Homemade Gyros

If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know I love Mediterranean food – especially Gyros. Tbh, who doesn’t like gyros? It’s a wrap full of thoroughly cooked, flavorful sliced meat with toppings and sauce. It has all of the essentials and it’s so addicting. After Mexican food, I could probably eat a gyro everyday – except I don’t need any heart problems, heh.

After my transplant, I needed to eat low fat (and of course, low salt), and going out and picking up gyros for dinner wasn’t the greatest option. So, my amazing mother said she would be willing to figure out and how to make gyro meat at home! I researched a few recipes and sent them to her to study. She combined them and came up with her own version, which tasted AMAZING – and here’s the recipe:

HOMEMADE GYROS

INGREDIENTS:

For the Gyro Meat:

• 1/2 pound ground lamb
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
• ½ yellow onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 clove garlic, sliced

To Serve:

• Pocketless pita bread
• Tzatziki Sauce
• Tomato, coarsely chopped
• Yellow onion, thinly sliced

1. Make the Gyro Meat: In a medium bowl, combine the ground lamb, beef, salt, pepper and oregano leaves with your hands, mixing until all of the seasonings have been evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place the lamb mixture in the bowl of a food processor and add the onion, garlic. Process until a smooth puree is formed, 30 seconds to 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
3. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. With moistened hands, shape the lamb mixture into a rectangle about 8 inches long and 5 inches wide. Bake until the center of the loaf reaches 155 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
4. Adjust the oven rack to the highest position (1½ to 2 inches below broiler element) and preheat broiler. Slice the loaf of lamb meat crosswise into very thin pieces (they should be about ⅛-inch thick; no more than ¼-inch thick). Lay the strips on a rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and broil until edges are browned and crispy, 2 to 4 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it, as the broiler works quickly!

1. Serve the Gyros: Warm up the bread either in the microwave (30 seconds), on the stovetop or in the oven. Top each with ¼ cup of tzatziki sauce, chopped tomatoes, sliced onions and gyro meat. Wrap with foil and serve.

Being able to have gyros whenever I want at home is my ideal life and it came true. Because you make such a large quantity of meat, it can be sliced up after cooking and then packaged for the freezer. Whenever I’m in the mood to eat a gyro, I simply defrost a packet and enjoy it. The meat freezes well and it retains its flavor!