Greek Lamb Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce
Yesterday, I told you all about the amazing gyros that my husband and I used to get when he was living outside of D.C. Since he moved back two years ago, we have been in a serious gyro drought. Thank the gyro gods that the house we bought is located only about five minutes from a fabulous gyro joint here in Pittsburgh.
In the meantime, however, I’ve been dreaming about making gyros at home. Gyros are one of those things that just seem… impossible to make at home, right? Sort of like pop-tarts. As I’ve come to learn, however, nothing is impossible in the kitchen.
These gyros are proof in the pudding… they were not very difficult to make, and are every bit as good (better, even) than our favorites from Greek and Middle Eastern take out joints.
While traditional gyro meat is cooked on a vertical spit and then shaved off, that’s not exactly practical in a home kitchen. In order to get those thin strips of meat cooked to the correct consistency, it’s actually baked twice.
A combination of ground lamb, seasonings, onion, garlic and slab bacon are processed together to form a cohesive mass. The mixture is shaped into a meatloaf, for lack of a better word, and baked at a low temperature. Once given time to sit, very thin strips of meat are sliced off, then laid in a pan and broiled for a couple of minutes.
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I was seriously stunned at how similar this meat tasted to the gyro meat that I have been accustomed to. It has so much flavor and the texture is just perfect.
When serving gyros, you want to look for pocketless pita bread, which can also be referred to as “hand-pulled”. Naan or flatbread can also work in a pinch. Then, pile on the meat, tzatziki sauce, chopped tomatoes and thinly sliced onion. Wrap it all up and then dig in. Don’t forget some extra tzatziki sauce on the side; you can never have enough of that awesomeness.
I love being proven wrong when I think a certain type of food is beyond being made at home. Who am I kidding? Everything can be made at home, and it’s usually better than you can get elsewhere. These gyros are no exception.
Watch the Greek Gyro Recipe Video:
Two years ago: Salted Caramel Cashew Bark
Five years ago: Chicken Pot Pie
Six years ago: Chili-Rice Dinner
Lamb Gyros Recipe
Ingredients
For the Gyro Meat:
- 1 pound (453.59 g) ground lamb
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
- ½ (0.5) yellow onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- 3 ounces (85.05 g) slab bacon, or 5 slices sliced bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
To Serve:
- Pocketless pita bread
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Tomato, coarsely chopped
- Yellow onion, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Make the Gyro Meat: In a medium bowl, combine the ground lamb, salt, pepper and oregano leaves with your hands, mixing until all of the seasonings have been evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place the lamb mixture in the bowl of a food processor and add the onion, garlic and bacon. Process until a smooth puree is formed, 30 seconds to 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. With moistened hands, shape the lamb mixture into a rectangle about 8 inches long and 5 inches wide. Bake until the center of the loaf reaches 155 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Adjust the oven rack to the highest position (1½ to 2 inches below broiler element) and preheat broiler. Slice the loaf of lamb meat crosswise into very thin pieces (they should be about ⅛-inch thick; no more than ¼-inch thick). Lay the strips on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and broil until edges are browned and crispy, 2 to 4 minutes. (I did this in two batches, as I couldn’t fit all of the sliced meat on one baking sheet.) Be sure to keep an eye on it, as the broiler works quickly!
- Serve the Gyros: Warm up the bread either in the microwave (30 seconds), on the stovetop or in the oven. Top each with ¼ cup of tzatziki sauce, chopped tomatoes, sliced onions and gyro meat. Wrap with foil and serve.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Will try this recipe. Regarding Niko’s earlier comment on Doner vs Gyro….agree with his assessment but I would suggest the intent of this recipe is to create something that can be done in a home kitchen.
A real gyro is made with sliced strips of meat marinated and then threaded onto a vertical spit in conical shape and then the cooking process uses a machine way too expensive for a home kitchen.
Most gyro places in Europe/Mediterranean countries have now abandoned marinated lamb slices because of expense …. turning to chicken and pork for cost or ethnic reasons.. We visited Greece about 4 years ago and found it near impossible to buy a gyro made with lamb. Here in Central Valley CA we get American lamb (Superior Farms Sacramento) and it has not got the gamey taste of the more available imported Australian lamb fed on free range grasses. Plan to get a pound of that good Sacramento lamb and try this. Haven’t had a good gyro since our Chicago days in 80’s. Here’s hoping … stay tuned.
Have made this a few times. Took it to a Greek themed gathering and had the hostess (Greek) almost in nostagia tears.
Thank you.
