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
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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