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Gyros Recipe

Are differences a blessing or a curse? Life’s full of questions worth exploring, much like deciding kebab or gyros is better!

The difference between kebab and gyros basically lies along the fine line that is poured over them, called tzatziki sauce, when served. If we really want to dig into these things, then we could say that one is made of beef or veal while the other is made of chicken or pork. Then we could go on the type of herbs and spices that were used to season the meat but in reality gyros -where the “s” is not the sign of plural but the belongs to the word itself meaning simply “round” in Greek- is simply a type of kebab.

When kebab took root in Greece, people there thought to give it a national twist -as it happens to any food, reaching the shores of a new country- and poured tzatziki over it, so gyros was born.

Gyros can be filled into pita breads, given that we can make the bread open properly or simply wrapped in one. Also, if we happen to have gyros in a restaurant with tables and chairs, we can ask gyros without the pita bread which gives us a nice gluten free and low carb option too.

Ingredients

Gyros meat

2 lb /1 kg Meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken)
1 Onion or red onion (finely cut)
3 cloves Garlic (finely cut)
2 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Black pepper
2 teaspoons Paprika (optional)
Optional herbs: (use only two at a time)
- 2 teaspoons Oregano
- 2 teaspoons Rosemary
- 2 teaspoons Thyme
- 2 teaspoons Cumin
- 2 teaspoons Marjoram

Serving gyros

Tzatziki sauce (Check out How to make Tzatziki Sauce Recipe)
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 clove Garlic
- 2 cup / 500ml Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Optional:
  - Dill or Mint or Parsley
  - Lemon juice
Pita (store bought, skillet or oven made) Pita Bread Recipe
Lettuce, onion, tomato and optional hot sauce

How to make Gyros

Gyros meat – Beginner

We need to have stripes of meat for this so slice then stripe the meat up.
Mix the stripes of meat with the herbs and spices in a big bowl. Adding a half cup of cooking oil will help make this a smoother experience. It’s recommended to place the meat in the fridge for at least a couple of hours to marinate but in case of emergency we can start roasting it immediately.
Sear the stripes of meat with a little bit of oil in our favorite pan. We can also make them on a grill.

Gyros meat – Advanced

Grind the meat. We can use one type of meat or a mixture of any meat we like but the more fat the meat has, the juicier and tastier it will be.
Grind or finely chop all the spices, herbs and vegetables that will be used. A food processor can be a great help with this task. Add some vegetable oil in the food processor if it can’t cope with the small amount of stuff in it.
Mix all the ingredients together.
Fill the mixture into a baking tray that will provide at least 1″ / 2.5 cm tall meat slices at the end. A bread loaf tin is excellent for this, but if we feel artistic, we can even sculpt a loaf of meat on a baking sheet just like we do with a meatloaf.
Place the filled tray into a preheated 350°F / 180°C oven until the inner temperature reaches the necessary level (pork 145°F / 63°C), for about 60 minutes.
Take the meat out, let it cool down a bit then slice it up thinly.

Gyros meat – Overkill

In a food processor chop up onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, paprika and all the optional spices and herbs. Mix well the spices and herbs with the ground meat.
Form a dense meatloaf.
Roll tin foil around the meatloaf tightly.
Then wrap up at the ends snugly too so no meat pokes out anywhere.
Place the rolled up meatloaf on an oven proof tray into a preheated 350°F / 180°C oven until the inner temperature reaches the necessary level (pork 145°F / 63°C), for about 60 minutes.
Unwrap the gyros meat. Set the broiler to the highest temperature then put the gyros loaf onto the high rack until it gets a nice roasted brown color, for about 15 minutes, on each side.
Slice off the outer layer then serve.
Optionally, wait until the gyros meat cools down. Slice meat off the loaf and fry them on a bit of oil in a skillet. Skillet frying is the best way to reheat leftovers too.

Serving Gyros

Gyros meat can be served on it’s own with a bit of salad but it truly shines through some tzatziki sauce and pita bread. Make tzatziki sauce by mixing Greek yogurt with grated cucumber, garlic, olive oil, dill and some salt. Check out how to make Tzatziki sauce.
Fill the meat into a store bought or even better, homemade pita bread. Nothing compares to some freshly made pita bread!