Tarragon chicken with creamy white beans
Tender chicken in a creamy white bean sauce with fresh tarragon.
About 30 min · 375 kcal · 43 g protein per serving
One pan
Air fryer chicken shawarma skewers with garlic yoghurt
Chicken breast marinated in yoghurt, cumin and paprika, threaded with pepper and onion and charred in the air fryer, served with pita, romaine and garlic yoghurt. A dinner the whole family can assemble at the table, with each plate built to its own appetite.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 16 October 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm 3 cm cubes reach 74°C in 12 to 14 minutes at 200°C
- Confirm the yoghurt marinade chars without burning
- Photograph the finished plate
- Time
- About 1 hr 10 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 4
- see below
- Energy
- 475 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 49 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 4 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains gluten, milk. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- pitas. Pita can contain soya or sesame; check the label.
Cooking steps
Cut the chicken into 3 cm cubes. Mix 100 g of the Greek yoghurt with half the lemon juice, the oil, two of the grated garlic cloves, the cumin, paprika and cinnamon, and turn the chicken through it. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
If using wooden skewers, soak 8 of them in water for 30 minutes and trim them to fit the basket. Cut the red pepper and the onion into 3 cm pieces and thread them onto the skewers between the chicken cubes.
Air fry at 200°C / 400°F for 12 to 14 minutes in a single layer, in two batches if needed, turning the skewers halfway, until the edges have charred in places and the thickest cube reads 74°C.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F in the thickest part. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
While the chicken cooks, stir the rest of the garlic and the rest of the lemon juice into the remaining 200 g of Greek yoghurt. Shred the romaine and chop the tomatoes.
Warm the pitas in the air fryer for 1 minute. Serve two skewers each with a pita, the romaine and tomatoes, and the garlic yoghurt.
The useful detail
The yoghurt in the marinade is what chars. Its milk sugars and protein brown in the air fryer's dry heat well before the chicken can overcook, which gives the edges the colour a shawarma spit gets from hours of turning, and the acid keeps lean breast meat tender in the meantime.
Make it work for you
One serving is Two skewers with a pita, romaine, tomato and garlic yoghurt. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Turkey breast instead of chicken
Firmer and milder. Same times.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 2 g more protein, about 2 g less fat.
Brown rice instead of pita
Makes a bowl instead of a pocket.
Per serving: about 35 kcal less, about 3 g less protein, about the same fat.
Allergens: Removes gluten.
Fat-free Greek yoghurt instead of 2%
Sharper, and the marinade chars a little less.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about the same protein, about 1 g less fat.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
Chicken carries most of the protein and the yoghurt adds more in both the marinade and the sauce; the pita and salad make it a meal.
| Energy | 475 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 49 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| of which saturates | 2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 48 g |
| of which sugars | 10 g |
| Fibre | 7 g |
| Sodium | 360 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 4. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| chicken breast | 600 g | FDC 171077Chicken, broiler or fryers, breast, skinless, boneless, meat only, raw | 720 kcal | 135.0 g |
| Greek yoghurt | 300 g | FDC 170903Yogurt, Greek, plain, lowfat | 219 kcal | 29.8 g |
| lemon juice | 31 g | FDC 167747Lemon juice, raw | 7 kcal | 0.1 g |
| olive oil | 14 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 121 kcal | 0.0 g |
| garlic | 15 g | FDC 169230Garlic, raw | 22 kcal | 1.0 g |
| ground cumin | 4 g | FDC 170923Spices, cumin seedFoodData Central records cumin seed; ground cumin is the same seed, milled. | 16 kcal | 0.7 g |
| paprika | 4.5 g | FDC 171329Spices, paprika | 13 kcal | 0.7 g |
| ground cinnamon | 0.5 g | FDC 171320Spices, cinnamon, ground | 2 kcal | 0.0 g |
| red pepper | 150 g | FDC 170108Peppers, sweet, red, raw | 39 kcal | 1.5 g |
| red onion | 150 g | FDC 170000Onions, raw | 60 kcal | 1.7 g |
| romaine lettuce | 150 g | FDC 169247Lettuce, cos or romaine, raw | 26 kcal | 1.8 g |
| tomatoes | 200 g | FDC 170457Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average | 36 kcal | 1.8 g |
| pitas | 240 g | FDC 174916Bread, pita, whole-wheat | 629 kcal | 23.5 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 4 | 1908 kcal | 197.6 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. Keep the garlic yoghurt in its own covered pot.
- In the freezer
- The FDA chart gives cooked poultry dishes 4 to 6 months in the freezer for best quality. Freeze the cooked chicken and vegetables off the skewers, without the yoghurt, pita or salad.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
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About 40 min · 585 kcal · 42 g protein per serving