If you like Greek cuisine and are looking for simple meal ideas, in that case, Greek gyro is an amazing recipe to try out. Greek gyro shares a lot of similarities to its Turkish version– the doner but unlike the doner, the chicken gyro recipe uses a slightly different list of spices and usually isn’t as hot as its Turkish cousin. Gyro is one of the most popular street food snacks in the US and the world. So, if you’re interested in how to prepare this delicious Greek wrap for your next meal, keep on reading….
What Is Gyro?
The name gyro derives from the Greek word “Gheereezo” which translates to “turn” or “to spin. Gyro is a traditional Greek wrap stuffed with meat prepared on a vertical rotisserie and served inside pita bread alongside veggies, including sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and Greek tzatziki sauce. Unlike doner, the gyro is usually prepared with either pork, lamb, beef, or chicken. Although gyro is a traditional Greek dish, it gained quite the popularity as a Greek street food snack (just like the Turkish doner) and can be found at street food stalls in many different cities in the region (like Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc.) but also around the world.
Origin
The traditional chicken gyro recipe was likely inspired by the doner recipe. Even though it’s a Greek dish, gyro technically originates from Asia Minor which in the past was populated by Greeks. The main difference between gyro and doner is that gyro can also use pork meat which was typically consumed by Orthodox Christians in Asia Minor like Greeks, Armenians, and Georgians. Gyro was introduced to the US and western Europe around the 60s by Greek immigrants and became quite popular and beloved by Greek and non-Greek people alike.
What’s The Difference Between Gyro, Turkish doner, and Shawarma?
All three wraps are made by slicing thin pieces of meat from a rotisserie, mixing them with fresh vegetables, spices, and different sauces, and wrapping everything together. The easiest way to distinguish them is as follows; doner is the Turkish version, gyro is the Greek version, and shawarma is the Arab version. Doner is the oldest variation while gyro and shawarma appeared later. The main difference between the gyro recipe and the other two is the fact that gyro can use pork (most Arabs and Turks are Muslims and don’t consume pork) and the tzatziki sauce.
On the other hand, shawarma and doner use similar meat variations but the spices and sauces used are different which gives the two wraps different, distinguishing flavors.
Shawarma is usually prepared with spices like turmeric, cinnamon & cardamon, and gyro is made with seasoning like thyme and oregano.
Variations Of The Chicken Gyro Recipe
In addition to similarities with shawarma and doner, there are also a few different variations of gyro as well. The first way to distinguish between different variations of gyro is the meat being used. Gyro can be made with beef, lamb, pork, chicken, or even turkey meat. Gyro can be served as a wrap, as a sandwich, or as a gyro platter (without the bread or with the bread on the side). Last but not least, you can also experiment with the spices and toppings you use which can significantly change the flavor of the gyro.
Which Meat Is The Best For Gyro?
The traditional gyro recipe uses lamb but lamb is not everyone’s cup of tea and since it could be made with either beef, chicken, or lamb, you can use whichever you prefer. For this chicken gyro recipe, we have chosen to use chicken but the preparation method is very similar and can be applied (with slight adjustments) to all other kinds of meat.
Enjoying this post? Then you may also want to check out our burek recipe and our fasolada recipe.
Popularization of Gyro In The US
The chicken gyro recipe came to the US with the Greek immigrants during the mid-20th century, and now it has become one of the most popular fast food dishes in the US and can be found in most metropolitan cities selling in roadside eateries, street food stalls, food trucks, or even restaurants.
Serving
There are several ways to serve a Gyro, the traditional way to serve a Gyro is with slightly fried pita bread stuffed with raw cut veggies and meat and topped with tzatziki sauce. The gyro can be folded into a roll or it could be folded like a Taco shell (although this isn’t very common). Some of the most popular side dishes for serving with gyro are French fries, onion rings, Greek Salad, Tabouli Salad, etc.
Storing
The Gyro meat can be stored and eaten even after 3 days of proper storage. You can either use a zip lock bag to store the gyro meat or you can pack it tightly in aluminum foil and put it in an airtight plastic container. To serve it again the next time, you can simply heat it up in a microwave and prepare the Gyro with some pita bread, raw-cut veggies, and tzatziki sauce.
Preparation Tips
Tip 1: Since most households won’t have the vertical rotisserie available, you can replicate this method with a metal skewer, use a half-cut onion for stability, and layer the chicken on top of one another.
Tip 2: If you don’t have a metal skewer, you can still prepare this dish with the help of a loaf pan. Pack the ground meat tightly to the pan and once cooked slice the meat into thin slices or cubes.