Much easier than I thought this would end up being and my picky British fiancé loved them! He loves lamb but I don’t eat it so I substituted for chicken but delicious and easy nonetheless!
This is my go to recipe for homemade gyros! The gyro meat is delicious, and it goes great with homemade Turkish flatbread. Thanks for a fantastic recipe :)
This recipe was awesome! I made some substitutions because I was out of time and ingredients. I had no fresh oregano so I used dried Italian seasonings. I didn’t not serve the meat wrapped with tomatoes and onions because my husband and son don’t like them. The packaged lamp amount I used was 12 oz not a pound, but I used the same amount of the other ingredients. I only let the mixed lamb and spices refrigerate for 1/2 hour due to time. That’s all folks! P.S. there were no leftovers and I don’t eat meat, so the portion size was perfect for my two “boys”.
i love it yummy good foods
This technique is KILLER! I too thought that a gyro would never be a thing that I would make at home. That being said the meat needs a little more flavor, I added extra garlic to my mix and it still wasn’t enough. I looked up Alton Brown’s recipe (which is more complicated) and he uses half a tablespoon each of dried marjoram and rosemary for a pound of meat. Next time, and hell yes there will be a next time, I will try his seasonings with this technique. I would also do just a tad less bacon in the mix. I really don’t want to sound like a hater, I was blown away when all of the pieces came together to form a delicious gyro, I am just adding some ideas of my own. Thank you for giving me the courage to attempt this! I paired this meat with Chef John’s homemade pita recipe and his Tzatziki sauce. This will be made again and again in my home.
I first made this recipe about 10 months ago. I used sweet onions instead of yellow onions and used pre-cooked real bacon bits instead of raw bacon, because those were the ingredients I had in my kitchen. I made a double batch. The result was awesome. The only downside was paying $11 USD per pound for ground lamb.
My wife and I are empty nesters and I vac-packed and froze the left over cooked meat mixture in two-serving batches. The cooked meat mix freezes really well and is killer when reheated over a campfire with fresh vegies, home-made tzatziki and fire-grilled pitas.
Yesterday, my local grocer had ground lamb on sale for $5 a pound. I bought 5 pounds and froze 3 pounds. I made another double batch of this gyro meat according to the recipe, using yellow onion and raw bacon. I was skeptical of all that raw bacon. It took longer to roast than expected but, once again, WOW, it was wonderful. Great fresh-cooked gyros for dinner.
The vac-packed frozen left-over cooked meat mix will provide another summer of awesome campfire cuisine.
Forgot to put the stars
I made it exactly as the recipe indicates, minus the bacon and the mint, I didn’t have either. It was great! Will make again for sure. Thank you for sharing.
I only used the meat recipe, but that olive was amazing and as good as I’ve ever had Gyro meat!
I used store bought Tzatziki cucumber dill from Aldis, and flat bread from Kroger… my “Foody” family praised me, which is not typical! Especially since my foodie family is from PA where the culture run stitch and authentic is expected!
Last week I tried cooking this gyro chicken recipe using gyro grill with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, tomatoes, and feta cheese at home. This was my first attempt and it tastes so good. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
I don’t often leave reviews, but wow, this was amazing! I love gyros and usually only get them when it’s street festival time in the summer. I always figured it was impossible to make at home. I tried this recipe on a whim and I couldn’t believe how close it tasted to the ones I’ve had from those stalls at the street fairs. Now the only thing I need to find is a good pocketless pita. Not even my local middle eastern store had them :( Maybe I’ll have to make my own.
Needs much more garlic, at least 4 cloves, finely diced (in my opinion). I also added 1/2 tsp. ground Mexican oregano that I lightly toasted in a tbsp. of olive oil before adding to the meat mixture.
I don’t have a food processor so I ran the mixture through my heavy duty blender 1/2 cup at a time until it reached a smooth consistency, and then squished the batches together like making meatloaf. I think you could possibly use a hand meat grinder too. Just run it through the grinder several times until you get a smooth consistency. Repeated grindings will heat up the fat in the meat and make it harder to grind. If you find that it’s sticking or clumping too much, pop it in the freezer for a few minutes to put a chill on the meat. It will grind more easily. You want a fine grind, not wallpaper paste.
Sorry, I forgot to leave my 5 star rating from my post. Trust me people, this is outrageously delicious. I have read some of the posts that said they had a hard time slicing it. I let mine rest for 20 mins. and it was delicious! Thank you again for a great recipe!
