Delicious Grilled Gyros
However you slice it, gyros are so sooo delightfully good!
For those of you who aren't familiar with gyros, most gyros are made with lamb. Although, processed gyros are made with beef and lamb mixture (sometimes other meats such as chicken, pork, and turkey) that's grounded up super fine, then flattened. The meat is seasoned with oregano, thyme, rosemary, pepper, cumin, and salt. The gyros meat is thinning sliced, about the same thickness and length as bacon, quite possibly a little bit thinner cut. Gyros originated from Greece, and were commonly eaten at taverns. Sometime in the 1970s gyros became popular in New York, NY. And now in many locations gyros are a popular 'street food'.
Homemade Gyros
My recipe makes up a lot of gyros once cooked, and it's really delicious. More So than any of the processed gyros that you can buy. And the best part is that you'll get way more for your buck making homemade gyros. It's a fairly simple recipe to follow. However, keep in mind that it's time consuming. The meat mixture will have to marinate for at least one hour, best if marinated overnight. And it will take about 50 minutes to bake. Then you'll have to let the meat cool, before slicing it thin.
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground lamb, ground goat, or ground chicken
2 pounds ground beef
½ cup bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
1 onion chopped
1 Tablespoon rosemary
1 Tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
1 Tablespoon thyme
2 Tablespoons ground black pepper, or to your taste
1 Tablespoon seasoning salt
Instructions:
In a large bowl combine the meats with the bread crumbs. (Note: If you don't have bread crumbs you can substitute them for cracker crumbs, or you can leave them out altogether. I add the breadcrumbs in as a meat extender, and most store bought gyros have bread crumbs added to them.)
Combine well. Next, add in the spices. Set aside.
Now, chop the onion in chunks. Add the onion in a food processor (or blender), process until the onion is at a super fine mince. Add in the garlic, blend the onion and garlic together well.
Next, add in the meats slowly, pulse, then add in more meat. Keep doing this process until all the meat fits in. Now, blend together until the meat and other ingredients are really processed together fine. (When I say fine, there shouldn't be any clumps in any of the ingredients.)
Next, put the meat back into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place it into the refrigerator. Allow 1 hour for the meat to set and marinate. The marinated flavor of the gyros will be even better if allowed to marinate overnight. This just depends on the time that you have.
After the meat has marinated, add it back into the food processor, and pulse it for about 5 more minutes. The texture of the meat ingredients really needs to be extremely fine, with no clumps.
Next, prepare 2 loaf pans with cooking spray. Spray lightly. Half the meat mixture into each pan. Now, press the meat mixture down firmly into each pan. You want it packed down very tight, and firm. Once this step is done. Turn on your oven to 350 F. Place the loaf pans into the oven, and bake for about 50 minutes, or until there's no pink color to the meat.
Once the meat is cooked, set the pans on a cooling rack. Let the meat cool completely. After the pans have cooled, use a knife to slide around the inside edges of the meat and pan. Now, take each loaf of meat out of the pan, place the meat on a cutting board. Next, thinly slice the meat. (Slice as thin as possible.) Continue until it's all sliced. Congratulations! You've just made gyros meat!
Now, add the slices of gyros into an airtight, food safe containers, or into freezer bags. This meat freezes well, so leave out what you're going to want to use, and freeze the rest.
I normally grill my gyros meat for about 4-5 minutes upon reheating it. However, you can eat it cold if that's what you prefer. The meat has already been fully cooked, so it's safe to eat it cold too.
Don't have the time to make homemade gyros? If you're interested in buying lamb gyros by the 0.9 – 1.0 lb package, head over to Shepherd Song Farm Lamb Gyros. The price per package is 15.95. They offer free shipping on orders over 34.95.
And if you're interested in buying 10 pounds, or more of beef gyros, head over to the online Webstaurant Store Beef Gyros. The starting price is 52.49 per 10 pound box. I've not bought gyros from Webstaurant, but I do buy my diet soda syrup through their online store. On my orders I always get charged for shipping, but the company has fast shipping times.
Gyros can also be bought at the following companies online.
Greek Market price per small package 11.95.
Walmart Kronos Gyros Kit price per kit 7.98.
Amazon Gyros Meat prices vary.
The prices tend to be unreal, if ordering gyros online.
What Does Gyros Taste Like?
Basically lamb gyros tastes just like you'd expect lamb to taste. Since they're made from lamb. But I've had other types of gyros that were made out of different meats, and they tasted like chicken to me.
Gyros are extremely fast to cook. I usually throw my gyros on the grill, and within less than 4-5 minutes they're done.
What Do You Use Gyros Meat In?
The most popular way to use gyros meat once it's cooked, you stuff it into pita's, with peppers, onions, tomatoes, cheese, etc. However, I also use the meat to stuff in-between hamburger buns, or rolls to make sandwiches out of. They're also quite delicious when paired with some sunny side up eggs, and toast.
Gyros are wonderfully yummy, when chopped up and added into homemade tacos and burritos as well. But wrapping the gyros meat in a leaf of lettuce is my absolute favorite way to fix em.
Yes! I don't think there's any golden rule on how you have to make gyros in America. I've found that it's extremely versatile. Gyros are a great quick throw together snack, and or meal for anytime, once you've made the meat yourself (or buy it).
I recall that several years ago I wouldn't even try gyros, because I seriously didn't know what they were, and I always thought that the meat kinda looked weird. It wasn't until within the past few years that I decided to give them a whirl. I'm so glad that I did! They tasted nothing like what I had imagined that they would. I actually thought the store bought meat was going to be something like a cheap knock off to real meat- like canned Treat, and or Spam. But it's actually not- Of course! The store bought gyros seem to be really pricey, and of course they're not as healthy as homemade. Believe me when I tell you that you definitely get your money's worth by making the homemade gyros. My recipe makes up a lot, plus you're in control.
My husband loves it when I grill the gyros meat, then layer it on a piece of toast, with creamed potatoes, and a thick home-style gravy. When prepared this way it tastes almost like roast beef. You just can't beat that! Especially when roast beef is extremely high in costs, and gyros are a fraction of the price.
Now, that I've given y'all my homemade gyros recipe, and some ideas for fixing many different meals with gyros, I hope that you'll give them a try too.
As Always, Eat Healthy And Stay Well!