Greek Chicken Gyros

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

Her pictures

Reality check

Reality check

I am trying to see how I am doing, so far just a few comments not that I expected hundreds this early on or ever, and I am just overwhelmed that I have 67 followers between Facebook and my blog I could not imagine when I began that anyone would be interested in what I cook or write about.

I am learning things everyday about writing recipes, taking pictures, cropping pictures the list goes on….

I need your help.

What I am looking for is how am I doing, any suggestions, what might you like to see, what improvements would you suggests, what should I stop doing? I have so many recipes that I don’t prepare any more but they were/are good, should I share those? I could go on but I won’t….

I am asking is that if possible, would you could you make the comments on the blog site not Facebook, I know it’s an extra click and wait but hey it’s for a friend right. Use the comment section at bottom of recipe and let me know what you think. Exchange ideas to try. Rate the dish if you tried it, there is the “Rate this” section below the Title then others might think to try.

But most importantly I encourage you to enjoy cooking and eating and watching for that smile on someone’s face when they take the first bite and shake their head.

Thanks so much!

Gyros Sandwich “Lambie Pie”

I borrowed some pictures from the web for but will put mine in soon

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Serve in bread or on a bed of lettuce. You could make french fries, homemade potato chips or we usually have kettle baked salt and vinegar potato chips.

Ingredients:

  • Meat Mixture:
  • 1 lb. ground lamb
  • 1/4 cup minced red onion
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, minced  (depends on how much garlic taste you want)
  • 2 tsp. salt (I did only 1 tsp. salt)
  • 1 tsp. black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • I added about 1 tsp. of fresh mint minced.
  • 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • Sandwich:
  • 4 rounds of flat bread or pita. Still looking for the best flat or peta bread to use any suggestions. It has to be soft and pliable. I usually heat mine in low oven or toaster oven. Microwave can make rubbery.
  • Lettuce shredded
  • tomato; sliced very thin or chopped
  • Have also added crumbled feta cheese.
  • Tzatziki Sauce see below

Preparation:

Meat mixture
1. Thoroughly combine all ingredients in a bowl. At first I did this and refrigerated for about 3-6 hours not sure if this helped or not but we were not having until dinner and I thought maybe the flavors would come together. Now that it is a staple Monday night dinner I mix  it on Sunday

2. I roll out on parchment paper until very thin into oblong patty, 1/4″ or thinner. Refrigerate for an hour. Then divide into 4 parts.

3. I tried on broiler but could not get the crispness I was looking for at least with my broiler. I have been grilling it for about 3 minutes per side it got crisper. I might try the new 360 cookware pan Lyn ( my wife)  got us to see how that crisps up. You can see i am still looking for that crispness the open flame spit cooking method gets.

Sandwich

3. Grill patties over a hot fire for 2 – 4 minutes per side.

4. Spread tzatziki sauce down the center of a flat bread round, add a lettuce , add some sliced or diced tomato, some very thinly sliced onion (optional) and some crumbled feta cheese (optional), fold the bread over the lamb wrap with tin foil, and enjoy.

Note: wrapping in foil helps hold things together while you eat it.

Tzatziki” is the Greek name for this yogurt-based sauce recipe.

Makes 1 cup.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup plain Greek style yogurt
  • 2-4 garlic cloves to taste; roasted and finely chopped (see below)
  • If you want a bit more pungency, add a small clove of finely chopped garlic instead of roasting
  • 1/2 lemon juiced about 2-3 tbsp.
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped cucumber without seeds
  • Salt to taste

Optional:

  • 2 tsp. finely chopped mint
  • A pinch or two of cumin to this.
  • I also have added Dill to mine.

Preparation:

1. Place whole, un-peeled garlic gloves in a small, un-oiled skillet over medium low heat and cook for about two minutes per side – until lightly browned. Peel and chop finely.

2. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.

Note: The sauce is better if you allow it to sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before using.