Tip 3: The longer you keep your meat marinated, the softer and more flavourful it gets.
Tip 4: If you decide to try out the chicken gyro recipe with a loaf pan, greasing up the pan with some olive oil will make the pan non-sticky and easy to remove your meat.
Tip 5: You can use some other vegetables for the salad like avocados, olives, green lettuce, red cabbage, tomatoes, etc.
Tip 6: Just like the veggies, you can also experiment with different sauces like ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc.
A Few Things You May Need
Rotisserie Oven
Skillet
Cutting Set
Gyro Recipe
if you’re interested in how to prepare the delicious Greek wrap for your next meal, check out our traditional Greek gyro recipe for some helpful tips.
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb (1 kg) Chicken Breast
- 1 Cup plain Greek Yogurt
- 4 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 White Onion, minced
- 1 Tomato, finely sliced
- Green Cabbage, finely sliced
- 1 Cucumber, finely sliced
- 1 Red Onion, finely sliced
- Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Cumin Powder
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 2 teaspoons Red Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Black Powder
Ingredients for Tzatziki sauce
- 1 Cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon Salt
- 1/2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- Freshly chopped Dill
- 1 Garlic Clove, chopped
- ½ Cucumber, minced
Ingredients for Pita Bread
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- ½ tablespoon of powdered yeast
- 1 cup lukewarm water
Instructions
1. Marinading the chicken
1.1 Tenderize the chicken breasts with a meat mallet.
1.2 Run the onion in a food processor for about 10 seconds. When done, squeeze out the juice from the onion with a kitchen towel.
1.3 Place the onion back in the processor and add the other fresh ingredients to the processor.
1.4 Take all the marinade ingredients, place them in a ziplock, and massage with smooth movements so the chicken can soak up all the flavors.
1.5 Close the ziplock and keep it in the fried for at least 2-3 hours or ideally, overnight if possible.
2. Preparing the tzatziki sauce
2.1 Mince half a cucumber and place it into a cheesecloth, then squeeze and drain all the water from the cucumber, so that the sauce doesn’t get watery.
2.2 Add 1 cup of Greek yogurt and the minced cucumber into a mixing bowl, and mix it.
2.3 Take a handful of dill and chop it finely.
2.4 Add the chopped dill, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 1 tbsp of salt, 1 tbsp of black pepper, and 1 ground garlic inside the mixing bowl and mix well.
2.5 To restore the freshness of the sauce, store it in a container, cover it with a lid, and keep it inside the fridge.
3. Preparing the gyro
3.1 Cut the marinated chicken into long but equal pieces and place it on an aluminum foil, and clear up the excess sauce.
3.2 Place a half-cut onion and pin the skewer in the center of the onion for stability.
3.3 By holding the onion, skewer the chicken, one by one into a tower-like shape.
3.4 Place the chicken into an oven tray, and bake it for 45 mins at 150°. In the end, the chicken must have a golden brown color.
3.5 Glaze your chicken with some extra virgin olive oil.
3.6 Hold your skewer in a vertical position and slice the chicken into thin slices using an electric knife.
4. Preparing the pita bread
You can buy the Pita bread from any grocery store but if you want to make your Gyro more authentic, then follow the steps below.
4.1 Add 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 tbsp of salt, and yeast into a mixing bowl.
4.2 Pour an appropriate amount of warm water into the bowl and start kneading. Once done let the dough rest and rise for 20-25 minutes.
4.3 Cut the dough into several equal pieces and roll them into tiny balls.
4.4 Start rolling the dough with a rolling pin.
4.5 Place the bread on a pan and cook it while flipping it every 10-15 seconds. Once the bread starts getting golden brown spots, remove the pita bread and place the next one in the pan.
5. Wrapping the gyro
5.1 Spread the tzatziki sauce on the bread and add the chicken
slices to the pita bread.
5.2 Add the cut veggies on it and a little bit more tzatziki sauce on the top.
5.3 Garnish the gyro with some chopped parsley and freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional).
5.4 Fold the wrap, serve it alongside some French fries, and enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1 wrapAmount Per Serving: Calories: 584Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 4.5gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 871mgCarbohydrates: 70gNet Carbohydrates: 70gFiber: 3.5gSugar: 7gSugar Alcohols: 0gProtein: 45g
Did you ever try gyro? How did you like our chicken gyro recipe? If you tried to make it at home, don’t forget to leave us a rating. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below.
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