Now you can have your favorite Greek food anytime. These Greek lamb gyros are incredibly easy to make so you can satisfy your gyro craving anytime!
Thank you to the Mushroom Council for sponsoring this post. Make the pledge to be a blenditarian and share what drives you to do better!
Greek food is my favorite. Every time anyone asks me what my favorite food is, Greek is always my answer. Thai is my second favorite. A close second.
But Greek wins out every single time. I live for dolmas and can eat tatziki by the spoonful. My grandmother's best friends are Greek and they always send her all these different foods, many of which I don't know the names for, and I eat them with abandon.
I always thought gyros were impossible to make at home. Seeing the meat prepped the way it is in the restaurants made. It wasn't until one evening I was with a friend who explained the process to me and how her family made them at home. Mind. Blown.
Seriously.
I couldn't talk for about five seconds straight in the shock of the realization. Still, I was too intimidated to try it for...years. Then one day I decided it was time for me to go out there and just try it. Lo and behold, it was actually pretty easy and it tasted just like what I remembered at my favorite local place at King's Cross.
There are a couple of special things I do with my lamb gyro meat that makes it a little different from the traditional, however. The most important change is that I took the blenditarian approach.
Blenditarians blend mushrooms into their meat before cooking for a number of purposes. First, it bulks up the meat which can take down the costs, which is really helpful when you are working with meat that can sometimes get a little spendy like lamb.
Furthermore, it adds more nutrients like vitamin D, B vitamins, antioxidants and potassium. They also do a great job at tasting like meat so you can sneak in some extra veggies without anyone being any the wiser.
To get the best consistency, you add everything to the food processor and blend until everything is one cohesive consistency for you to shape. You also don't need anything special to cook the meat except for a baking dish and a rimmed baking sheet.
Greek Lamb Gyros
Ingredients
Lamb Gyro Meat
- 1 lbs ground lamb
- 1 small red onion
- 3 oz portobello mushrooms
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 teaspoons marjoram
- 2 teaspoons rosemary
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pepper
- 2 large eggs
Assembly
- Tatziki
- Pita bread
- Cucumber
- Tomato
- Onion
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 7 ½ x 11 baking pan with olive oil.
- In a food processor, add the ingredients for the lamb and process until everything is well mixed and the same consistency.
- Spread the meat onto the baking pan and pat into an even layer reaching all the sides.
- Place the baking pan on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack of the oven. Add some boiling water to the baking sheet to create a shallow water bath for the baking pan.
- Bake for about 60 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature, then drain the liquid. Wrap tightly, and refrigerate for a few hours to help the flavors develop.
- As the eat is cooling, make the tatziki.
- Take the meat from the refrigerator and cut into thin slices.
- Heat a skillet with a small amount of olive oil and add in the meat in batches, cooking for about a minute on each side.
- Spread tatziki on the pita, and layer meat, and the other assembly items. Wrap the pita tightly. Use parchment paper to tightly wrap around the pita to secure it.
Nutrition
Tatziki
Ingredients
- ½ cucumber
- 1 ½ cloves or garlic
- 1 cup plan Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped dill
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Finely dice the cucumbers. Press between a few paper towels to remove excess liquid.
- Finely dice the garlic.
- Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and mix well.
- Leave in the refrigerator to let the flavors infuse for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Nutrition
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