Greek Chicken Gyros

Lyn texted me that this look good, so I took a look and said to myself how could I not.

Thanks to The modern Nonna for the inspiration. Chicken Gyros and I actually go way back. Although I am Bulgarian 🇧🇬, my family and I lived on the Island of Crete for many years following my Dad’s Olympic career in water polo. While living there, I experienced true Greek 🇬🇷 home cooking. My mom learned how to make authentic Greek dishes from the women in Greece, which inspired most of the Greek dishes I cook and share on my page.

Me again: Many years ago while I lived in Chicago there was a restaurant down the street that introduced me to Gyros in fact one Thanksgiving he treated me to one since I was stuck alone in town.

The word “gyro” (as in the Greek dish) is typically pronounced “YEE-roh” or “YEE-rohs” (with the “s” indicating plural), while the word “gyro” (as in a gyroscope) is pronounced “JAHY-roh (This is the way most sub shops pronounce it here, so I quickly change to this when I get the puzzled look.)

What is a Gyro?

A Greek Gyro, or simply “Gyro,” is a popular Greek 🇬🇷 dish made of seasoned meat (often beef, lamb, pork, or chicken) cooked on a vertical rotisserie. The meat is then thinly sliced and served wrapped in warm pita bread, with toppings such as tomato 🍅, onion, and tzatziki sauce – a creamy yogurt and cucumber sauce. Sometimes, Gyros also include lettuce, French fries 🍟, or other veggies.

I did not have a Gyro pan so I used the onion trick- it fell over towards the end but I got it to stand up again.

Why You’ll Love Greek Chicken Gyros

Nonna: When I say this is the juiciest 💦 chicken that will ever grace your mouth, I mean it! Juicer than girl’s night gossip, these Greek Chicken Gyros are meticulously seasoned and roasted to perfection. The chicken is marinated in a combination of savory, tangy and herbaceous flavors, stacked on a spit and slow-roasted until the exterior develops a slight caramelized char while the inside remains tender and succulent 🤤. Serve this Greek Chicken Gyro on a warm pita with creamy tzatziki or on top of a salad or bowl – I promise you, you’ll never want to make chicken thighs any other way!

Ingredients 1 serving (I did 1/2 of this but a little more than 1/2 of sauce)

12 boneless skinless chicken thighs, 1.3kg total
⅛ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons honey Dijon mustard
6 cloves minced garlic, or 3 very large ones
lemon zest , two lemons zested
½ tablespoon salt, you may need less if using regular table salt
dry oregano, to taste
1 cup water, or stock (for the bottom of the pan)

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425F (220C).
In a bowl add the chicken, olive oil, honey Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, lemon zest, and oregano. Mix well. You can marinate for a minimum of one hour (even overnight for best results).

Once marinated, take the Vertical Gyro Spit Plate and thread the chicken thighs making sure to rotate each one opposite from the last.
Note: if you don’t have a Vertical Gyro Oven Plate, cut an onion in half, place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment (or foil) and position two wooden skewers vertically into the onion and voila, you made your own spit and don’t need to buy one!
Now, place the gyro in the oven and add 1 cup of water or stock to the base (which will create our sauce).
Tip: you can pierce a small piece of foil making sure to cover the top chicken thigh as it will start to burn first on the top as it bakes.
Bake for 75-90 minutes or until fully cooked. Mine took exactly 1.5 hours.
Take it out of the oven, let it rest and cut! You can enjoy this chicken gyro with loaded Greek fries, on pita with tzatziki, on a Greek Salad and so much more!
My Note: My mistake was using cast iron pan the water evaporated to quickly