Chicken Gyro
NOTE- this is a very old post of mine. I plan to revisit it soon but for now take it with a grain of salt. Thank you for reading and be sure to check out my new recipes on the front page!
The word gyro actually refers to the way the meat is cooked on the vertical rotisserie and sliced into thin strips. In most places in the US however, it refers to the pita rollup the meat is served to you on, and the other fillings inside. This sandwich can’t traditionally be called a gyro because it is made with chicken, but I just love how the mild flavor of the chicken contrasts with the sharpness of the cheese and olives. Â I loved the way these came out and the taste instantly reminded me of my first taste of a gyro not too long ago. At my last job, Mike, Bill and I would start looking forward to lunch at 9:15 AM. When we finally got lunch we would eat so much that we would often be in a food coma from 12:45 – 3 (I always wonder why that job didn’t work out in the end…) One of our favorite stops was Steve’s Greek on Newbury St. in Boston where I would get a gyro and onion rings.
Not much choice of olives here in Bermuda. You can probably find better stuff at the olive bar at your local grocery store, or at a specialty store. I like to take the pits out myself because the flavor is better, but if you don’t want to take the time or effort, buy pitted or even buy a ready made tapenade.
If you hit the olives with the side of your knife, the pits come right out.
We added a bit of garlic and parsley to the olive salad or tapenade.
seeds removed from everything.
If you eat onions raw, be sure to soak or rinse them first to take the edge off.
Salt and mix the tomatoes and onions.
Dicing cucumbers for tzatziki sauce
use strained greek yogurt if you can find it. I couldn’t today so I added a tablespoon or so of sour cream.
Feta tastes better if you crumble it yourself!
OK. All the toppings are ready.
Just salt and pepper on the chicken. Fry it up nice.Â
Roll it up tight. Aluminum foil is helpful for this, and makes you think you got it at a subway station… Jumped off and back on the same train… Just don’t get your hand caught in the door… Kramer.
The Naan/flatbread:
Just buy it!Â
The Tzatziki:
Mix Parsley, garlic, cucumber, yogurt, salt and pepper. Let sit for an hour.
Chicken Gyro
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Chicken Breast
- 1 Lemon
- 1 Teaspoon Oregano
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 3 Cloves Garlic
- Salt and Pepper
- Kalamata Olives
- Green Olives
- Garlic and Parsley
- Tomato
- Onion
- Feta
- Pita
- Tzatziki
Instructions
- Remove pits from 2 different types of greek olives. Dice. Add some parsley and garlic.
- Mix the chicken with the marinade ingredients and let sit for an hour. Grill or cook in a frying pan until cooked.
- Chop the tomato and onion and get the rest of the ingredients ready to go. Build your wraps to your preference.
Yeah, that’s why the gig didn’t work out… must have been the sandwiches.
These are perfect! I love these so much. You did such a good job showing all the steps. I don’t know if you know this or not, but Trader Joe’s has a curry-flavored Naan. Yeah!!
I have been craving these for days now. We call them ‘Doner Kebabs’ over here for a reason i don’t know. Funny name but.
Yikes…that looks awesome! I could literally bite it off the screen!
This looks way, way, way better than most pitas I can get here. Fantabulous! I love the naan bread: I have to try that sometime. Thanks for sharing this and the naan!
OMG, that Giros looks scrumptious! The kind of dish I could just die for ;-P!!!
Cheers,
Rosa
Just found this on Tastespotting. Looks fantastic.
This looks seriously delicious. I haven’t had a great gyro since I came back from Greece last year!
I’m already planning how I’ll make this. I’m thinking of grilling the chicken. And, there’s a Greek bakery just a few blocks away where I can get really fresh pita. This looks amazing, I can’t wait to make some. I would be sympathetic about your olive selection in Bermuda, but you’re in Bermuda–so beautiful!
Lisa – I was going to grill the chicken but we had just moved a few days before this and my grill was only half unpacked!
These look great, going to try them tonight. Now the real question is, are they Yeeros or Jiros?
Tried these tonight with slight variations for my taste preference. They were incredible. I marinated the chix in olive oil, lemon juice, yogurt, oregano, and salt and grilled it. The flavor was perfect. For the tzatziki sauce, I used dried mint leaves instead of parsley. I eat yogurt and mint a lot…the naan was way better than pita. The whole experience was like flavor overload…in a good way. Tasted like a true Greek gyro. Thanks so much!
döner kebab and gyros are not the same. döner is turkish and gyros greek 🙂
Doesn’t Tazki have mint and/or dill in it usually?
