Homemade Greek gyros are not impossible to make at home, as I had originally thought. You’ll see that you can re-create these yummy Mediterranean delights in your own kitchen!
Originally published August 20, 2012.
Do you (and your family) love gyros from your local Greek restaurant as much as I do?
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Then you’re in the right place, because you are going to be very happy to learn that you can make gyros in your own kitchen that taste like they do from that restaurant!
One problem many families have is balancing after school activities and having time for a healthy dinner. Besides crock-pot dinners, another option is freezing meals. Freezing some foods is definitely a put-off because of how they taste when defrosted, but others are perfectly suited to the freezer. Luckily, gyros are in the latter category.
How do you pronounce “gyro” in America?
Before we go any further, let’s deal with the pronunciation of this Greek word: I’m not Greek, but saying “jai-roh” just sounds like saying “broo-shetta” for bruschetta to me. The best way to say “gyro” in the US is “YEER-oh,” without the hard “g.”
Find my step by step baklava recipe below! It’s not difficult, I promise!
Gyro love!
When my kids were younger, their favorite restaurant was Daphne’s, a Greek restaurant chain. They served such tasty options, and compared to other fast food chains, were much healthier too.
I made gyros with a boxed mix of spices many years ago, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. Last year, however, I discovered Alton Brown’s recipe for homemade gyros which had such rave reviews, I decided to give it a try.
You may also enjoy this Greek-inspired recipe for tiropita.
It wasn’t difficult to make, in fact, I was surprised at how few ingredients were in the meat mixture. I have to tell you though, the flavor was fantastic! My family devoured them. I was elated over accomplishing yet another feat in the kitchen: making homemade gyros that tasted great.
If you own a rotisserie, you could use it with this recipe, but since most people don’t, I’ve shown the alternate method.
Gyro meat freezes perfectly!
Unless you’re having a large group for dinner, this recipe makes a lot of homemade gyros. However, this is not a problem, just freeze the leftover meat, right after slicing it. The pita freezes perfectly too. Imagine having delicious homemade gyros on a weeknight- a quick salad and dinner’s ready!
Here is my version of Alton Brown’s recipe, as I made some changes, mainly with the ingredients (beef and lamb vs just lamb). I also added a step to make them more crisp, which imitates the rotisserie method quite nicely.
Homemade Greek Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce
(or Greek-Style Gyros)
adapted from Alton Brown’s recipe (please note, I’m not claiming these to be authentic,
I just really like Alton Brown’s recipe) serves 8
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Prepare the homemade Greek gyro meat.
Run the onion in a food processor for about 15 seconds.
Place the onion in the center of a kitchen towel and squeeze out the juice and return to the food processor.
Add the meat, garlic, spices, salt and pepper to the onion, and process.
Continue until it looks like a fine paste, about a minute.
Place the mixture in a loaf pan and press evenly.
Bake the meat.
Bake in a water bath (place loaf pan inside another pan filled with water) at 325°F (165°C) for about an hour or more until temperature reaches 165-170°F (75°C.)
Remove from the oven, drain fat, and place on a cooling rack.
Cover meat with aluminum foil and a heavy weight (Alton suggests a brick) for about 15 minutes until internal temperature is 175°F (79°C) (I found the times are not quite accurate, and I didn’t know if the brick actually had an effect, so I don’t even do it now, but I think the important part is getting the meat to the correct temperature).
Serve the homemade Greek gyros.
Place meat on a cutting board and slice as thinly as possible with an electric knife (using anything else would be much more difficult.)
Add this extra step for the most authentic flavor.
I added the following step myself as I think it mimics the rotisserie flavor a bit more, and gives those crispy bits we all love! Add a few slices to a nonstick frying pan (very little or no oil) and heat gently until the meat browns a little. I highly recommend this!
Serve the homemade Greek gyros.
In another pan, heat the pita bread. If you can’t get pita bread, you could always make my fried bread recipe, but cook it without the oil.
