It is unclear exactly when and where gyros were developed, but I would like to offer my deepest appreciations to whoever first whipped one up. They are so good! Crispy browned meat enveloped in soft, pillowy flatbread topped with crisp vegetables and a tangy sauce. It is really a tasty combination of ingredients and I often find myself with a craving for one.
A few years back, while living in North Carolina, we were lucky enough to live close by a deli called “Jesse’s” that made awesome gyros… and spanakopita… and baklava… we went there often, but when we moved to Japan, I had to find a way to recreate this delicious greek street food for myself and I think they came out quite well!
This page will walk you through making the gyro meat and you can find the recipe for soft flat bread here and the tzatziki sauce here.
To recreate that unique finely textured meat traditionally used in gyros, you will need 1 pound of ground lamb, 1 pound of 85/15 ground beef,1 medium yellow onion, 2 cloves of garlic, rosemary (fresh, if possible), celery salt, thyme, cumin, onion powder, salt and black pepper.
You will also need a 9″x5″ loaf pan, 9″x13″ cake pan and a brick…. yes, you will need a brick. I’ll explain this later, but I just made a quick trip up to Lowes and paid .59 cents for a single brick for todays gyro recipe and unless you happen to have a brick laying around, you may want to do the same!
The first step is to chop up one medium yellow onion and place it into a food processor. Pulse it until it is very finely chopped and transfer it into a fine kitchen towel or a large piece of cheesecloth. Squeeze excess liquid from the onion. This is a very important step. The onions add a necessary flavor to recreating traditional gyro flavor, but the liquid that they contain will make the meat too loose, so strain as much of it as you can from it before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.
Transfer the strained onion into a medium bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix until everything is fully combined. This is most efficiently done with your hands. Once everything is combined, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the mixture for 60 minutes. This gives the ingredients time to get to know each other and the flavors to develop.
Next, place 1/3 of the meat mixture into the food processor and pulse until you have a thick paste like texture. Continue with the remaining meat and begin layering the meat into a 9″x5″ loaf pan. Press down firmly with each layer of meat, so you avoid any pockets of air.
While you are layering the meat into the loaf pan, preheat your oven to 325 degrees and bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Place a large kitchen towel into a 9″x13″ cake pan and set the loaf pan over top of the towel.
Once the water is boiling, add enough water into the cake pan to come 1/2 of the way up the sides of the loaf pan. Carefully place the pans onto the middle rack of a preheated oven and bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes. The meat is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Carefully remove the pans from the oven and remove the loaf pan from the cake pan. There will be some liquid fat around the edges of the pan, carefully pour it out and place the loaf pan onto a wooden cutting board.
It is now time for the brick…
Place a foil wrapped brick directly onto the meat and let it sit for 20 minutes. As it cools, the weight of the brick will compact the meat, both improving the texture and making it easier to slice thin later on. I bet you never thought you would need a brick in the kitchen…
This is what the meat should look like. After 20 minutes under the brick, transfer it out of the pan and wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of tin foil. Let the meat chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours or you can make it ahead and let it chill overnight.
Unwrap the meat and cut it into 1/4 inch slices. I like to cut these slices in half sometimes to make thinner pieces, but you can make them any size you prefer.
Place a flat griddle or skillet over medium high heat and grill both sides until brown and crispy. Just a little heads up, this makes your kitchen smell unbelievably good and it will be really hard to avoid eating some or most of the meat as you take them off the griddle. Be strong… you are about to be enjoying the best gyros you’ve ever had… you can do this…
So, if you have already made your soft flatbread and tzatziki sauce, you are ready to assemble some amazing gyros. Just pile a few pieces of your crispy gyro meat onto a warm flatbread, add a few spoonfuls of that tangy tzatziki sauce and top with some thinly sliced red onion and tomato and you are about to be in greek street food heaven…
Aren’t they beautiful? Bright colors and even brighter flavors make these gyros simply irresistible. They are best warm, but they are actually still great room temperature, so they are a great option to make a little in advance or to take on a picnic! Just wrap them in some parchment paper and see how long you can go before tearing one open…
I hope you enjoy this recipe for a really fun greek street food staple that I know you will absolutely love!
Greek Gyros
Ingredients
Gyro Meat
- 16 ounces ground lamb
- 16 ounces ground beef (a 85%/15% blend)
- 1 medium yellow onion, pulsed and strained
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon thyme (fresh or dried), finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon rosemary (fresh or dried), very finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Gyro Assembly
- soft flatbread (recipe links above)
- tzatziki sauce (recipe links above)
- red onion, thinly sliced
- vine ripened tomato, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Place 1 chopped yellow onion into a food processor
- Pulse until very finely diced
- Transfer into a fine kitchen towel or cheesecloth and strain excess liquid from the diced onion
- Transfer the strained onion into a medium bowl and add the remaining ingredients
- Mix until everything is fully combined
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 60 minutes
- Pulse the meat mixture into a thick paste like texture in a food processor (1/3 of the batch at a time) and layer the meat into a 9"x5" loaf pan
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees
- Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil
- Place a large kitchen towel into a 9"x13" cake pan and place the filled loaf pan over the towel in the center of the cake pan
- Add enough boiling water into the cake pan to come 1/2 the way up the sides of the loaf pan
- Very carefully transfer the pans into a preheat oven on a middle rack
- Bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes
- The meat is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees
- Carefully remove the pans from the oven and remove the loaf pan from the cake pan
- Pour any liquid fat from the loaf pan and place the pan onto a wooden cutting board
- Place a foil covered brick over the meat and allow it to cool and compact for 20 minutes
- Transfer the meat out of loaf pan and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and tin foil
- Refrigerate the wrapped meat for 2-24 hours
- Unwrap the meat and cut 1/4 inch slices
- Grill on a flat griddle or large skillet over medium high heat until both sides are browned and crispy
- Assemble your gyros by placing slices of meat on a piece of flatbread and topping with tzatziki, onions and tomatoes
