Gyro are one of my favorite Greek foods. Flavor packed meat, sliced thin and pan fried until crispy. Wrapped in a pita loaded with tzatziki, cucumber, red onion and feta cheese!
Greek Gyro Recipe
Greek Gyros are hands down one of my favorite Mediterranean meals. You might think that you need fancy equipment to make them, but trust me you don’t.
While I love the warm pita, fresh veggie toppings and tangy tzatziki, the gyro meat is the real star. It’s classically made from lamb, a combo of lamb and beef, or even chicken. It is very generously seasoned with lots of garlic plus salt, herbs and spices. It truly is a flavor explosion!
Homemade Gyro Recipe
This beef and lamb gyro meat recipe is aromatic, juicy on the inside, and crispy on the outside. It’s perfect for homemade gyro wraps. Gyro meat is traditionally cooked on a vertical rotisserie, but you can easily make it at home by shaping the meat into a loaf and adding a skewer in the center.
The meat is then baked and when it comes time to shave thin slices of meat, just hold the skewer on an angle and slice away! Or you can cook the gyro meat in a loaf pan in your oven and then thinly slice it.
What is in Gyro?
- Ground Beef and/or Lamb – traditionally Greek gyro is made with a mix of beef and lamb. You can use any combination you like. Use medium or lean ground beef, extra lean will result in the gyro being dry.
- Garlic and onion – are pureed and blended into the meat. They pack a lot of flavor into the meat and the pureed onion keep the meat moist.
- Rosemary, oregano, cumin, marjoram, thyme, salt and pepper – are the herbs and spices that season the gyro meat. If you can find Greek oregano in your local grocery store try using that, or regular oregano is just as delicious in this recipe.
How to Make Gyro
Full recipe at bottom of page
Prepare the Gyro Meat
1 Place onion and garlic in a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth.
2 In a stand mixer, mix the ground beef and lamb with the pureed onion, garlic and all the spices. Mix until the meat is a paste like consistency. Or mix by hand in a large bowl.
3 Optional: refrigerate the meat for 2 hours or up to 24 hours to marinate.
Shape and Bake the Gyro
4 Preheat oven to 325°F
5 Line a baking tray with foil.
6 Shape the meat into a log and throw the meat down onto a kitchen counter 2 – 3 times to release any air. This keeps the meat compact while baking so it will not crumble when sliced. Optional: or shape meat into a loaf pan and bake like a regular shaped meatloaf. Cover the loaf pan with foil. Press the meat down to release any air pockets.
7 Tear a large piece of tin foil and place the meat in the center of the foil. Insert a skewer through the center of the shaped meat. Wrap the tin foil around the meat and squeeze the ends closed around the skewer. Note: be careful not to press or bend the foil into the meat.
8 Place the foil wrapped gyro onto the prepared baking tray and bake on the middle rack of your oven.
9 Cook for approximately 1.5 hours, flipping the foil wrapped meat once after 1 hour, until the meat reaches 160°F internal temperature. Note: if baking in a loaf pan just rotate the pan in the oven, do not flip the meat. Remove any excess fat or grease in the loaf pan while cooking.
Slice the Gyros
10 Remove the meat from the oven and allow to rest 5 minutes before unwrapping the foil. When the skewer is cool enough to handle, stand the meat up using the skewer to hold it up and shave thin slices of meat off the skewer. Optional: if baked in a loaf pan – after baking thinly slice meat.
11 Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook shaved gyro for 2-3 minute per side until slightly crispy.
12 Assemble your gyro pita with warm pita bread, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion, feta cheese and some of the gyro meat. Optional: add some French fries for a classic Greek street food!
13 Roll up the pita tightly, wrap in foil or parchment paper to hold it together and make it easier to eat. Enjoy!
Easy 2 Ingredient Pita Bread
Try making your own pita bread with only 2 ingredients!
2 Ingredient Pita Bread Recipe (Linked Here)
How to Store Gyros
This gyro recipe is the perfect make-ahead meal. You can cook the gyro meat ahead of time then pan fry the slices when you’re ready to eat. Store the cooked gyro meat in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Can you Freeze Gyros Meat?
Yes, you can freeze the cooked gyro meat for 2-3 months. I recommend slicing it before you freeze it, then you can take out as much as you need.
How to Reheat Gyros Meat
To reheat pre-sliced gyro, heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Pan fry the sliced gyros, then build your pita.
What to Serve with Gyros?
Try one of my easy side dishes to compliment your gyro dinner!
- Spanakorizo – an easy Greek rice dish loaded with spinach, feta and fresh lemon juice! This is a leveled up rice side dish.
- Yellow Rice – for a simple and delicious rice dish to serve with your Gyro try my yellow rice!
- Greek Lemon Garlic Roasted Potatoes – once you try these potatoes I bet you will never roast potatoes another way. They are so amazing!
Enjoy!
– Sab
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, may earn me a small commission.
Greek Gyro
Ingredients
Gyro Meat
- 1 lbs ground beef, medium or lean (not extra lean or the gyro will be dry)
- 1 lbs ground lamb, or pork, or use all beef
- 1 onion , large, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp oregano, dried
- 1 tbsp thyme, dried
- 1 tsp rosemary, dried, crushed
- 2 tsp marjoram, dried
- 2 tsp cumin
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
Gyro Pitas
- Oil, for cooking
- Pitas
- Lettuce, sliced
- Tzatziki
- Tomatoes, sliced
- Red onions, sliced
- Feta cheese, crumbled
- French Fries, optional
Instructions
- Place onion and garlic in a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth.
- In a stand mixer, mix the ground beef and lamb with the pureed onion, garlic and all the spices. Mix until the meat is a paste like consistency. Or mix by hand in a large bowl.
- Optional: refrigerate the meat for 2 hours or up to 24 hours to marinate.
- Preheat oven to 325°F
- Line a baking tray with foil.
- Shape the meat into a log and throw the meat down onto a kitchen counter 2 – 3 times to release any air. This keeps the meat compact while baking so it will not crumble when sliced. Optional: or shape meat into a loaf pan and bake like a regular shaped meatloaf. Cover the loaf pan with foil. Press the meat down to release any air pockets.
- Tear a large piece of tin foil and place the meat in the center of the foil. Insert a skewer through the center of the shaped meat. Wrap the tin foil around the meat and squeeze the ends closed around the skewer. Note: be careful not to press or bend the foil into the meat.
- Place the foil wrapped gyro onto the prepared baking tray and bake on the middle rack of your oven.
- Cook for approximately 1.5 hours, flipping the foil wrapped meat once after 1 hour, until the meat reaches 160°F internal temperature. Note: if baking in a loaf pan just rotate the pan in the oven, do not flip the meat. Remove any excess fat or grease in the loaf pan while cooking.
- Remove the meat from the oven and allow to rest 5 minutes before unwrapping the foil. When the skewer is cool enough to handle, stand the meat up using the skewer to hold it up and shave thin slices of meat off the skewer. Optional: if baked in a loaf pan – after baking thinly slice meat.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook shaved gyro for 2-3 minute per side until slightly crispy.
- Assemble your gyro pita with warm pita bread, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion, feta cheese and some of the gyro meat. Optional: add some French fries for a classic Greek street food!
- Roll up the pita tightly, wrap in foil or parchment paper to hold it together and make it easier to eat. Enjoy!
Jeff Davis
Saturday 2nd of April 2022
Whats not to love about gyros ?