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Think juicy, well-spiced chicken tucked into toasty pitas with a cool, herby sauce and lots of crisp veg. It’s weeknight-easy, but still feels like something special.
These are the gyros I reach for when I want big flavor without fuss—saucy, satisfying, and ready to pile high at the table.
Why You’ll Love These Gyros
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Big flavor, minimal effort: a short marinade + high heat = juicy chicken and caramelized edges.
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Customizable bowls or wraps—great for picky eaters and meal prep.
Marinate the Chicken
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Toss chicken with oil, lemon, garlic, oregano, and spices until glossy and evenly coated.
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Tip: Even a short rest helps; the chicken should look well coated with no dry patches.
Make the Sauce
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Stir Greek yogurt with lemon, garlic, herbs, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
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Cue: Sauce should be thick enough to cling to a spoon; thin with a splash of water or lemon juice if needed.
Cook the Chicken
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Use a hot skillet or grill; arrange pieces with a little space for good browning (avoid crowding to prevent steaming).
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Doneness cues: edges browned, juices run clear, and no translucent centers when sliced.
Warm the Pitas & Assemble
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Warm pitas until soft and steamy; spread sauce, add chicken, pile on veg, and a final drizzle of sauce.
Make-Ahead, Storage & Reheat
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Make-ahead: Sauce keeps well; flavors bloom by the next day.
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Storage: Keep chicken, sauce, and veg separately in airtight containers in the fridge; assemble to serve.
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Reheat: Warm chicken gently in a skillet until hot and edges re-crisp.
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Leftovers: Turn into bowls with rice, or a chopped “gyro salad” with crunchy pita chips.
Saucy Chicken Gyros
Servings: 8 gyros
Calories Per Serving: 448 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons plain greek yogurt I used full fat
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken cut into thick strips
For the tzatziki
- 16 ounces plain greek yogurt I used full fat
- 1/2 hothouse cucumber or 1 regular cucumber peeled and seeded and diced small
- 2-3 cloves garlic grated (or finely minced)
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- half a fresh lemon juiced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Tapenade (optional)
- 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1/4 cup pitted green olives
- 1 clove garlic grated
- 1 pepperoncini diced (optional)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 6-8 homemade pita breads or store bought
- fresh cherry tomatoes halved
- feta cheese for serving
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, greek yogurt, oregano, dill, salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour or overnight.
- To prepare the tzatziki sauce pour any liquid off the surface of the greek yogurt. (I find it is best to use full fat greek yogurt for this, but 2% works ok as well. You want the yogurt to be thick, so if your greek yogurt seems thin strain it through a fine mesh strainer.) Mix together the greek yogurt, diced cucumber, garlic, white wine vinegar, dill, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle with olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
- If making the tapenade, dice the olives and mix in a small bowl with the garlic, pepperoncini, and parsley. Set aside
- To cook the chicken preheat your broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Place the chicken on a baking pan and broil the chicken for 5-7 minutes until cooked through. Pour the remaining marinade in a medium size skillet and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 minutes and then toss the cooked chicken with the sauce.
- Heat pitas (I just poped them in the microwave for a few seconds). Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese and tapenade if using. Serve immediately.
Notes
Here is the link to my Homemade Pita.
So how was your Saturday night? Hope it was better than ours.
Shared with: Inside BruCru Life, Lil Luna, Chef In Training, Buns In my Oven, Foodie Friday Friends, Tidy Mom, Taste and Tell, Cheerios and Lattes, Somewhat Simple, Mom on Timeout, I Heart Nap Time, Fine Craft Guide, The Country Cook, Whipperberry, Chef In Training
This post was originally published on February 18, 2013
Yum!! This is definitely going on our dinner plan for soon. And you’ve been featured on Clarks Condensed Dinner Party. Come check it out, and link up another recipe if you want! (and if you’d rather not have your photo featured, just let me know!)
http://www.clarkscondensed.com/2013/03/sunday-dinner-party-6.html
I love gyros! This sounds delicious & healthy! Would love it if you shared this & any other recipes at my Sweet & Savory Saturdays Link Party: http://dessertnowdinnerlater.blogspot.com/2013/03/sweet-savory-saturdays-2.html. Hope to see you there!
~Amber @ Dessert Now, Dinner Later!
I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and it looks delicious!! Sorry to hear about the car – hope you get it back!
It’s back!
I hope you’ve heard more about the car by now. I got here via Food Gawker, so I’m going to head to your home page to see. But wow, those gyros look great. Thanks for sharing! I’m craving lighter, fresher flavours right now. These will do nicely.
Yup, we got ut car back! Thanks for checking out my site!
Hi!!!
Thank you for entering your wonderful recipes into our linky party this week! Your recipes look great. Therfore: did you read/see that I opened an EXTRA LINKY PARTY **** JUST FOR YOU/OTHER CHEFS??!!!! How great is that?! I thought that you would love it but I see that you put your recipes again amidst all those crafty things. That’s no good. Better if they stand out! The RECIPES party is BELOW the regular party. Eventually, all recipes will be removed from the regular party. So, be sure to link them up at the RECIPES party, okay?!!
Have a wonderful day! ~ Rose
oh no! That totally sucks about the car..people can be soawful…on the bright side, the look fabulous! I cant wait to try them!!
I love gyros! These look great, and I love it’s chicken so the meat is actually easy to find.
These look absolutely delicious!
What an adventure! No fun. But I love the idea of chicken gyros! Thanks for the recipe.
Oh no, I am so sorry about your car!! And Silverthorne really IS one of those itty-bitty towns (though GORGEOUS, I’ve visited a few times) which makes it even crazier! Well, at least one good thing came out of that night, because those gyros look absolutely mouthwatering! I’m bookmarking them now, thanks for sharing at OTMM!!
~April
Sounds like a wonderful recipe! Pinned. Hope the car has turned up — undamaged! — by now. Thanks so much for sharing on Busy Monday!
I made these today, and I was super excited about them. I love Gyros! They turned out beautiful looking. However, the taste was a little off. I think maybe too much dill. I would suggest using a teaspoon instead of a whole tablespoon. After the first couple, I added a little sugar to the tzatziki and I thought that improved the flavor. Anyway, thank you for your recipe, and I hope the car is found!!!!
Nathan, thank for for letting me know what you thought. I am really glad you said something about the dill because I did not mean to write a tablespoon. There should only be 1/2 teaspoon of dill. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention. I have fixed the recipe!
So sorry about your car! How terrible!
These look amazing though! I am not a huge fan of lamb, so chicken in these gyros sounds delicious!
These look delicious ~ they are going on our menu next week. Thanks for sharing the recipe at the Happy Hour Project link party. That’s how I found you. And I absolutely love your photos. How do you make them so large?
I have no idea, I do not do the tech stuff. I am pretty sure it is just they way my layout is designed.
These look delicious! I’m going to make them really soon; I’m sure my family will love them! And I clicked through to see what happened with your car… I’m so glad it turned out okay for you.