Gyros - an Authentic Recipe for Making Them at Home

steve in FL's Note:

Yes, you can make authentic gyros at home --> the texture and flavor of this meat is as good as you get in a good Greek restaurant, without the traditional rotating spit.. but this is just the recipe and technique for making the meat, for I'm assuming you know the drill on making the classic gyro sandwich - stuff the meat in a grilled pita with sliced tomatoes, onions and tzaziki sauce.. Enjoy!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground lamb (optional, you can use all ground beef if you're weirded out by lamb) (optional)
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
• 3 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and mix well.
2. Knead the mixture on the counter for 10 minutes - just like you're kneading bread. You may want to use a dough-scraper to help keep the counter clean. (I do). Pick that meat up and SLAM it into the counter, continuing to do so for the 10 minutes. This is key to getting the correct texture. I'm no Alton Brown, but I think the thing we're doing here is melting the fat so that we get a nice smooth texture in the end.
3. Form into a flat loaf - I like to put the meat onto a piece of wax paper, and flattening it into a 3" high slab rectangle. I cover it with another piece of wax and use a rolling pin to flatten it out, just make sure you straighten out the edges to form a rectangle so that when it comes time to slice, they are nice and even.
4. Bake the loaf on a broiler pan (or pan with raised edges, because it will leak grease!) at 350 for about an hour. Alternatively, you can grill it over coals, that's my favorite way, just be sure to turn often so as to distribute the juices.
5. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing thin.

Reviews

[Linda Owen]

I have made this 6 times now and I think I have perfected it !!!. I double the recipe and you need to definitely follow the directions EXACTLY. Using the Lamb &( Beef 90/10) in equal amounts is the way to go !! I let the meat cool after baking on broiler pan and then use a meat slicer to get those nice thin pieces. Nothing worse than chunky meat that keeps falling out of the pita bread. *** A note to Shani -- your meat doesn't need to be room temp to mix** The slamming on the counter is a GREAT STRESS REDUCER !!! lol Since stores around here don't have Tzatziki sauce, I make home-made from Tzatziki Cucumber Dipping Sauce.

[Amberngriffinco]

Excellent! Of course I had NO oregano, but I added a LOT of garlic, sea salt and onion and this came out like a firmer meatloaf. I spread warm pitas w/hummus, added in sauteed onions and diced tomato. Only 1 and I am stuffed! Thank you!

[Babybub]

Absolutely incredible! I only had Italian breadcrumbs so that's what I used. Slamming the meat for 10 minutes made a huge difference in the texture (as opposed to meatloaf) so DON'T SKIP THIS STEP!!! This is filled with flavor. The Tzatziki #59336 is wonderful with this and really cools down the intensity of the meat!