Yogurt Marinated Greek-Style Chicken Gyros

Last summer, my two oldest kids went on a trip to Italy, Greece, and Croatia!  Nope, I wasn't with them.  But apparently they had some really great food along the way; and ever since then, they've been asking me to make them some chicken gyros like the ones they had in Greece.  Gulp!  That's a pretty tall order!  So on a week where I was preparing for them to leave me again for a vacation week at their grandmother's house, I thought it would be a great time to show them some love by making something special before they left.  Oh and for those of you who have never had one, these fabulous sandwiches that you can pick up from the Greek street vendors are pronounced "yee-ro," not "jy-ro."

The great thing about this, is that you can make these up for people who may be coming home at different times.  Sometimes we don't all necessarily make it home at the same time in the evening. With the flexibility of this recipe, you can just take a chicken breast out of the marinade at different points, throw one on the grill pan, and let them make up their own gyro as they arrive.


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Ingredients:  (4 servings)

• 1.5 pounds chicken
• 1 Tbsp (~ 4 cloves) finely diced garlic
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice (1 large lemon)
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, plain
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• kosher salt
• black pepper

To serve:

• flatbread/pocketless pita breads
• homemade tzatziki
• red onions
• tomatoes
• lettuce
• feta cheese 
• sprinkle with smoked paprika 

Step-by-Step:
First - I do highly recommend the homemade tzatziki with this recipe!  You will be happy you did.  :) It is not hard to make at all.  It's actually best if you make it ahead of time - several hours or even a day ahead.

For the marinade.  Add all the ingredients together for the marinade.  Our marinade will be full of protein in addition to all these flavors because of the Greek yogurt.

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt  +  1 Tbsp finely diced garlic  +  2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar  +  2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (~1 large lemon)

1 Tbsp dried oregano.  Now mix it all together.  Now smell it.  Mmmmm....

Okie dokie.  Step 2.  Let's prepare the chicken.  I purchased "thinly cut" chicken breasts as a time saving step.  These have already been cut in half.  If yours aren't you may need to cut the top from the bottom.

I placed them into a big gallon-sized zip-top bag and pounded them out, just to make sure that they were uniform thickness.  That will accomplish a few of things.  First, it will make sure that they cook uniformly.  Second, it will tenderize them.  Third, if they are even thinner, they will cook even faster.

Now dump the marinade into the bag over the flattened chicken.

You can work the marinade around to make sure it's all evenly distributed and then just shove the chicken in the fridge somewhere for a few hours and go about your business.  I love marinating things in a zip-top bag.  It takes up so much less space because you can just squish it somewhere.

Allow the chicken to marinate anywhere from 1 hour to about 3 hours.  In my opinion, the chicken after the 3 hours is best.

Grill on a really nice and hot grill or grill pan.  Now is when you want to add the salt and pepper.  I like to cook with kosher salt.  I find it harder to oversalt.  

Leave it alone while it's cooking.  It should release easily when it's ready to turn.  See the beautiful grill marks it will leave?  If you don't have a grill pan, you really should ask Santa for one.  :)  Allow the chicken to rest a few minutes before cutting into it.

While the chicken is resting, you can warm your flatbreads.  I don't recommend trying to serve them cold.  They will just tear.  If you don't have a gas stove, you could wrap them in a damp towel and steam them in the microwave a bit.  But blistering them over the fire is my favorite way to do it.  Be sure you use some long-handled tongs for this job! 

See how pretty?  Do both sides, obviously.

Now build your gyro.  Take your warm flatbread.  Slice up that juicy chicken.  Add some homemade tzatziki, and all the trimmings!  *Tip - You can pick up these little pop up foil sandwich wrappers in the grocery section that sells plastic wrap, aluminum foil, etc.  That way, you can serve it just like the street venders.  Another plus, it really helps to hold them together while you eat them, or wrap them up to go in someone's lunch.

TaDA!  How gorgeous is this?!  And oh my gosh, it was so juicy and delicious!

You may be wondering if my gyros passed the test with Mr Picky Palate?  He said they tasted very much like what they had in Greece and the flavors were right.  He gave the official stamp of approval.  Except in Greece, they serve them sprinkled with smoked paprika on top, so he added some to his.  I tried it.  It did have a nice flavor sprinkled over the top... so that gives you something else to consider.  Ha!

I hope you enjoyed this simple and delicious recipe!

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Pizza Poppin' Muffins

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Crab Rangoons

Written Method:

First - I do highly recommend the homemade tzatziki with this recipe!  You will be happy you did.  :) It is not hard to make at all.  It's actually best if you make it ahead of time - several hours or even a day ahead.

For the marinade.  Add all the ingredients together for the marinade.  Our marinade will be full of protein in addition to all these flavors because of the Greek yogurt.

Step 2.  Prepare the chicken.  I purchased "thinly cut" chicken breasts as a time saving step.  I placed them into a big gallon-sized zip-top bag and pounded them out, just to make sure that they were uniform thickness.  That will accomplish a few of things.  First, it will make sure that they cook uniformly.  Second, it will tenderize them.  Third, if they are even thinner, they will cook even faster. Now dump the marinade into the bag over the flattened chicken.  You can work the marinade around to make sure it's all evenly distributed and then just shove the chicken in the fridge somewhere for a few hours and go about your business.  I love marinating things in a zip-top bag.  It takes up so much less space because you can just squish it somewhere.

