Salad with Shawarma Beef

Making this salad with shawarma beef is so easy and tastes amazing! This tasty shawarma salad is topped with juicy and delicious beef.

This flavorful salad is tasty and great for lunches, a light dinner, or even meal prep. I’ll show you how easy it is to make this tender and delicious beef to top your favorite greens and veggies for the perfect summer salad!

If you’ve never made shawarma beef before you will love this easy recipe, try it out and let me know what you think!

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What is beef shawarma?

Traditionally beef shawarma is made by stacking up pieces of the seasoned and marinated meat on a spit. The vertical prongs hold the stacked meat in place and then it’s cooked slowly via radiant heat from the outsides. As the meat cooks the seasonings and marinade seeps into all the meat.

It’s a street food staple that is usually made with beef or chicken that is heavily marinated. Olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and spies are usually used to prepare this delicious type of meat.

Typical shawarma beef is then cooked on a revolving spit. The meat is layered up and then sliced off in a shaving fashion that makes it extra thin and small pieces go great on sandwiches, pitas, and salads.

Is this a traditional beef shawarma salad?

This is an alternate way to make shawarma beef without using a spit. Obviously most people won’t eat the amount of meat that you’d make with a traditional shawarma cooker.

This way you are able to make a shawarma salad without having much beef or chicken go to waste. My version makes about 4 servings so you can even double it if you want to have leftovers for the rest of the week!

Can I use this recipe to make shawarma salad with chicken?

You could easily use this method to make shawarma chicken. It’s a great marinade and you can use the same method to get the chicken ready for a similar salad topping or sandwich filling!

Make sure that your chicken cooks through to 165F internal before eating but otherwise you can prepare it in the same way as the beef for this easy shawarma recipe.

What do I need to make shawarma beef salads?

We’re going to break this down into three sections so you know exactly what you’ll need to make the beef, the salad, and the sauce! Everything is broken down into these sections and you can get the full amounts in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post!

For the Beef:

• beef stir fry meat
• cumin
• paprika
• cayenne
• minced garlic
• cinnamon
• black pepper
• turmeric
• cardamon
• sumac
• salt
• olive oil
• lemon juice

For the Salad:

• lettuce; chopped
• small tomatoes
• cucumber; slice

For the Sauce:

• greek yogurt
• garlic; minced
• sumac
• pepper
• salt
• cayenne pepper
• lemon juice

How to make shawarma salad:

Again, I’m breaking it all down into sections to make it easier to follow. You’ll prepare the meat, salad, and sauce on their own and then combine!

For Meat:

Place stir fry meat in a ziploc bag and add in the spices from the meat list. Cumin, paprika, cayenne, garlic, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, cardamon, turmeric, and sumac. Add in olive oil and lemon juice.

Mix the spices, oil, and juice well with the meat by rubbing all together inside the bag. Place in the fridge for at least one hour to marinate and no more than 12 hours. 

Most shawarma is pit roasted but not all of us have a pit. This recipe uses a stir fry method to make the meat. You can roast it up in the oven that is your choice.

Place meat in a deep saute pot or wok. Cook the meat on medium high heat and cook till the meat is browned.

For Salad:

Chop lettuce and slice the cucumbers. Set aside. Wash tomatoes. Set aside.

For Sauce:

In a small bowl add in yogurt, garlic, sumac, pepper, salt, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. Stir well.

Serve meat topped on the salad bed with tomatoes and cucumbers. Top with sauce.

Looking for more delicious recipes to try?

Here are some other recipes that I think you’ll enjoy if you need some other tasty, family friendly dinners to try out for your next meal plan!

• Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
• Ground Beef Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce
• Family Favorite Ground Turkey Goulash
• Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce
• Easy Baked Pork Chops with Orange Maple Sauce
• Crockpot Italian Beef Recipe

Printable Salad with Shawarma Beef Recipe: