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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
I left the chicken breasts whole and grilled them. I also used regular mayo because I was out of Greek yogurt, but the chicken was tender, juicy and so tasty. The sauce had so much flavor! It was tangy and pungent in the best way. This was the best meal we have had in a long time, thank you!
Hi Katie,
Amazing! So glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, I appreciate you making it! Have a great day!
Amazing as always! the meat is so moist and delicious for the sauce!
Thanks so much Valentina:) So glad to hear this recipe was enjoyed! Have a great day! xT
Excellent recipe, very easy to make!!
Hey Angela,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it!! Have a great weekend! xx
I made these but I cooked the chicken in a pan on the stove so good I added some onion powder to the Yogurt sauce and put red onions in the gyro so good
Will be making this again but next time I am going to grill the chicken
Hey Alyssa,
Happy Monday!! I am delighted to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try!🍁 xxT
Excellent recipe…and sorry to hear about your parents car. Hoping it all worked out.
Using so many recipes from your new cookbook.
Hi Tina,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xT
Tieghan,
Just made these for the family and they were well received! Even my notoriously picky brother loved them! So quick, easy and delicious! Thanks!
Wow!! So awesome!! Thanks Sarah!!
Your recipes are seriously amazing! I made these for dinner tonight using your pita recipe and they were fantastic. Your blog has yielded some staples that are in the dinner rotation in our house and I love the beautiful pictures that accompany your recipes! Keep up the great work!
Awe wow! Thank you so much!! So happy you loved this! 🙂
Is this the same recipe as http://www.annies-eats.com/2009/06/02/chicken-gyros/ ? Just wondering which one I should credit as the original.
Hi Becky, I developed this recipe myself. It’s my original recipe.
Girl, you rock! I’ve made these a bunch of times… I crave them! Soooo goooood! Keep up the good work. You have some great ideas, and so young!
Awe, thank you so much!! You are so sweet, Amy and I am so glad you love these!
So, I’ve made everything for tomorrow. Now I’ve realized my broiler has two settings… low and high. Which setting should I set it at to cook the chicken? My husband has been craving gyros ever since we left Florida and can’t find anything decent here in Hawaii, and your recipe looks perfect! I’m so excited to try it!
Thanks! – Diana
I used high, but low would also work. Just got make sure to cook the chicken, but not burn it! So watch it closely. I hope you guys love these!! Let me know!
I have to tell you these gyros are DELISH! I re-heated them and ate everything on toast (bc I was out of pita bread) and it was still amazing! Everyone loved them. Thank you so much for this recipe. This will be in my recipe book for years!
YA!! Thank you so much for letting me know you loved them! I love comments like these!!
Hi. I made these for dinner last night. They were AWESOME. I didn’t have the pepperoncini in my tapenade, still good. The bread, wow, that’s a great recipe. I have a stand mixer but it sounded like I wanted to feel the texture so I did it by hand. That comes together quick. Chicken was excellent, I added some boneless skinless thighs too because those are my sweeties fav. The greek yogurt I ended up with was 0% fat but VERY thick. I think the label said “strained”. It was still good. Thank you so much for the post! It’s a keeper recipe. I can’t wait for some leftover leg of lamb to wrap in the bread too.
i am so happy you guys liked these!! I cant believe you actually choose to knead the bread with your hands!! I bet your arms got a nice work out! Thank so for leaving such an awesome comment!
Made these tonight, blogging them as we speak! They were positively amazing, thank you SO much!! One of my new favorite meals!
~April
http://dimplesanddelights.blogspot.com/2013/03/chicken-gyros-homemade-soft-pita-bread.html
Glad you like them!
these look amazing! great photography too!
Thank you!
I usually use a cheese grater and grate my cucumber for the tzaziki, and once it’s grated use paper towel (or a clean tea towel) and squeeze out as much moisture as I can so that the cucumber does not make the tzaziki watery in any way. I put tzaziki on my roasted potatoes, use it as a dip for pita bread or fries, or (surprisingly delicious) dipping Ruffles Hot Wings chips in it!!! I always have it in my fridge.
I love how you marinated your chicken, I will have to try that tonight, as I was planning on making gyros for dinner! I also add diced red peppers and onions to mine, it’s delicious!
Yum, this sounds great! I used really small cucs so there was not a whole lot od water in them! My tzaziki was still thick and delicious, but you way is definitely the traditional way of doing it!
Wow! This recipe looks amazing. I am definitely trying this one out for dinner–maybe even tonight! Thanks! (Glad to hear you got your car back!)