $4.49/lb-> to currently 6.99)

I don’t know about you but it’s pretty rare for me to buy pre-marinated meats. Generally I will just make my own and marinate it myself.

Still when I first saw Trader Joe’s “Shawarma Chicken Thighs” I was intrigued enough to buy it, because I happen to LOVE Shawarma. In NYC we have quite a few Mediterranean style restos that sell it.

So I gave this a try and in short, not only did I like TJ’s Shawarma Chicken way more than I expected to, I liked it so much that since that first time, I’ve bought it over and over again. So if you don’t want to read this whole piece and just want to know if this is worth buying, the answer is a Yes. But if you want to know more, read on dear reader (including how to make a marinade so you can do these on your own for way less…. )

SHAWARMA CHICKEN THIGHS are flavorful having been deeply imbued from many “Shawarma spices” they use which include: “Onion, garlic, sea salt, cumin, cinnamon, coriander, paprika, turmeric, annato, parsley, lemon, vinegar, rosemary…”. This ready-to- cook chicken is convenient. Pretty much toss it into a pan. In less than 20 minutes you can have a tasty dinner ready with the addition of a few sides (Naan, maybe some rice/grains, veggies). The unopened package can easily stay a week or so in the fridge. They say way longer but personally I find TJ’s “good until” dates are way too generous. Naturally you can freeze it for longer than a week or two, and if you do, I suggest a slow 24hr defrost in the fridge.

Cut the bag open (carefully!) You’ll immediately smell the wonderful “Middle Eastern Shawarma” style spices (Be aware the Turmeric and Anatto in the marinade are natural dyes and can stain things easily, even a cutting board. If so use diluted bleach later to clean up).

If there is any fat on the chicken, it will melt during cooking and it keeps the meat moist so I say don’t trim it off. I do make a few shallow slashes in the thickest parts of the thighs to help even out cooking with the thinnest part. Optional: blot the chicken with a paper towel to dry them a bit before adding to the pan. TIP: I actually sprinkle on more spices (Smoked Spanish Paprika, Ajika, another sprinkle of ground cumin, etc) as more dry spices on the surface will make it brown better).

Chicken cooked halfway, with added onion and garlic

Cooked, sliced up and put back in the pan (with some arugula)

COOKING: I grill in a cast iron or non-stick pan. I add 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil (or better still, an oil/butter mix; the butter adds flavor and browns up well). Grill the the first side on medium heat for about 7-8 mins on the first side until deeply seared and browned. Turn and cook about another 6-7 minutes. Your kitchen will smell great cooking these from all those nice Middle Eastern spices. TIP: I let the thighs cook without touching or moving them until they get a good sear on them (see picture) Totally optional but adding sliced onion and garlic about half way during cooking will make for great additions (and possibly green/red/yellow peppers).

If you can grill these on a real grill with wood or charcoal of course and they would probably taste even better. Baking in the oven may work too for 20 minutes on high heat (450). You could even bake this as a Sheet Pan Supper with veggies for an easy one-pan dinner. Some people do these in an Air Fryer.

This marinade is not spicy so if you want a little heat just add something like Bomba or Zhoug goes especially well with these, with a bit brushed on at the very end and/or served on the side after cooking. Cooking veggies in the same pan on the side (onions, peppers, cherry tomatoes…) is good.

Pan grilling is my my preferred method as it browns great this way and seals in juices. The good thing about chicken thighs is they are way harder to overcook than breasts which as you know can dry out pretty easily (side note, I have a pretty foolproof method for cooking juicy boneless chicken breasts if you want to check that out here): (juicy chicken breasts).

Shawarma chicken, served on TJ’s Garlic Naan with Tzaziki, and veggies. Super yummy!!

