Vegan Chickpea Shawarma
Updated Mar 30, 2026
This vegan chickpea shawarma recipe is oven baked with warm spices, garlic, and lemon juice. A simple sheet pan dinner with just 10 minutes of prep.
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This VegAn chickpea shawarma is soo good!
I keep a vegan chickpea shawarma recipe like this in rotation because it’s easy, cheap, and gives me dinner without much effort. Everything goes on one sheet pan, takes maybe 10 minutes to get into the oven, and then I usually build bowls with it once it’s done.
This chickpea shawarma recipe is really great for serving vegetarian and vegan guests, and it’s one of those meals that works when I want something filling but don’t want to deal with a lot of steps. The chickpeas get a little crisp, the vegetables soften up, and the tahini sauce pulls it together without needing much else.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Vegan Shawarma Ingredients
- Chickpeas: Use canned chickpeas that have been rinsed, drained, and dried well so they roast instead of steam. If they still feel wet, pat them dry with a towel before adding them to the pan. This recipe uses two cans, which makes it filling enough for four bowls or leftovers.
- Vegetables: The onion, cauliflower, and green pepper all roast together, so try to chop them into similar-size pieces so they cook at the same rate. Cut the cauliflower into small florets so it softens in the same amount of time as the peppers and onions. You can swap the green pepper for red, yellow, or orange if that is what you have.
- Oil, garlic, and seasoning: The olive oil helps everything roast instead of dry out, and it helps the garlic, salt, cumin, paprika, cardamom, crushed red pepper, and cinnamon coat the chickpeas and vegetables evenly. Six cloves of garlic sounds like a lot, but it works here since it gets spread across the whole pan. If you want less heat, reduce or skip the crushed red pepper.
- Lemon juice and tahini sauce: Add the lemon juice right after roasting so it coats everything while the pan is still hot. For serving, tahini sauce is what ties the bowls together, especially if you’re serving this over rice, quinoa, or greens.
How to Make Vegan Shawarma with Chickpeas and Veggies
Serve in bowls over grains or in a pita sandwich with tahini sauce.
Vegan Shawarma Recipe
Homemade vegan chickpea shawarma with chickpeas, vegetables, shawarma spices, and tahini sauce. A weeknight-friendly recipe for bowls or wraps.
Video
Ingredients
- 2 can chickpeas rinsed and dried
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 green pepper chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Tahini sauce for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with non-stick foil.
- Place the chickpeas, onions, cauliflower and green pepper on the prepared baking sheet. Add the olive oil, garlic, salt, cardamom, paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper and cinnamon and toss well to combine.
- Bake until the veggies soften, and the chickpeas become golden brown, 30-35 minutes, tossing halfway through. Immediately add the lemon juice and toss to combine.
- Serve in bowls over grains or in a pita sandwich with tahini sauce, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
My Top Tip: Keep the ingredients in an even layer on the baking sheet. It’s ok if the chickpeas and cauliflower are touching as long as they are not overlapping. This will help them to get nice and crispy. Use two baking sheets if necessary.
Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. The chickpeas and veggies will lose their crispness after an hour, though. You can reheat in the oven at 350°F for 5 minutes for the best texture. Freezing is not recommended.
Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge. The chickpeas and veggies will lose their crispness after an hour, though. You can reheat in the oven at 350°F for 5 minutes for the best texture. Freezing is not recommended.
Nutrition
Calories: 106kcal, Carbohydrates: 10g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 1184mg, Potassium: 299mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 402IU, Vitamin C: 56mg, Calcium: 39mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
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Recipe Tips
- Use the dull side of the foil. That’s the non-stick side with the watermark that should always be facing up, next to the food. You don’t need to use cooking spray or oil!
- Don’t be afraid of using high heat. For roasting, it’s best to heat the oven to at least 425°F. It allows for a crispy, perfectly browned exterior and a fork tender interior. If you have larger vegetables or ones that take longer to cook, you can decrease the temperature to 400°F and add 10 minutes of cooking time.
- Keep the ingredients in an even layer on the baking sheet. It’s ok if the chickpeas and cauliflower are touching as long as they are not overlapping. This will help them to get nice and crispy. Use two baking sheets if necessary.
- Heat the pan in the oven while it’s preheating. This allows the pan and foil to be warm which helps the chickpea shawarma get more crisp in the oven.
Serving Ideas
- Serve it on top of grains. This is usually how I eat it because the chickpeas and vegetables work really well with something that soaks up the tahini sauce. Try it with basmati rice, quinoa, or couscous.
- Stuff it into pita. If you want it to feel more like a sandwich, tuck the chickpea shawarma into warm pita with tahini sauce and whatever extras you like. It’s good with homemade pita, store-bought pita bread, or even flatbread.
- Add a Middle Eastern-style salad. Tabbouleh and fattoush are both really good here, and cucumber tomato salad works too.
Comments
I love this recipe! I’ve been doing it every week for almost 4 years. I find it more sustaining with sides of quinoa and storebought hummus, but it is delicious as is.
Wow, so happy you love it!! Quinoa and hummus are great sides, thanks for the inspiration!
This recipe was absolutely delicious! Will be a staple for our family moving forward!
So glad to hear!
Love this recipe! It’s definitely going to be placed on our weekly to rotation. Quick question, though. I used two cans of chickpeas each at 19 fl oz. I feel like that might be too much. What size cans do you usually use. Thank you so much! 🙂
Thank you so much! I hope you continue to enjoy it. I usually use 15.5 oz cans of chickpeas.
My husband who normally isn’t a fan of veggie meals loved this! Super flavorful and filling. Our 13 month old loved it too!
That’s incredible! It’s such a win when everyone enjoys it!
This dish has become a family favorite. Especially my vegetarian daughter.
I love that! Yay!!