Delicious Homemade Chicken Gyros
This gyro recipe is the best homemade gyro recipe we’ve ever tried. The yogurt marinade creates the most tender & flavorful chicken with a wonderful blend of warm Mediterranean spices. Gyros (pronounced euros) are a Greek dish typically made with chicken, pork or lamb and served on warm Greek pita bread as a sandwich with tzatziki sauce. I didn’t start cooking these until 5:30 pm so I had to tell my husband Gary to have some patience! We ate around 7:45 pm and he said they were worth the wait! 😋
Ingredients
For the Chicken & Gyro Fixings
- 1.5 lb chicken tenders
- 1 Tablespoon EVOO
- Tzatziki sauce (see below)
- 1 English cucumber, diced
- grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- Kalamata olives, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 small red onion
- Feta cheese, small block (crumble into large pieces)
- 6 Greek Pita Breads (click on the link for delicious homemade recipe)
For the Chicken Marinade:
- 1 cup plain yogurt (I used Cabot Greek whole milk yogurt but reduced-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt will work too)
- Juice of 1 large lemon
- 2 Tablespoon EVOO
- 3 large cloves garlic, finely minced
- Pinch of black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt to taste
- 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional
For the Tzatziki Sauce:
- 1 English cucumber, peeled, grated & liquid squeezed out
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/3 large clove garlic, finely grated
- 3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoon EVOO
- 2 cups Greek yogurt
- pepper to taste
- 1/4 bunch dill finely chopped (optional)
Directions
For the Chicken Marinade:
- In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Mix well.
- Add the chicken tenders and coat well.
- Cover & refrigerate at least 1 hour.
For the Tzatziki Sauce:
- Using a cheese grater on the large blade side, grate the cucumber. Put in a bowl and add a pinch of kosher salt and 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar. Toss together and set aside to release the liquid.
- In the meantime, combine the yogurt, 1/3 of garlic clove (grated), 2 Tablespoons of remaining white wine vinegar and 2 Tablespoons of EVOO. Mix until creamy and well combined.
- Place the shredded cucumber into a clean dish towel and squeeze with your hands to release all the liquid through the towel. Add the strained cumbers to yogurt and discard the liquid.
- Add salt & pepper to taste.
- Mix in the optional chopped fresh dill. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
For the Chicken Tenders:
- In a non-stick large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon EVOO until hot but not smoking. Shake off excess marinade and place into skillet with tongs.
- Cook on medium for 5 minutes without touching or moving them. Using tongs, turn chicken over and cook another 5 minutes. When done you may leave the chicken tenders whole or cut into small cubes if you prefer. Place in a bowl for serving with the other gyro fixings.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. While the chicken tenders are cooking, warm up the pita bread by placing them on a large cookie sheet (ok if they overlap a little) then lightly drizzle with EVOO. Heat for 5 minutes.
- Spread 1 or 2 Tablespoons of Tzatziki sauce on the pita bread, add 1 or 2 chicken tenders or cut up chicken, sliced bell pepper, tomatoes, red onion, Kalamata olives, cucumbers, and feta cheese.
- Wrap stuffed pita in a little foil to keep the juices from falling out and enjoy!
Notes: Homemade Authentic Greek Pita Bread is by far the best tasting you can have and it’s so easy to make yourself…really! Give it a try.
Gyro recipe adapted from Suzy Karadsheh. Tzatziki Sauce recipe adapted from Akis Petretzikis.
Did you make this recipe? We would love to hear from you. Please leave us a comment below or Tag @twiinsinthekitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #twiinsinthekitchen.
