Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma requires very little hands-on time and delivers a delicious punch of bold flavor. Serve in a pita or flatbread or as part of a rice bowl, with hummus, garlic or tahini sauce, hot sauce, pickled baby cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes.
In a large mixing bowl, combine coriander, cumin, paprika, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, lemon juice, yogurt, and garlic.
Add chicken to the marinade and stir. Refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight if you have the time.
Transfer chicken to Instant Pot inner pot.
Add bay leaves and stir to combine. Close the lid and pressure cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
Allow the pressure to release naturally. If you're in a hurry, do a 10 minute natural pressure release (NPR) i.e. allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, and release remaining pressure using quick release (QR). [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
Stir chicken and sauce.
Transfer chicken to a serving dish using a slotted spoon, draining well.
Optional: heat oil in a large frying pan or cast iron skillet. Saute the chicken till lightly browned, adding some of the sauce to deglaze and keep the chicken moist.
Garlic Sauce / White Sauce
Combine all ingredients for garlic sauce / white sauce in a medium bowl.
Whisk together until smooth and set aside.
Chicken Shawarma Assembly
If necessary, lightly heat the pita to make it pliable
Spread garlic sauce/white sauce on the pita
Add lettuce and tomatoes
Add your choice of optional toppings
Add chicken on top
Garnish with chopped parsley
Video
Notes
This recipe was tested with a 6 quart Instant Pot.
Instead of using lettuce and tomatoes, try substituting this Mediterranean Salad.