With familiar flavours of the classic white sauce and a quick stir-fry of spiced beef, you can create your own take-out style shawarma meal easily at home. If you wish, cook up some classic crispy potatoes and seasoned rice for the full platter experience. Make a chopped veggie salad (see Tip) and serve extra tahini alongside.
Beef Shawarma
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
White Sauce
½ cup (125 mL) plain yogurt
2 tbsp (15 mL) tahini
¼ tsp (1 mL) EACH salt, granulated sugar and ground cumin
¼ tsp (1 mL) garlic paste or grated garlic
Shawarma Beef
1 lb (500 g) Beef Top Sirloin Grilling Steak, about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick
1 tbsp (15 mL) shawarma spice seasoning (see Tip*)
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
½ tsp (2 mL) ground sumac
2 tbsp (30 mL) EACH white vinegar and olive oil
1 tsp (5 mL) garlic paste or grated garlic
Instructions
- White Sauce: Whisk together yogurt, tahini, salt, sugar, cumin, garlic and 1 tbsp (15 mL) water until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until serving.
- Shawarma Beef: Cut beef across the grain into thin slices. Pat dry with paper towel. Combine beef, shawarma spice, salt, sumac, vinegar, oil and garlic in a bowl; toss to evenly coat.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add half of beef and stir-fry for about 5 minutes or until browned but still pink inside. Transfer to a bowl; repeat with remaining beef.
- Arrange Shawarma Beef on serving plates or platters and drizzle with White Sauce.
Notes
Tips: *You can buy a shawarma spice seasoning, a blend of spices, in Middle Eastern stores, specialty spices shops and well-stocked supermarkets. Look for one without added salt or reduce the salt in the recipe to ¼ to ½ tsp (1 to 2 mL), adding more to taste after cooking. To make your own, combine 2 tbsp (30 mL) ground cumin, 2 tsp (10 mL) sweet paprika, 1½ tsp (7 mL) ground turmeric, 1 tsp (5 mL) ground coriander, ½ tsp (2 mL) EACH ground cinnamon, ginger and black pepper and ¼ tsp (1 mL) ground cardamom in a jar and shake well to combine (Makes about 2/3 cup/150 mL). Measure 1 tbsp (15 mL) for the recipe and store remaining blend, tightly covered, for up to 3 months.
To make a tasty, crunchy chopped veggie salad for your platter, toss together chopped cucumber, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onions, chopped parsley in a bowl and season with salt and a drizzle of olive oil.