That looks awesome. I went to Europe a few years back and ate probably ten döners (Turkish version), and I’ve been hooked on pretty much any variation since. I will definitely give this a shot.
That is a great and quick recipe. I am going to try it soon.
Actually, this seems to me to be more like souvlaki! In Greece we grill smaller pieces of chicken, and have a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, and a bit of lemon juice that you soak the chicken in, and then another dressing mixture (you don’t want to use what the raw chicken was soaking in!) to pour over the souvlaki after it’s done cooking and it’s all arranged in the pita. It really blends things together, so wonderful!
Well, that’s why:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab
🙂
I hope I’m not presuming too much, but after reading this post (and provided you do have a beard), I think this might be love. Come over and we can make Greek food and watch Seinfeld together.
–Love, a Beautiful Brown-eyed Gypsy Librarian
I made this tonight for dinner…excellent combination of flavors! Thanks for sharing!!
diane~
Sorry, but until you marinate the chicken in lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper you don’t have the real thing!
Sorry, but been european this recipe is so wrong, delicious maybe but Marocain people doesn’t fold in a double pita for a gyro… they use the mexican tortilla. If you wanna have the pita, then u open up the pita and then you put the ingredients inside.
also, pita gyros its salad, tomato, onion and chicken or beef ( optional any sauce) you never put olives!
I really like the explanations here. I’ve always wondered how to get the pits out of olives! Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Made these tonight, they were amazing, thanks alot.
Just made this tonight and it was fantastic! Will make agian and again!
Thanks for the tip on pitting olives.
These are the bomb!! I love that they are easy to make and the kids love them as well! Can’t beat that!
Yummy looking, had to pin you at http://pinterest.com/createdwithfire/food-ethnic/ !
Doner Kebab is the same thing as Gyros; in Greece it’s Gyros, and in Turkey it’s Doner Kebab.
I think you are mistaken, these are not gyros but chicken souvlaki, gyros are made with beef and are different than souvlaki.
However, these do sound like really good chicken souvlaki. Although, when I make them I marinate my chichen cubes in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper, garlic, then put it on skewers and grill or broil. Then I add my toppings on the pita bread. Very yummy, you must try it. Or serve it open, with a greek salad and rice pilaf with a little lemon juice added to give the rice a meditteranean twist. This is also served with a pita on the side. Also yummy.
Actually, you are mistaken. Greek Gyros are traditionally chicken or pork, sometimes veal, and are made by roasting the meat on a spit. The word gyro literally means “to turn” and the word refers to the meat itself. For a gyro pita, the only requirements are meat and pita.
The first gyro I ever tasted (and the best!) was in Chicago – it was made, I BELIEVE , with lamb. I was hooked for life! A couple of times the local HyVee has had a family pak thing to take home and make your own. Great!
This looks sooo good – I WILL be trying it!!!!
EVERYONE here is mistaken: Gyros are made from neither chicken NOR beef. They are made from LAMB. I’m not saying that this recipe doesn’t sound tasty — it does! — but it is definitely NOT gyros.
I love Bermuda! Are you lucky enough to live in such beauty?
I suggest making a marinade of lemon, garlic, red vinegar, oregano, and olive oil.
Marinate chicken in mixture for one hour, then grill or broil.
I don’t care what the correct word for these are called they look amazing 🙂 Even if some of us are misinformed it shouldn’t matter much since you gave us the recipe and tips for a delicious meal/snack so thank you!
I dont see the quantities anywhere. This recipe is garbage.
Wow what a great recipe,
thanks for that.
If you want more good recipes you can find some under:
YummyCooking
I have been craving this all week! Didn’t realize it was so easy!
In Crete the lunch spots often had two vertical spits running – one with a lamb/beef layered and the other with chicken. The bottom of the spit was through the middle of the chicken and as you went up the chicken was speared closer and closer to the outer edge in a spiral shape until it formed the same shape as the traditional lamb. Since I was eating in the thriftier spots I usually ate the chicken because the red meat was generally fatty in those establishments. This looks similar with the exception of how the meat is prepared – I think I may try it with the rotisserie even if it is horizontal.
Thank you