For lovers of Mediterranean food, we share the recipe for Greek gyros or, as it is also known, Greek sandwich. This peculiar dish is mainly made up of a protein, which can be chicken, pork or lamb, accompanied by onion and tomato, yogurt and cucumber sauce (known as tzatziki), all wrapped in a very soft pita bread.
A feature of this traditional Greek dish is that the meat is seasoned and cooked on a vertical spit. In Mexico it would be something similar to the shepherd’s top. With this it is given a slow cooking that results in a very juicy meat, but as we know that not all people have a vertical grill at home, we teach you how to prepare the gyros by cooking the chicken protein in the pan, without complications and in a much faster way. Read on and discover with us how to make Greek gyros.
Ingredients to make Greek Gyros:
For the tzatziki sauce:
• 300 grams of Greek yogurt
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 garlic clove paste or finely chopped
• 1 cucumber
• 1 splash of olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon dill
For the meat:
• 500 grams of chicken breast (also serves pork or lamb)
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 pinch of garlic powder
• 1 splash of oil
• 1 pinch of salt and pepper to taste
To assemble the Greek gyros:
• 5 pita breads
• 1 sliced tomato
• 1 red onion julienned to taste
• Lettuce leaves to taste
How to make Greek Gyros:
To make the Greek gyros recipe, first make the tzatziki sauce. To do this, grate the cucumber and then drain the water with the help of a strainer. You can use this liquid to prepare a green juice.
Mix the strained cucumber with the yogurt, the garlic paste, the dill, the olive oil, the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Reserve the sauce to continue with the gyros recipe. Prepare the chicken by heating a little oil in a pan or pot. When hot, cook the chicken seasoning with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder, mix to integrate the flavors and cook for 3 minutes. Add the lemon juice and dried oregano, mix and cook for 3 more minutes.
To finish cooking the chicken, add the mustard, mix one last time and cook for 5 more minutes. Remember that you can use pork or lamb meat to prepare your Greek gyros, since the process is the same. When the chicken is ready, remove it from the heat and cut it as you like to make it easier to assemble the gyros later. We have chosen to cut it into strips.
Now it’s time to assemble the gyros. First, heat the pita bread in a pan until it feels soft. Then, place it on a plate, add a tablespoon of the tzatziki sauce and spread it all over the bread. Next, add the cooked chicken, the julienned onion, the tomato slices and the lettuce to taste. Roll up with a piece of aluminum foil or wax paper and it’s ready to go and eat. Although it may seem like a long process, the truth is that preparing chicken gyros is not that complicated.
With what to accompany the Greek gyros
This is a simple recipe full of flavor and seasoning that we are sure you will love. As we mentioned at the beginning of the recipe, you can choose to fill your Greek gyros with chicken, pork or lamb, there are even some vegetarian recipes that are just as delicious. For the pork gyros, we recommend using tenderloin.
Greek gyros have crossed borders and have become very popular as fast food in different parts of the world. In addition, each place has given its touch of flavor. As for its accompaniments, you can enjoy this delicious dish with a simple Greek salad and with French fries.
