Homemade Lebanese Beef Shawarma Recipe from Mama HFJ

Nothing beats homemade beef shawarma, especially when Mama Halal Food Junkie makes it. This is Episode 1 of Recipes That Raised Me, and it's the way we grew up eating it in Dearborn: tender sirloin, a bright parsley salad, creamy tahini sauce, all rolled up in warm bread. Once the spices hit the heat, the whole house smells like it.

Watch Mama make it

Ingredients

Makes: about 4 large wraps · Prep: 30 minutes · Marinate: 30 minutes · Cook: 20 minutes · Total: about 1 hour 20 minutes

For the beef

Thinly sliced sirloin, about 1½ pounds
Shawarma spice mix, about 1½ tablespoons
Green cardamom pods, a few
Bay leaves, 2
Fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons
Vinegar, 1 tablespoon
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Cooking oil, enough to coat the pan
Onion and tomato, 1 of each, cut into wedges

For the parsley salad (Mama calls it tabouli)

Fresh parsley, 1 big bunch
Onion, ½ small
Tomatoes, 2
Sumac, 1 teaspoon

For Mama's tahini sauce

Tahini, ½ cup
Fresh lemon juice, 3 tablespoons
Garlic, 1 to 2 cloves, crushed
Plain yogurt, ¼ cup
Water, a few tablespoons
Salt, to taste

To serve

Thin pita bread, 4 large rounds

How to make beef shawarma at home

Season the beef. Put the sliced sirloin in a big bowl. Add the shawarma spice, cardamom pods, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Get your hands in there and mix until every piece is coated, then let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Sliced sirloin in a yellow bowl, dusted with shawarma spice and green cardamom pods — Sirloin, shawarma spice and cardamom

Cook it hot. Oil a griddle or big frying pan and get it hot. Add the beef and bay leaves, then keep turning with tongs until the beef is fully cooked and tender. If your pan is small, do it in batches so the beef sears instead of steams.

Beef shawarma steaming on a griddle with onion and tomato wedges as Mama HFJ turns it with tongs — Beef shawarma on the griddle

Char the onion and tomato. Mama pushes the beef over and cooks the wedges right next to it until they're soft and a little charred. They go in the wrap.

Make the tabouli. Finely chop the parsley, onion and tomatoes. Add the sumac and mix.

Make Mama's tahini sauce. Mix the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, yogurt and salt. Add the water a little at a time, stirring, until it's smooth and creamy.

Roll it and toast it. Lay a pita flat. Pick out the bay leaves, then add the beef, onion, tomato and tabouli, and drizzle on the tahini sauce. Roll it tight, toast it on the griddle until it's golden, and cut it in half.

Thin pita laid flat with beef, tabouli, charred onion, tomato and tahini sauce — Beef, tabouli, charred onion and tahini sauce

Mama HFJ cutting a toasted beef shawarma wrap in half next to a jar of Chehab Meat Shawarma spice — Toasted, then cut in half

Good to know

Getting the beef: ask a halal butcher for sirloin sliced thin. Here's where to buy halal meat in Metro Detroit.
The spice: Mama's jar is Chehab Meat Shawarma, packed in Dearborn. Any shawarma blend you like will work.
No griddle? A big frying pan does the job.
Want garlic sauce instead? Here's how to make toum.
Not cooking tonight? Here's where to get shawarma in Dearborn and Metro Detroit.

Sources (3)

The recipe and method come from Mama HFJ, through Abe and the reel, October 2026. Mama doesn't measure, so the amounts and times are Halal Food Junkie's starting point, sense-checked against published recipes. Photos are stills from the reel.

Questions people ask

How long should you marinate beef shawarma?

About 30 minutes is plenty for thin-sliced sirloin. Don't leave it much past 2 hours, because the lemon and vinegar start to break down the meat.

What cut of beef is best for homemade shawarma?

Mama uses sirloin, sliced thin. It stays tender and cooks fast on a griddle. Skirt and flank steak are the other cuts you'll see in beef shawarma recipes.

Do you mix lamb and beef for shawarma?

Not in this recipe. Mama's is all sirloin. Some restaurants mix beef and lamb on the spit, and you can too if you like it richer.

What's the white sauce on beef shawarma?

Tahini sauce. Mama's is tahini, fresh lemon juice, garlic, plain yogurt, water and salt. Beef shawarma traditionally gets tahini. Chicken shawarma gets toum, the Lebanese garlic sauce.

Can you make shawarma at home without a rotisserie?

Yes. That's how Mama does it. Slice the beef thin, season it well and cook it on a hot griddle or in a big frying pan until it's fully cooked and tender.

What's in shawarma spice?

It depends on the blend. The label on Mama's jar of Chehab Meat Shawarma lists allspice, cinnamon, coriander, cloves, black pepper, ginger and nutmeg.

Is this shawarma recipe halal?

It is when you buy halal beef. Everything else on the list is pantry staples, but read the label on your spice mix and your pita if you're not sure.