Although shawarma originally comes from the Middle East, it has now become an integral part of the Dutch kitchen. Whether you choose a shawarma sandwich for lunch, a quick bite from the grillroom or a kapsalon after a night out – shawarma remains popular.

More and more often we make shawarma at home. And that is exactly what this blog is about: how do you make the tastiest shawarma yourself? What are good shawarma spices? Which meat do you use? And how many grams of shawarma do you need per person?

Here you discover the secret of the grillroom – and yes, it’s mainly in the spices.

What is shawarma and where does it come from?

Shawarma originally comes from the Middle East. The word literally means ‘turning’, referring to the vertical spit on which the meat is slowly cooked.

In a grillroom, thin strips of meat are cut from the rotating spit and served immediately in a pita or used in a kapsalon.

Today we mostly make it at home – in the pan, oven or airfryer – but the base remains the same: