Super flavorful Chicken Gyros, marinated in Greek-style marinade and grilled until tender and juicy. Served with warm pita, Greek salad, and drizzled with creamy tzatziki sauce.
Chicken Gyros is a very easy-to-make sandwich, great for lunch or dinner. It’s juicy, aromatic, and simply delicious! You can cook the chicken in a skillet, in the oven, or on the grill.
Table of Contents
WHAT GOES IN THE CHICKEN GYROS – A GREEK SANDWICH
Here are the ingredients that make up the Greek Chicken Gyros Sandwich:
- Marinated Chicken
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Greek Salad
- Pita Bread
GREEK MARINADE FOR THE CHICKEN:
To draw out all of the flavors from the chicken, you’ll want to marinate it. The gyros marinade is made with classic Greek ingredients that flavor and tenderize the chicken. Here’s what you’ll need for the marinade:
- Yogurt
- Garlic
- Lemon
- Vinegar
- Oil
- Oregano
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Salt
- Sweet paprika
- Cayenne pepper, if you like a spicy flavor.
Yogurt is the magic ingredient in this gyros recipe, making the chicken super tender with a wonderful taste!
The acid in the yogurt breaks down the fiber, softening the chicken and helping the marinade infuse the chicken. I advise you here to make sure you marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes before cooking, or even better, marinate it overnight for even more flavor.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN GYROS
There are quite a few ingredients in Chicken Gyros – but the preparation is really easy!
First, make the marinade.
Combine Greek yogurt with garlic, spices, lemon juice, vinegar, and oil. Mix with a spoon to make sure everything is well incorporated. Add the chicken to the marinade. Then toss the chicken with the marinade and ensure all the pieces are well coated. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. However, you can also do this step a day ahead and refrigerate overnight.
Make the salad.
Chop all the salad ingredients, add to the bowl, temper to your liking, and mix it. That’s all, very easy!
Then, cook the chicken.
When the chicken is marinated and ready, heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is just slightly warmed (don’t let it smoke). Then add the chicken (remove excess marinade) and cook for 5 minutes on one side until golden brown, then flip and cook for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. (Don’t stir the chicken while it’s cooking, you want the chicken to be browned!)
Assembling the chicken gyros.
Warm or toast your pita, you can use other flatbread too, then top it with a generous portion of tzatziki sauce, chicken, Greek salad, and more tzatziki…then serve up and enjoy your chicken gyros sandwich!
HOW TO ROLL CHICKEN GYROS SANDWICH
Rolling a chicken gyros sandwich requires a bit of technique and the willpower to not overstuff the pita bread.
- First, on a flat surface, place the pita bread on a piece of parchment paper.
- Next, stack the ingredients into the center of the pita bread, building upwards.
- Fold one of the pita sides over, followed by the other, then fold the bottom up. Wrap the gyro in parchment paper to keep the sandwich secured.
GRILLING OR BAKING THE CHICKEN
Instead of frying the chicken, you can also bake it or grill it. In this chicken gyros recipe the instructions are to use a frying pan. See the tips below for grilling on the barbecue and for roasting the chicken in the oven:
- For the grill: Grill the chicken pieces over medium heat for about 5 minutes on one side, flip, and grill for another 4 to 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Make sure grill grates are lightly greased and allow excess marinade to drain off before placing the chicken on the grill.
- For the oven: To bake, preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Remove excess marinade from chicken pieces and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH CHICKEN GYROS – A GREEK SANDWICH
I serve this chicken gyros sandwich as a complete meal on its own because there is a fair amount of tomato and cucumber used to stuff the inside of the pita bread in addition to the chicken meat.
But if you want to add something extra, you can serve it with an additional portion of Greek salad or creamy cucumber radish salad. You could also serve it with some roasted potatoes.
LEFTOVER & MEAL PREP STORAGE TIPS
To keep your leftovers fresh for as long as possible, store the meat and tzatziki sauce in two separate airtight containers in the fridge. Assemble the sandwiches on-demand to prevent them from turning soggy. When stored properly, the meat and sauce should keep fresh for up to 5 days.
Chicken Gyros
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Medium bowl
- Frying Skillet
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
CHICKEN
- 1 kg/2.2lb chicken breast fillet, or boneless and skinless drumstick
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
MARINADE
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced (-/+3 tsps)
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, red wine, or apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbsps of lemon juice
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 generous pinch of black pepper, or to taste
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 pinch of cayenne pepper, (optional)
SALAD
- 3 tomatoes, chopped and seeded
- 3 cucumbers, diced
- ½ red onion, peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, (optional)
- Salt and black pepper to taste
SERVE
- 6 pita breads, or other flatbreads
- 3 tbsps Tzatziki Sauce, for each sandwich
Instructions
MARINADE:
- In a larger bowl, combine the marinade ingredients, and mix until incorporated.
- Add the chicken pieces and toss to ensure the chicken is well coated with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or overnight.)
- Meanwhile, make the Tzatziki according to my recipe.
CHICKEN:
- Heat 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until heated through (don't let it get too hot).
- Add chicken pieces to skillet (shake off excess marinade before adding chicken to skillet). Cook on one side for 5 minutes until browned. Flip the chicken and cook on the other side for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Do not stir the chicken!
SALAD:
- Chop tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and parsley.
- Add the chopped ingredients to a bowl.
- Temper with salt and pepper to taste and mix the salad.
ASSEMBLING:
- Take a pita bread (preferably warmed) and place it on a piece of parchment paper (or use aluminum foil). Then top it with a generous portion of tzatziki sauce, chicken (if the chicken fillets are large, you may need to cut them), Greek salad, and more tzatziki.
- Roll up the wrap, closing it with the parchment paper. Twist the end with the excess parchment paper to secure it.