Allow the chicken to marinate anywhere from 1 hour to about 3 hours.  In my opinion, the chicken after the 3 hours is best.  Grill on a really nice and hot grill or grill pan.  Now is when you want to add the salt and pepper.  I like to cook with kosher salt.  I find it harder to oversalt.  
Leave it alone while it's cooking.  It should release easily when it's ready to turn.  See the beautiful grill marks it will leave?  If you don't have a grill pan, you really should ask Santa for one.  :)  Allow the chicken to rest a few minutes before cutting into it.

While the chicken is resting, you can warm your flatbreads.  I don't recommend trying to serve them cold.  They will just tear.  If you don't have a gas stove, you could wrap them in a damp towel and steam them in the microwave a bit.  But blistering them over the fire is my favorite way to do it.  Be sure you use some long-handled tongs for this job! Do both sides, obviously.

Now build your gyro.  Take your warm flatbread.  Slice up that juicy chicken.  Add some homemade tzatziki, and all the trimmings!  *Tip - You can pick up these little pop up foil sandwich wrappers in the grocery section that sells plastic wrap, aluminum foil, etc.  That way, you can serve it just like the street venders.  Another plus, it really helps to hold them together while you eat them, or wrap them up to go in someone's lunch.

BLT Buffalo Chicken Wrap

This happened to be one of those days.... woke up before daylight with a headache, which persisted the entire day on and off.  I could just tell this was not going to be a cooking night!  Chicken tenders and mac-n-cheese for the kids.  Yes, really.  I know that every parent out there has those kinds of nights every once in a while!  But anyway, from the leftover chicken tenders, I made myself a really awesome Buffalo Chicken Wrap, so it wasn't entirely a bad evening.   

This is a fabulous way to use up extra chicken tenders from the kids, or whatever cooked leftover chicken you may happen to have.  Adding all the salad ingredients into the mix really gives this wrap a fresh crunchiness, and the garden spinach tortilla makes me feel like I'm incorporating even more veggies into this quick meal.  

Don't get me wrong - these made a very satisfying (and filling) dinner, but they would be just awesome to fix for your brown bag office lunches, picnics, tailgating, etc.!  Don't worry - even the guys will enjoy these.... after all, what guy doesn't love buffalo chicken?!

Click for Printable Recipe

Ingredients: (per wrap)

• about 3 oz cooked chicken
• yes, I used leftover chicken tenders!
• buffalo chicken sauce of your choice
• I used Moore's.  It's not too incredibly hot.
• about 2 Tbsp per serving
• garden spinach wraps
• sure - use whatever kind you want!
• prepared buttermilk ranch dressing
• bluecheese crumbles
• I used the reduced fat kind
• romaine lettuce blend
• shredded cheddar cheese
• I used a reduced fat Mexican blend
• diced fresh tomatoes
• diced avocado spritzed with lime juice
• chopped cooked bacon

Step-by-Step:

Let me first say that making any type of "sandwich" (or wrap) is a very personal thing.  With four kids, I know all too well that each person has their own preferred balance of flavors and ingredients.  So I have intentionally left off "amounts" from the ingredient list.  A recipe is meant to be a guide, not a Bible... so definitely make this to your taste!

Cut your chicken into strips, and drizzle it with a couple of tablespoons of buffalo chicken sauce to coat. 

2 leftover chicken tender (waste not, want not!  LOL)

2 Tbsp buffalo chicken sauce

Now, just layer your ingredients onto your tortilla.
I begin with a nice smear of the ranch dressing so it will sort of hold all the ingredients to the wrap. 

a spoon or so of buttermilk ranch dressing

Layer on the lettuce, buffalo chicken, and all the rest of your ingredients.

romaine lettuce blend

The sauced chicken

reduced fat blue cheese crumbles

fresh diced tomatoes

diced avocados that I spritzed with a little lime juice so they wouldn't oxidize and turn brown

2 strips of crumbled cooked bacon

reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese

Wrap and roll, baby!!!!  - then slice and serve with a side of ranch for dipping.

fold the ends in first, then just roll up!

These have so many great textures, big flavors, crunchy ingredients, smooth ingredients, my beloved cheese, tangy and creamy flavors... Woo Hoo!!!  And don't forget that these are mobile, which means that YOUR lunchbox will be the envy of the office.  :)

I do hope that you've enjoyed this recipe and you are about to rush out to buy ingredients to make your own!!!  If you want to know what other sorts of recipes I have up my sleeve, hop on over to my Recipe Index for tons of ideas that you can cook with/for your family.

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And as always, here are a few "bonus" recipes for you.  Just click the links to go directly there.
Tzatziki

Mongolian Beef

Roasted Cornish Game Hens

Vietnames Style Lettuce Cups

Toasted Coconut Martinis

Skinny Mexican Pizza

Method:
Cut your chicken into strips, and drizzle it with a couple of tablespoons of buffalo chicken sauce to coat. 

Layer your ingredients onto your tortilla.  I begin with a nice smear of the ranch dressing so it will sort of hold all the ingredients to the wrap. 

Layer on the lettuce, buffalo chicken, and all the rest of your ingredients.

Wrap and roll, baby!!!!  - then slice and serve with a side of ranch for dipping.

These have so many great textures, big flavors, crunchy ingredients, smooth ingredients, my beloved cheese, tangy and creamy flavors... Woo Hoo!!!  And don't forget that these are mobile, which means that lunchbox will be the envy of the office.  :)