Finally, place the meat on one half of the pita.
Top with some tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, and onion and lettuce. You could also put a little dressing on the tomatoes too (extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt, oregano.)
Serve homemade Greek gyros with rice pilaf or a Greek salad, and enjoy!
Homemade Greek Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce (Kebabs*)
My version of Alton Brown's delicious gyro recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 medium size onion, roughly chopped
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp dried marjoram
- 1 tbsp dried ground rosemary
- 2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
To Serve
- Tzatziki Sauce (recipe link in directions)
- lettuce
- sliced tomatoes
- sliced sweet onion
Instructions
- Run the onion in a food processor for about 15 seconds. Place the onion in the center of a kitchen towel and squeeze out the juice and return to the food processor.
- Add the meat, garlic, spices, salt and pepper to the onion, and process. Do so until it looks like a fine paste, about a minute. Place the mixture in a loaf pan and press evenly.
- Bake in a water bath (place loaf pan inside another pan filled with water) at 325°F (165°C) for about an hour or more until temperature reaches 165-170°F (75°C.)
- Remove from the oven, drain fat, and place on a cooling rack.
- Cover meat with aluminum foil and a heavy weight (Alton suggests a brick) for about 15 minutes until internal temperature is 175°F (79°C) (I found the times are not quite accurate, and I didn't know if the brick actually had an effect, but I think the important part is getting the meat to the correct temperature.)
- Place meat on a cutting board and slice as thinly as possible with an electric knife (using anything else would be much more difficult.)
- I added the following step myself as I think it mimics the rotisserie a bit more. Add a few slices to a nonstick frying pan (very little or no oil) and heat gently until the meat browns a little.
- In another pan, heat the pita bread.
- Finally, place the meat on one half of the pita, topped with tzatziki sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and onion. You could also put a little Greek dressing on the tomatoes too (extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt, oregano.)
- Serve Homemade Greek Gyros with rice pilaf or a Greek salad, and enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 gyroAmount Per Serving:Calories: 343Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 106mgSodium: 692mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 30g
Click here for theTzatziki Sauce Recipe
And why not make baklava for dessert?!
*For UK readers: I’ve noticed that the UK doesn’t really have “gyros.” Rather, there’s the Turkish “doner kebabs” or just “kebabs”, which are more popular, although they are not the same as a gyro.
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After making this recipe, I found it very exotic and interesting! I thought the food tasted great and the thought of eating exotic foods is a very compelling interest for me now! Thank you for showing me how to make such an interesting and exotic Gyro!
Christina – thanks for publishing this. I’ve done your version many times without knowing you’d published this (i.e., sub in half beef because my wife isn’t keen on Alton’s all-lamb version).
Some comments on questions in thread.
Dryness – a lot depends on the fat level in the raw meat. I try to find lamb that’s reported to be 85/15 and get similar beef.
Pan fry – using a bit of ghee is especially helpful if you end up with meat dryer than you’d like.
The question about draining and temp while sitting – just tip the pan to drain briefly (hold the loaf in with a spoon or tongs pressed against it) then pop th4e foil atop and put the brick on it. The meat will continue to rise in temperature due to carry over.
Water bath – a larger pyrex rectangular dish is great for this. About 1.5 inches of water up the sides of the loaf pan is fine. Just don’t forget the water’s in there when you yank it out!
Pork? Yes, traditionally sliced pork (no ground meat) spiced and stacked into a loaf then cooked on the upright rotisserie. But with pork being forbidden to several major religions lamb, beef, combos, even chicken are substituted pretty frequently in the US. What I have seen of pork gyro meat looks to me more in appearance like what you would find called shawarma in a US restaurant catering to many Middle Eastern ethnicities. Whereas what we in US call gyro meat is almost always ground, and seldom has pork. Most of the time in the US it seems if in a standard Greek restaurant and you want pork, it’ll be souvlaki (pork loin or tenderloin in chunks).
