Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

  • Home
    • About
    • FAQs
  • Recipes
    • Bread and Breakfast
    • Condiments
    • Dairy
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes and Snacks
    • Desserts
    • Gluten Free
    • Instant Pot
    • Crock Pot
    • Heavenly Homemaker’s Weekly Menus
  • Homemaking
    • Real Food Sources
  • Store
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Simple Meals
  • Club Members!

How to Make a Gyro

May 3, 2020 by Bethany Lotulelei 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Note from Laura: I asked my friend Bethany to share this. I’ve never attempted it – but she has mastered it! So now we can all learn how to make a gyro!

Gyro meat recipe

By Bethany:

I was pregnant, and I wanted a gyro.Yum

Needed a gyro. Couldn’t think of anything BUT a gyro. And so I began my search.

We live in a small town, and the closest restaurant with gyros was over an hour away. I knew I didn’t want to drive that far with a toddler in tow to buy one, so I took myself to our local Arby’s, and ordered a sandwich on their menu that included the word “gyro” in its description. A few minutes later I was sadly eating a subpar, roast beef sandwich. Strike out number one.

Next, I scoured Wal-Mart, and found a kit in the frozen food section for gyro sandwiches. I’m not usually one to frequent the fast food drive thru OR frozen food aisle, but–pregnancy craving–so I bought it, made it, and regretted it. Those “gyros” were even more pitiful than the Arby’s version. Strike out number two.

I searched the second grocery store in town for anything even vaguely resembling a gyro, but to no avail. Strike out number three.

Completely out of options, I opened my laptop, and researched how to make gyro meat. Then I got to work in the kitchen. I used ground beef, added tons of spices, blended the meat, baked it, sliced it, and served it in homemade pita bread with lots of toppings.

It wasn’t until my husband was eating a gyro, and asked me where I had found gyro meat, that I knew it tasted authentic! Yay!

And now, I am sharing the recipe with you, sweet readers!

Be Mindful of Your Blender

When I was making this recipe, I was blending the meat in the blender, and thinking wistfully about how both Laura and Tasha own and love their Blendtec blenders. I was wondering, as I merrily blended away, if/when my own generic blender of five years bit the dust I, too, could buy the Blender of all Blenders.

As I stood there, staring out the window, dreaming of another blender, smoke began seeping out of my own blender.

I think I killed it with my own disgruntled thoughts.

That, or attempting to blend too much meat all at one time.

So, readers, learn from me: perhaps blend the meat in small quantities to avoid any issues! Unless, of course, you are trying to kill your blender in order to buy a Blendtec. Ahem.

Gyro Meat
 
Save Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
50 mins
Total time
1 hour
 
Author: Bethany Lotulelei
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 small onion peeled, and quartered
  • 2 pounds ground beef or lamb
  • 6 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 T Italian spices (oregano, rosemary, thyme)
  • 3 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoons ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Blend the onion chunks, and then put them into a paper towel and squeeze out the moisture.
  2. Stir all the ingredients, including the blended onions, together in a bowl and set in the fridge to marinate for 1-24 hrs.
  3. Remove meat mixture from fridge. Adding a little at a time, blend it in your blender.
  4. Take the meat mixture, and pack it into a bread pan, being careful to remove any air pockets.
  5. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until done.
  6. Remove the pan from the oven, pour off any oil that has accumulated.
  7. Wrap a brick or heavy bread pan in foil, and set on top of the gyro meat loaf, to compress the meat. After twenty minutes, remove the weight.
  8. Chill, and then slice into thin strips for your gyros!
3.5.3229

How to Construct a Perfect Gyro Sandwich

The perfect gyro meat is:

  • Heavily spiced (use lots of garlic, cumin, and Italian spices)
  • Has a dense texture (in order to achieve this at home, be sure to blend the meat, and then compress it after it is cooked)
  • Sliced into thin strips (after it is completely cooled)

How to serve the gyro:

  • Serve the meat in pita bread.
  • Add sweet onions, feta cheese, halved cherry tomatoes, and shredded lettuce.
  • Make your favorite cucumber yogurt dressing or Greek dressing to top it.

Additional Recipes:

  • This Pita Bread is a perfect for your gyro meat!
  • Either Homemade Fries or Sweet Potato Fries would make a great side dish!
  • I love to serve a Salad alongside my Gyro too!

 

 

Bethany is a stay-at-home mom to two. During her babies’ naptime, when she’s not dreaming of Blendtec blenders, she works behind the scenes for Laura.

Do you love gyros as much as I do?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Filed Under: Main Dishes, Recipes Tagged With: homemade gyros, restaurant knock off

Comments

  1. Braver says

    May 4, 2020 at 8:48 pm

    When it comes to gyro beef, I’m a purist and need it to be lamb, which is near impossible to find in my area. I started making them with boneless chicken breasts marinated in a Greek marinade and grilled. Just as tasty with meat that’s way easier to find. LOVE gyros! Why aren’t there more gyro stands around?? This is a national problem, if you ask me!

    Reply
    • Bethany Lotulelei says

      May 5, 2020 at 2:22 pm

      Yes! Lamb is hard to find in our area too. Marinated grilled chicken sounds amazing! I agree with you that there need to be more gyro stands around!

      -Bethany (HH Team)

      Reply
  2. Laura S says

    May 10, 2020 at 2:16 am

    I will be trying this!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  


Join Our Community!

 Facebook Twitter RSS E-mail Instagram Pinterest

Popular Posts

~ Will All of the Real Moms Please Stand Up?
~ Easy! Stir-and-Pour Whole Wheat Bread
~ How to Make Gatorade
~ 31 Real Food Breakfast Ideas
~ Dear Teenage Girls...
~ When Mom Takes a Step Back
~ The Inexpensive Health Insurance We Love!
~ Let's Talk Real Food Grocery Budgets

Check out our latest posts!

  • Easy Chili Cheese Dip
  • How to Make 5 Meals with 1 Pork Roast
  • Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwich Ideas
  • Parmesan Chicken and Rice Recipe – $1.00/person!
  • How to Beat Inflation at the Grocery Store
Home  ~  Simple Meals  ~  Club Membership  ~  Shop  ~  Privacy Policy  ~  Disclosure  ~ Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in