5-Minute Shawarma Sauce

Name: 5-Minute Shawarma Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 cup full fat plain yogurt; 1.5 tablespoons mayonnaise; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (more per preference); 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (you can use fresh crushed garlic too, adjust amount to your liking); 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder (more per preference); 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice (more per preference); 2 tablespoons tahini (optional)

5 from 11 ratings

by Amina Al-Saigh on Jul 31, 2025

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This creamy yogurt-based shawarma sauce is the perfect light and tangy topping for shawarma bowls, wraps, grilled meats, and more. Ready in just 5 minutes, it’s a refreshing alternative to traditional Middle Eastern garlic sauce (toum)—with all the flavor and none of the heaviness. Whether you’re building a chicken shawarma plate or adding zip to roasted veggies, this quick and easy shawarma sauce recipe has you covered.

Shawarma salad in a light blue rimmed dish with a white bowl of shawarma sauce next to a squeeze bottle of shawarma sauce, with blue glasses in the bottom corner and wooden salad servers at the side on a light pink tiled background

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5-STAR READER REVIEW

“Excellent, this made our shawarmas pop! I ran out of regular mayo so I used garlic mayo which made the sauce quite garlicy but in a good way.”
—Obiwan

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Shawarma Always Needs A Sauce!

Shawarma is always served with a sauce. But there are a few different shawarma sauces that you can make, depending on your preference and how much time you have.

Authentic chicken shawarma is always served with toum. It’s a thick sauce and it’s typically more pungent. Beef shawarma is almost always served with tarator; a creamy tahini sauce.

While both of these sauces are firm family favourites, I often make this yogurt based sauce when making shawarma wraps or, our favourite, halal cart chicken and rice. It’s quicker and often easier for me to whip up right before our meal.

It’s mostly yogurt with a little bit of mayo, tahini, lemon juice and garlic. The mayo is an ingredient that you can crank up or down, based on your own preference (more mayo means a heavier sauce).

White bowl with shawarma sauce with herbs on it on a cutting board with cucumber sticks and mini red peppers, on an orange background a glass of water at the side

Let’s Make This Quick Shawarma Sauce

Ingredient shot for shawarma sauce with chilli powder, salt, pepper and garlic powder on a white plate with a white bowl of yogurt and a spoon in it, half a lemon at the side, a small glass bowl with mayonnaise and a spoon, small glass bowl with tahini paste with a whisk at the side on an orange backdrop

This recipe couldn’t be easier to whip up. Start by spooning in the yogurt, tahini, lemon juice and all the seasoning in a small bowl.

White bowl with yogurt, mayonnaise, tahini, lemon juice and spices with a whisk on an orange backdrop with a half lemon on the side

white bowl with shawarma sauce and herbs on top and a spoon in it on an orange background with a half lemon at the side

Whisk the sauce together using a small whisk or a fork. You will feel the sauce start to get dry and seize up as you whisk. Continue to whisk and it will smoothen out.

TIP: Whenever tahini is mixed with lemon juice, it starts to seize up and dry, forming a clumpy texture. That’s completely normal! Simply keep whisking, adding a few tablespoons of water as needed and it will form a smooth consistency.

Once all the ingredients are mixed together, taste the sauce and adjust for salt and pepper. Garnish it with a little bit of parsley if desired.

Put it on everything! I love drenching my chicken and rice with this sauce.

Plate of reddish rice on a green striped plate with shawarma sauce on it with a spoon in it and a half a lemon at the side on a green tea towel with a white bowl of shawarma sauce, pepper mill on an orange background

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5 from 11 ratings