Your recipe will work equally well with (beef+lamb), (beef+pork), or (pork+lamb).
You can also test out some variations to add a bit more zing and/or earthiness to the meat. Red onion adds additional flavor, as does a minor amount of cumin, thyme, and oregano (1 tsp or less, not the TBS used in the case of your rosemary and marjoram).
One final thing to try is, at first, mix everything together by hand or with a wooden spoon in a bowl, and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours to let the flavors come together some. Then food process and cook as normal.
You’re a gyro pro, DaddyO! Thanks for all the tips! I’m sure other readers will find them helpful, that’s very kind of you!
I’m not exactly sure what you mean by water bath. Does the loaf pan have to be completely surrounded?
Yes Nancy, that’s it. Just don’t overfill the pan. :)
[…] makes the dish what it is. This dish is so popular you’ll have no problem finding any number of recipes on the Internet and thanks to YouTube there’s probably 1000 videos on how to make your own […]
[…] Mr. Galeana substituted pork for lamb since pork was preferred by the locals. He marinated the pork in lime juice and various spices. The pork was then stacked in layers and roasted on a spit, similar to Chicken Shawarma and Gyros. […]
The flavor of this recipe was soooo good. Unfortunately, mine turned out really dry though. I wanted to love this method since we love gyro meat in our house and its pricey to buy pre-made or from a restaurant. I wish I knew where I went wrong
Hi Lindsay, It’s not a super moist meat by nature since the fat drains out of the meat when it bakes, but did you maybe use a very lean beef? My guess is maybe it baked too long? You could pull it out sooner, and if it’s not completely up to temperature/cooked, you can finish it off in the pan. That might help, good luck! :)
This recipe was incredible. We ended up using Naan from the store and I fried it up. I will be making this again!
Pretty amazing to realize it tastes this good homemade without the rotisserie, right? I’m so happy you love it, too, Valerie!
Been craving greek food and these hit the spot, especially now with not wanting to go out to eat! Thanks for the phenomenal recipe, Christina!
Love to hear it, Debbie! It’s great when we can satisfy those cravings at home! :)
Gyros are my favorite meal! So glad to be able to make these at home. Thank you!
One part I wasn’t clear on – after you take the pan out and drain the oil, do you remove the meat from the pan, wrap it in foil and then leave it on the cooling rack w a brick or stick it back in the oven w a brick? If it’s sitting on the cooling rack wrapped in foil, how does the temp continue to increase?
Oh you’ll be so happy! Regarding the brick, no, you don’t remove it from the pan. Keep it in the pan, but cover the meat with the foil (or you could wrap the brick in foil) and set it on the meat. As I noted in the recipe, I haven’t seen great results in doing this part, even though I think it may help compress the meat more, just be sure the temperature is 175 or even 170 since my instructions include reheating the meat on a nonstick pan to get that crispy gyro characteristic. Let me know how they turn out! :)
The gyros are so good and delicious. We had it with some naan bread since that’s all we have, but no complaints since they are so so good. :)
This look amazing! And I can’t wait to make your tzatziki sauce!
Is it putting the onion juice back into the meat mixture, or the actual onion bits? I was just a little confused on that part.
Sorry, Marshall. I actually have some updated photos to add. Dump the juice and keep the onion bits (hard to know what to actually call it!) :) Enjoy! Just had them again yesterday and they are SOOOO good! CC
I can’t wait to make these! They look amazing. One question–do I remove the meat from the baking pan after cooking, when I drain fat and put on a cooling rack? Or leave in the pan on the cooling rack? I love the use of fresh ingredients and will try with the sauce.
Hi Amber, I still have some leftover meat in the fridge from just making these again myself! I leave the loaf in the pan when I drain the fat. This time, I just couldn’t get the temp of the meat up after taking it out of the oven, but it was totally fine especially because I do the crispy step afterwards. So delicious!! Let me know know how they turn out! :)
I have always wanted to make Gyros and now I have the confidence to try them.