OMG! This was sooooooo delicious! I moved from Long Island, to Upstate N.Y. in the Adirondacks. We were use to eating gyros at least 3 times a month! When we moved to the Adirondacks, there were no such food as a gyro unless you traveled 45 minutes to buy them. Then Aldi’s, which is a store up here, carried gyro kits. They were the next best thing to a real gyro. They have since gone organic and no longer carry them! I have tried several different recipes but they don’t taste like gyros. Yours by far goes above and beyond. Now it is a permanent recipe in my file! Thank you so much.
Thank you sooo much for this amazing recipe! My whole family LOVED IT! It was a bit messy while using the food processor but it was worth it. The taste of the lamb loaf was amazing! I did not however make the tzatziki sauce. I will make it for sure next time :)
So easy. After 30 min, the meat didnt look cooked. Left at 300 for another 15min. Was hard to slice. Maybe should have used a serrated knife?? Getting ready to broil. So excited. Smells amazing and tastes great (on its own).
This looks amazing but ground lamb isnt that common where I live so I have to buy the lamb and then have someone ground it, they do it at the grocery store but my main question is what part of the lamb should I ground to get the perfect taste? since each part tastes somewhat different.
Hi Ed, I actually don’t know, I would ask the butcher at your grocery store, as I’m sure they would be more knowledgeable!
This was very good but wow, it really shrunk quite a bit!
I have been looking for a good gyro recipe and can finally stop looking! This was delicious and a hit with the family and the toddlers as well! Thank you for sharing!
DELICIOUS!! I will never have to go out to eat to eat a gyro again!!
I made it, and was delicious, unfortunately it fell apart when I sliced it, but it was good all the same
This recipe is outstanding. I live in a rural area where lamb is easy to find but not gyros. My family loves them after living in Chicago for decades. I followed the recipe to the Tee. I even weighed my bacon on a scale to be accurate. Don’t use favored bacon. I did everything the recipe called for but baking the lamb at 300 took longer than 30 minutes. I used a meat thermometer. After I let it rest for 30 I used
a very shape knife to cut into slices. I can’t believe how great these were.
In 2017, I had saved your recipe and then went searching for ground lamb. Only 1 supermarket (upscale) sold it and they wanted $10.99 for a lb. of ground lamb. Wow! I decided to forgo my craving. So, this year, I’ll bite the bullet and go for it. Hopefully, it is not just a seasonal item (spring). Your recipe makes quite a few slices so it would be more economical than purchasing gyros from the only place in this small town which has them on their menu.
I havent made this yet, but I look forward to it It is still winter here…no fresh oregano. What is a good substitute with dried oregano? I have both mexican and traditional. Or..would dried ruin this recipe?
I haven’t used dried, but you generally want to use 1/3 the amount, as it’s more concentrated, so you could do 2 teaspoons of dried oregano.
The absolute best!!!! I’m not one for lamb, but my husband & i LOVE this recipe!!! It will most DEFINITELY become a regular dinner around here!! My husband couldn’t stop talking about how good it was!!! TY!! TY!!!
Family Loved it. Now I need to purchase a better food processor because that did take up alot of extra time
Best gyro I’ve ever had I’m not a cook but I followed the recipe I had the half of it and it turned out delicious my wife isn’t much on lamb and she even enjoyed it she said it was just as good if not better than the ones that we have at a place we go here in Junction thank you so much is very delicious this is going to be something I do quite frequently I think
First time, I used beef not bacon and didn’t use a processor. Tasted like meat loaf. These directions it turned out great! Was totally worth the time
I made this tonight and I was not disappointed! Thanks for posting such a great recipe. I served this with some homemade naan bread, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes and feta cheese. Will definitely make again.
I am a big time lover of gyros. And lately I’ve been on a big gyros kick. I’ve been getting them from all over. Different restaurants, different cities – even frozen. So, Right now my pallet is pretty honed to what constitutes a good gyro. I just ate some of this about 30 minutes ago and – wow! My expectations where not high given the simplicity of the recipe, but this tasted extraordinarily close to a decent restaurant gyros. I think adding a half pound of ground beef to cut down on the gameness of the lamb and adding more onion, garlic, spices accordingly would probably make this perfect. I’m going to keep this recipe around and play with it to my liking but, even as is, it is fantastic. Letting it cool down to cut was so hard. It smelled and tasted great, I kept going back to the kitchen to sample it. Bravo! These were #$%&ing delicous. And before you ask, yes that expletive was necessary cause they are that good and super easy to make.
Best recipe for Gyro and tzatziki sauce!