Gyro = pita + tzatziki + veggies + meat
I made my tzatziki with my own yogurt, so the whole process started 2 days before the meal.
It sounds a lot more intimidating than it should, because this meal is super easy to make.
The meat needs to marinade overnight, the tzatiki needs to do its thing overnight, so here’s the full instructions:
It all starts with home-made Greek Yogurt I suppose you could just buy some Greek yogurt at the store, but where’s the fun in that?
To make the yogurt, you’ll need:
Greek Yogurt
Equipment
- Slow Cooker or a large pot and do all this on a heating element
- Colander
- Cheesecloth
- Thermometer
Ingredients
- 4 liter Jug whole milk (1 gallon)
- 1 cup Greek/Balkan/active culture yogurt ( or live cultures from health food store )
Instructions
- Bring the milk to 190F
- Let the milk cool to 115F gently , stirring every 30 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, gently whisk 2 cups of milk with 1 cup of active yogurt or cultures.
- Gently pour the mixture back into the crock pot, and gently stir everything together.
- Place the covered crock pot in a warm area for 8-24 hours. Oven with the light on seems to be perfect. I like 14 hours; longer time makes the yogurt more tangy.
- Line a colander with cheesecloth.
- Slowly transfer 1/3 of the yogurt to the colander, and let drain for 1-2 hours, depending on how thick you want the yogurt.
- Save 1 cup of yogurt in an airtight container in the fridge - use within 4 weeks.
Notes
Then we need to make the tzatziki and let the meat soak in the marinade.
Tzatziki
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup plain, full-fat Greek yogurt (make your own!)
- 2-3 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp vinegar (plain, red/white wine, balsamic)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp minced fresh dill (dried also works)
- 1/2 large cucumber, shredded, and squeezed dry
Instructions
- Shred the cucumber, and drain through fine mesh sieve, or squeeze in a tea towel until very dry. Cover, and chill overnight.
- In a separate bowl, combine everything else except the dill, cover, and chill overnight. If you're using dried dill, include it here.
- Stir everything together before serving.
Gyro Marinade
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp yogurt
- 1.5 tbsp oregano
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (approx 1 medium lemon)
- 3 large minced garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Mix well, and placec in a large freezer bag along with 1.5 - 2 pounds of meat (deboned chicken thigh, pieces of pork 2-3" across and 1/2" thick, etc.. Mixing up another small batch of the marinade is pretty quick to do if you think you need more.
- Let sit in fridge for minimum 2 hours, preferably 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 400F
Cut a large onion in half, and run a skewer through the bottom – this will be the stand for the gyro meat.
You might need to run some skewers horizontally to keep the stack of meat upright.
If this isn’t working for you, you can always lay the skewers of across a deep baking pan or casserole dish so the meat is suspended above the bottom, and you can always bake some veggies in there while you’re at it.
Layer on the meat, and brush the rest of the marinade on the top of the skewer and let it run down.
Cook for 1.5-2 hours, internal temperature needs to hit at least 165F to be safe.
Let it rest 10-15min, slice off the meat, and enjoy!
Pita
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tsp active yeast
- 3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, stir the warm water and yeast together. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes
- Add everything else, and knead for 8-10 minutes. When the dough pulls cleanly away from the bowl, it's kneaded enough.
- Put the dough in a clean bowl (if needed), lightly coat with more olive oil, cover, and let rest in a warm area for an hour, or until doubled in size.
- Gently punch the dough down to deflate it.
- Divide the dough into 8 pieces.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece out into rounds approx 8-9" diameter, and 1/4" thick.
- Warm a skillet (preferably cast iron) to medium-high heat. Drizzle olive oil, and wipe off any excess.
- Cook a pita round for 30 seconds, or until bubbles form.
- Flip and cook 1-2 minutes, until large spotted circles form on the bottom.
- Flip again and cook 1-2 minutes - this is when the pita should puff up.
Keto Pita
Ingredients
- 50 grams Coconut flour
- 8 grams Psyllium husk powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 cup Warm water
- 1 tbsp Butter or ghee for frying
- pinch Salt to taste
Instructions
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Stir in the warm water.
- Form a dough, and let sit covered in cling wrap for 10 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 4 parts.
- Roll out each part between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
- Fry in a bit of butter on medium heat.
- Wait for one side to completely cook before flipping (golden brown).
- Cook until golden brown.
Traditional veggies – all to taste
diced tomato
diced cucumber
diced onion
chopped parsley
salt&pepper
Assembly – slap a thick layer of tzatziki on half of the pita. Stack the meat & veggie toppings on top of the tzatziki. Fold or roll the gyro and serve.