Greek Gyros with cool-as-cucumber tzatziki sauce!
The recipe for gyros is one of those magical things that combines all of my favorite things into one! Warm pita + grilled meat + David’s greek salad + homemade tzatziki sauce = healthy yum!
In college, my family took a trip through the Mediterranean, stopping at various cities in Italy, Greece, and Turkey. No words can even come close to describing how amazing the trip was. Turkey remains a contender for the most interesting place on Earth that I have seen so far.
Little Brother has this special talent whenever my family travels… finding FOOD. Local food. The cheap, found-in-a-back-ally, messy, delicious, authentic, i-hope-to-god-we-don’t-get-sick, what-the-hell-was-in-that food. Needless to say, I wish I could pack Little Brother with me for all my trips.
My family was walking down a busy street in Athens, when my mom and I stopped in a local market. We were tasting olive oils and basically in heaven. My mom made me taste ouzo–an anise-flavored alcoholic drink. I should have premised this story with the fact that I don’t. like. licorice. At all. All-sorts? Ick. Twizzlers? Gag me. Star anise? Only if it is in David’s famous poached pears. Moral of that story is I did NOT like ouzo.
Anywho, Little Brother comes running up and says, “GUYS. I just found lunch.” We had experienced his talent first-hand for many years so we were, of course, totally game. We followed him around corners and down random streets (how did he not get lost??) until we happened upon the local place to eat. And by local place to eat, I mean a window cut out of a wall through which you could see just enough space for the guy taking your money and the spit holding a bunch of roasted meat. He passed us some way-more-authentic-than-mikaela’s gyros that were . . . Mmmmm. Sorry, memories. They were delish.
When my family reminisces about Athens, we STILL talk about that lunch and Little Brother’s uncanny knack for finding the noms. What’s the best food you have come across in your travels???
Nutrition & Macros per 1 stuffed pita: 373 calories 7 g carbs 23 g fat 37 g protein 4 g sugar
4 stuffed pitas
30 minPrep Time
5 minCook Time
35 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 lb beef (sirloin if you want to splurge; stew meat if you don't)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 5.3 ounces plain greek yogurt
- 3 1/2 Tablespoons minced cucumber
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/2 recipe of David's Greek Salad at http://www.wyldflour.com/davids-easy-greek-salad/
Instructions
- Make a half recipe of David's Greek Salad and set aside.
- Peel cucumber and mince until you have 3 tablespoons. Add to a small tupperware and mix in remaining tzatziki ingredients. Set aside.
- Pat beef dry with paper towels. Slice (or cut with kitchen shears) into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place in small mixing bowl.
- Add spices for meat to small mixing bowl with the lemon juice. Stir meat until the spice mixture coats each of the pieces.
- Add the two tablespoons olive oil to a grill pan and heat over medium-high heat.
- When pan is hot, add meat and turn heat down to medium. Use tongs to turn pieces as needed. Cook until desired done-ness. (About 4-5 minutes to medium rare is how we like it!)
- Warm pitas in the microwave for 10-20 seconds.
- Stuff pita with meat, greek salad, and tzatziki sauce. Tuck in!
Notes
You can swap the beef for chicken, lamb, or chickpeas for a twist! (Roast the chickpeas in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until starting to brown instead of grilling them.)
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