When the thighs are done cooking, i would let them rest a few minutes before slicing (resting meat keeps in juices). Slice them however you like. One guy I saw online recommended cutting it into “french fries” size pieces. I put the sliced chicken back in the pan with the cutting board juices and mix it in with the grilled onions or veggies. Chopped fresh cilantro, parsley or arugula, is nice for some green color.

SHAWARMA SANDWICH ASSEMBLY – warm your naan or pita or tortilla. Place the sliced chicken down the center, top with sauce (TJ’s TZAZIKI sauce is perfect). Add a few veggies. To eat, you fold gently and eat it taco style. Or use knife and fork if you are fancy. Now no one says you must make it into a shawarma sandwich; you can just put the chicken on top of a salad or rice or noodles or what ever you wish.

As mentioned I find these go great with TJs’ “ZHOUG” spicy sauce which matches perfectly for a spicy Yemeni flavor. To tame the Zhoug you can mix Greek Yogurt and some Zhoug together 50/50 to make it less spicy. You can serve the chicken many ways but a great way of course is as SHAWARMA wrap with Naan or other flatbread. Use flatbread, warm pita or TANDOORI NAAN (it’s perfect for this) or even TJ HABANERO LIME TORTILLAS as a wrap …. add chopped veggies (tomato, cukes, shredded lettuce, scallion, parsley…) Top with sauce, a tahini or yogurt garlic sauce (TJ’s tzaziki sauce is perfect). These are messy to eat but oh so good. Your family will love them. Basmati Rice on the side, or as a bed, would be a great match with this.

Another Shawarma meal: this a DIY version from scratch on whole wheat pita bread with sauce and veggies

Shopping list : Shawarma Chicken, Tzatziki, Naan or Pita, onion, garlic, veggies…..

https://gimmedelicious.com/the-best-ever-shawarma-white-sauce/

The second dish I made with these chicken thighs was to use them for Chicken Tacos / Fajitas. Despite the cultural melange (middle east/mexico) the chicken works great for Tacos or Fajitas. Sidenote: Of course you knew that Lebanese immigrants to Mexico had a big part in Mexican food culture and even created the famed Tacos Al Pastor! Green Dragon hot sauce with it’s tomatillo and cilantro flavor went really well and was perfectly Mexican on our chicken shawarma tacos.

(note: the price has gone up a few times since I wrote this!): TJ’s SHAWARMA CHICKEN THIGHS is ~~$4.49 a pound~~* (currently 6.99) The 1.5 lb package I bought was just over $6 and I got two meals out of it, with sides, so more than if you just bought plain chicken but not a bad deal. (Sidenote: same package now costs $11!) The marinated chicken is great for cooking in other dishes. I made an Arroz Con Pollo kind of dish with the chicken thighs and it came out terrific! (brown the meat with onions, throw in rice, cover with chicken broth, cook 18 minutes…)

TJ’s SHAWARMA CHICKEN THIGHS are a good product and worth trying and these are a TJ hit. If you want to save money, naturally you could buy chicken thighs and add your own blend of “middle eastern style” spices for a marinade and let it marinate a few days in the fridge (see tips below how to make this yourself for less)

(LINK) TJ’s ARCHIVED INFO PAGE FOR SHAWARMA CHICKEN THIGHS

DIY SHAWARMA – IT’S CERTAINLY POSSIBLE TO MAKE THIS YOURSELF FOR LESS . Buy boneless skinless thighs. Marinate in with yogurt and shawarma spices (from 2 hours to up to 3 days in the fridge) “Middle Eastern spices” – Ground cumin, fresh and/or dried garlic, ginger, onion salt, turmeric, black pepper, Ajika, Zhoug, Hatch Flakes... Trust me, your own DIY marinated Shwarma style chicken will be really good and cost about 1/2 of the premade one!

SHAWARMA SPICE MIX BLEND RECIPE here: https://mayihavethatrecipe.com/crazy-good-shawarma-spice-mix/

(LINK) Here’s A Recipe I found on TJ’s site with these for Shawarma Chicken Rice Soup