Armenian Garlic Rotisserie Chicken Pita Tacos are a Copycat recipe made to recreate a restaurant with a cult following. They are addictive!
The perfect Copycat of Zankou’s Chicken Pita Tacos but made in the convenience of your own home. For more delicious handheld Chicken Recipes try my Chicken Shawarma and Chicken Shawarma Pita Wraps with Dill Yogurt Sauce.
Sabrina’s Armenian Garlic Rotisserie Chicken Pita Recipe
These Armenian Garlic Rotisserie Chicken Pita Tacos are a cult phenomenon at a restaurant called Zankou Chicken. Unfortunately for me, I live hundreds, and hundreds miles from the nearest location, so I’m left to my own devices to come up with an alternative, which is okay because now I have it here to share with you!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 pieces pita bread
- 3 cups rice , ½ cup per each serving
- 5 oz kalamata olives , sliced
- 1.5 cups tomatoes , diced finely
- parsley , diced finely
- 1 cup Zankou Chicken Garlic Paste (Copycat)
- 5 oz pickled giardiniera
Instructions
- Put chicken thighs in the slow cooker in a single layer side up. Sprinkle garlic salt and black pepper. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours. Do not add water.
- Take a piece of pita bread, and put it onto your stovetop on medium high. Let the flame crisp up the bread and add a bit of color to it, about 15 seconds.
- Put a layer of rice then pull the chicken apart into small pieces and layer it on top. Put on a liberal amount of garlic paste, then add some tomatoes and kalamata olives. Finally a sprinkling of parsley and chopped up pickled giardiniera and you’re ready to eat.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
The key to getting a crispy chicken skin in the slow cooker is to make sure that you don’t add u003cstrongu003eANYu003c/strongu003e liquid into the slow cooker. Also, if you add a few garlic cloves they will turn into a natural garlic confit from the juices that the chicken releases from the fat in the skin.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
Armenian Garlic Rotisserie Chicken Pita Tacos are delicious crispy, sticky rotisserie chicken in pita bread with rice, garlic paste, tomato, pickled vegetables, and Kalamata olives. Like a homemade gyro! The chicken is made in a slow cooker which is great because it allows you to apply a minimal amount of effort. The taste of these tacos are a VERY close alternative to Zankou and I promise they will not disappoint.
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave your chicken recipe at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Store: To store leftovers, separate the chicken from the pita bread and fillings. You can put the chicken in an airtight container to keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: You can also seal and freeze the chicken for up to 4 months.
Variations
- Base Layer: Instead of rice, you can put lettuce or hummus on the pita before you add the chicken.
- Meat: Instead of chicken for this recipe, you can use Falafel or sliced lamb.
- Vegetables: Instead of the pickled vegetables, you can put jalapenos or the more traditional beet colored pickled turnips. Or if you are a veggie fanatic, just add all three.
- Seasonings: There are plenty of ways you can experiment with the flavor of the chicken by adding different spices to the recipe. Try out sweet paprika, onion powder, ginger, or cayenne powder.
Related Recipes
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Photos used in previous posts :
I believe your secret garlic paste is quite similar to Greek scordalia…yummmmmmy!
Husband finally got to eating the chicken. ( He’s been polishing off the Moroccan stew). He came upstairs saying “that chicken dish is GOOOOD!”
I miss you guys so much! He was always such a fan of my cooking, I am glad to see it continue on through these recipes 🙂
I have some more chicken going today. I am trying an experiment: I made a “rack” out of rolled up foil so the chicken doesn’t sit so much in the juices. If you hear a loud explosion about noon your time, it is the crockpot blowing up. Keep you posted.
Can’t wait to hear how it goes! Hope I don’t hear any explosions!
This chicken is so good! My share never got to the pita, just ate it with garlic sauce. the rest of the chicken is in the slow cooker this morning for round 2.
So glad you like the recipes!
I love that this is made in the slow cooker! It looks incredible and full of flavor!
You can also do the same with turkey legs and thighs! Fall apart tender, crispy skin 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
What time are you bringing dinner?! I’ll see you tomorrow and we can discuss it. Yum!
Can’t wait! PS I’m bringing you garlic sauce 🙂
I can not get over this chicken! I will be trying this – no doubt! You had me at slow cooker, crispy skin and garlic paste! Oh my!! Can’t wait for tomorrow’s recipe! Thank you!
I promise. You will absolutely love it. And the next time you need crispy dark meat, you’ll only want to use your slow cooker for it! The skin was crisp and paper thin 🙂