Chicken Tawook Pita Sandwich – Lebanese Marinade and Sauce

If you’re familiar with Lebanese food (lucky you!), then you’ve probably had this Chicken Tawook Pita Sandwich or similar. The marinade and sauce is a perfectly spiced yogurt sauce. It’s seriously delicious. The flavor is difficult to define, but it’s creamy, tangy, perfectly spiced (not spicy) and is only made better when the chicken is grilled and combined with garlic sauce, pickles and tomatoes all wrapped in a warm pita.

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Tawook sauce and marinade

One of my favorite shortcuts is to make a sauce one time and use it as a marinade and later as a dip or sauce. Because, why not, right? And in this case, it perfectly spices and infuses the chicken with moisture while marinating, and I can’t get enough of it later when I pour it on my pita sandwich.

Complete your meal with these other amazing Lebanese recipes

• Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad from Feel Good Foodie
• Smokey Baba Ganoush from The View From Great Island
• Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma from Jo Cooks
• Labneh Dip from Two Purple Figs

How to build the perfect Chicken Tawook Pita Sandwich

Start with the best Greek yogurt

I’ve made this marinade/sauce with a few different brands of yogurt, and it really does make a difference. Chobani plain Greek yogurt creates the most perfect consistency and flavor. But other plain greek yogurts can be use as well. I would avoid the soupy regular yogurt. Go for the really thick and creamy yogurt to get the best flavor and consistency.

Add Garlic Spread (Toum)

The official name for this thick garlic spread is Toum. It’s basically vegetable oil, lemon juice and garlic whipped into a frenzy until it’s thick and seriously delicious. But I found a great ready-made garlic spread at Trader Joe’s (in the refrigerated sauces section), but I’ve seen it at the grocery store as well. Or here’s an awesome blog post about making it yourself. I made mine one time and while it was very good, I didn’t feel like the flavor justified the time, when I can just pick it up for a few bucks.

Lebanese Pickles

So I’ve been on the hunt for the authentic Lebanese pickles and I’ve come up empty-handed. However, simple American Bread and Butter pickle spears give a similar taste and texture and still tastes great! If you know how to find authentic Lebanese pickles, please tell me!!!

Use White Pita Bread

I prefer pita bread to a pita pocket because the bread has more moisture and flavor. I find pita pockets to be a little bland and dry. However, you can use whichever you prefer. If prepping right before eating, I like to drizzle a little olive oil on the pita breads and then wrap them all up together in some foil and put them in the oven so they get warm and then they don’t crack when folded.

Chicken – cube, marinate, skewer and grill

For this recipe, I’ve tried cooking the chicken every which way from Sunday, and the absolute best flavor is when you cube the raw chicken, marinate it, skewer and grill it up. This way you get plenty of flavor on each piece of chicken and the pieces are ready to go into the sandwich straight from the grill. I cube and marinate in the morning, skewer and grill before dinner. Or see below for the ultimate make ahead option.

Prep this chicken tawook ahead to make dinner time a breeze

If you’ve been around this blog much, you’ll know that I abhor spending hours in the kitchen in the evening while my family is all together enjoying each other. So I prep dinner ahead of time whenever possible. This meal is a simple marinade and sauce, and then light prep before dinner. OR, go all the way and put the sandwiches together completely, wrap in foil and then heat in the oven for 15-20 minutes before you eat. Literally the easiest dinner ever.

Love this Chicken Tawook Pita Recipe? Try these other awesome chicken recipes!

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If you decide to give this recipe a try, be sure to snap a photo to share, tagging @theovenlight and #theovenlight on Instagram or Facebook!