You’ll love them, Cathy!
Very interesting! I like your browning step. It adds a more traditional look if nothing else, but I’m sure adds some flavor as well. I don’t care what’s traditional or authentic, as long as it’s good!
Thanks, Mimi! I do think it does add to the flavor. We just had these for lunch today!
Looks absolutely delectable! I haven’t had a gyro since I identified garlic as my allergy. Using your recipe, I could have one again!
Oh yes! And they’re so good!!
Christina, I’m so happy to learn that I can make Gyros at home! I never thought it possible! Love how you seared the sides and made them brown and crispy.
It’s really very easy and the flavor is phenomenal! Let me know what you think!
This looks so good. I would love to try it!
So fresh and easy to make too. Always a winning combo.
ooh these sound so good. I’m going to try this recipe, I love anything in a pitta.
Try to get the Greek pita, Janice. It really makes a huge difference! :)
Thank you Chritina. I am novest, but am definitely goeing to make your Greek style Gyros (and other).
Your Kumquat recipes were a major success.
Here down under in South Africa
Your website is one of the best.
Oh that’s so wonderful to hear, André! That makes me very happy and I’m sure you’re going to love the gyros! Enjoy! CC
Delicious.
They really are! Thanks!
How funny. I’ve only recently come across gyros – in the recipe book I just reviewed. Why have I never heard of them before? They sound delicious. And I’m so glad you’ve let numpties like me know how they’re pronounced. I would be saying GIRO not YEER-oh.
They are absolutely deeelish! No worries, we all say it that way until we learn the proper way to say it! haha!
Hello. This recipe looks delicious and I’m going to try making it by the end of the week. I have to get ahold of a food processor first. I have a question. I have the Power Air Fryer Oven which has a rotisserie. Am I able to use that even though it does not stand upright or will the meat fall off? Also if I am able to use that style of rotisserie what settings and time would I cook the meat using my air fryer. Thank you for your help and for a great recipe.
Hi Lainey, I’m sorry, but I literally just opened an air fryer this morning and haven’t tried it yet, so I have no clue what time and temp to set it for yours! Hope you get a good result! Let me know, CC
[…] to searching for recipes, so today I am re-sharing my tzatziki sauce recipe separately from the gyro recipe, along with some updated […]
Dear Christina, I am just amazed at the water bath method of cooking this ground meat. I had no idea that could even be done. Love the lamb and beef combo. My family really loves gyros and Greek food. This will be a big winner at my housel
I’m sure it will! The combination is so tasty, it’s one of our family favorites, too!
Dear Christina, I love gyros! These look so good…I want to try making them myself now. I love the process photos…wonderful post dear! xo, Catherine
Marvelous, thank you, Catherine!
Can this meat be frozen?
Absolutely! It freezes really well (I mentioned it before the recipe). Enjoy! CC
Wow! This looks amazing. I have never eaten a kebab from the takeaway as I’m suspicious of the meat. I didn’t know they were called gyros. I have never seen a recipe like this and I own a lot of books. Def going to try this on my family. Love the blog: such a great variety of dishes.
Thank you so much, CarouselBelle! I’m so happy you’re going to try making gyros and I’m sure your family will love them. If you’d like to be kept up to date with my recipes, you can always sign up for my email subscription. Thanks for stopping by! CC :)
This is not Greek gyros the original Greek gyros is made with pork Years and years ago I don’t know why you people changing the Greek cusine
So if it was years and years ago, then you’re saying they’re no longer made with pork?
Looks delicious! Greek food is really good.. :)
I agree!
As a devoted follower of your blog I would like to let you know how much I like it :) and pass the awards
http://medejos.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/keksiukai-su-bananais-sokoladu-ir-zemes.html
I am so honored that you like my blog so much, Medeja! Thank you so much for the lovely awards-it means a lot to me! Mille grazie! CC