Can't get enough of your favorite Greek restaurant's gyros? Try this quick and easy chicken gyro recipe for something just as delicious, but far better for you! Yogurt-marinated chicken tenders, packed with flavor from warm spices, and loaded into a pita wrap with homemade tzatziki sauce and all the fixings you love!
You can make this Greek chicken in a skillet or pan, outdoor grill, or baked in the oven. Check out the tips and step-by-step tutorial below.
Here's the thing about restaurant gyros--the ones made of a combination of lamb and beef, roasted for hours on a spit--they are absolutely delicious! And I do eat them, occasionally. But, reality is, they are a bit on the heavier side.
But we don't have to give up the bright Greek flavors, there is a way to make a darn good gyro right at home that is healthier and still just as delicious: Homemade Greek Chicken Gyros!
Homemade Chicken Gyro Recipe with Tzatziki
Super succulent chicken breast tenders, loaded with all the bright Greek flavors we love (the secret is in the marinade we talk about later.) Warm up some pita to carry the chicken, add in tztaziki sauce, some veggies, and olives, and you've got your chicken gyros!
One of things I really love about this chicken gyro recipe is that it comes together so quickly, making for a wholesome meal any night of the week. And no, you do not need to fire up the grill, although you can if you want. But you can just make the chicken in your skillet or even baked in the oven (I've included all the cooking options below.)
Greek Chicken Marinade/ Gyro Chicken Marinade
The yogurt marinade is the secret to flavor-packed gyros! I make a simple and versatile Greek chicken marinade that you can use regularly, even if you're not making chicken gyros. This is a yogurt marinade with a nice dose of fresh minced garlic and a few warm spices (oregano, paprika, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper, cayenne if you like heat). A little fresh lemon juice and red wine vinegar add enough citrus, and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil rounds up the flavor.
What does yogurt add to the marinade here? The lactic acid and calcium in yogurt works to gently break down the protein in the chicken breast tenders, making them more flavorful and super tender. And you'll notice a bit of a crust too around this chicken, the yogurt does that too!
My advice for you here is to make sure you get the chicken marinating at least 30 minutes before you're ready to cook it (you can marinate the chicken overnight for even more flavor.)
How to Make this Chicken Gyro Recipe
1. First, make the marinade. Combine the Greek yogurt with garlic, spices, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix with a spoon or whisk to make sure all is well-combined.
2. Add chicken to the Greek yogurt marinade. Using a pair of tongs, toss chicken and make sure all the pieces are well-coated in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (You can also do this step one night in advance and refrigerate overnight.)
3. When you're ready, heat a little bit of extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is just shimmering (don't let it smoke.) Add chicken (make sure you shake excess marinade off). Cook for 5 minutes on one side until nicely browned, then turn over and cook another 5 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. (Resist disturbing the chicken as it cooks, you want a great color on these tenders!)
(I did use a cast iron skillet as you see in this picture, but I do think non-stick is easier to work with in this case.)
4. Assemble the yummy gyros! Warm your pitas and spread some mean homemade tztaziki sauce. Add a couple pieces of your beautiful Greek chicken and top with the sliced veggies and olives. Enjoy!
Can I grill or bake the chicken instead?
For these chicken gyros, you can absolutely use an outdoor grill, or you can bake the chicken if you need to:
-For outdoor grill. Grill chicken tenders over medium heat for about 5 minutes on one side, turn over and grill for another 4 to 5 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Be sure the grill grates are lightly oiled, and shake excess marinate before placing chicken on the grill.
- For oven. To bake, heat oven to 375 degrees F. Shake excess marinade off the chicken tenders and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in heated oven for about 20 minutes or until done.
What to Serve with Chicken Gyros?
These chicken gyros are a complete meal on their own, really. If you want to change things up, rather than cutting up slices of veggies to top your gyros, try this Mediterranean-style homemade salsa. You can also add a bright salad to start with is always nice. There are lots of salad options in the recipe archives here, including Traditional Greek Salad, Mediterranean Couscous Salad, Watermelon Salad, or Grilled Zucchini Salad.
For sides, a new favorite are these easy baked zucchini sticks with thyme and Parmesan! And if you have the time for a hearty side, try Greek roasted potatoes. These take a bit of time in the oven, but you can prepare them in advance and just heat up when you're ready to serve the gyros.
Watch the Video for How to Make These Homemade Chicken Gyros
More Mediterranean chicken recipes to try:
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BEST Homemade Chicken Gyro Recipe
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Makes 4 to 5 gyro wraps 1x
Description
Easy homemade Greek chicken gyro recipe. Yogurt-marinated chicken tenders, packed with flavor from warm spices, and loaded into a pita wrap with homemade tzatziki sauce and all the fixings you love! You can make this Greek chicken in a non-stick pan, outdoor grill, or baked in the oven.
Check out all the tips and step-by-step up in the post.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 1.5 lb Chicken tenders
- Extra virgin olive oil for the pan (see our Greek extra virgin olive oils here)
For the Chicken Gyro Marinade
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (you can use reduced fat or fat free Greek yogurt if you like)
- Juice of 1 large lemon
- 2 tbsp Greek extra virgin olive oil (try Private Reserve Greek EVOO)
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Kosher salt, generous pinch to taste
- Black pepper, generous pinch to taste
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- pinch cayenne pepper, optional
Other Gyro Fixings
- Pita bread
- Homemade Tztaziki Sauce (Recipe Here)
- 1 large Tomato, sliced
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 1 green pepper, cored and sliced
- 1 small red onion, sliced into half moons
- pitted kalamata olives
Instructions
- Marinate chicken and prepare gyro fixings. In a larger mixing bowl, combine the marinade ingredients, mix well. Add the chicken tenders and mix to make sure chicken is well coated with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or refrigerate overnight.) Meanwhile, make Tztaziki sauce according to this recipe, and prepare the pita and other gyro fixings.
- Cook chicken. Heat 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high until shimmering but not smoking. Add chicken tenders to the pan (make sure to shake off any excess marinade before adding chicken to the pan.) Cook on one side undisturbed for 5 minutes until browned. Using a pair of tongs, turn chicken over and cook on other side for another 5 minutes or until chicken is done. (See notes for outdoor grilling)
- Assemble the chicken gyros. Warm up some pita. Spread Tztaziki sauce on top, then add chicken (about 2 to 3 tenders) and top with tomato, cucumber, green pepper, red onion and olives as you like. Wrap the pita up and enjoy!
Notes
- Cook's Tip: Allow 30 minutes of inactive time for chicken to marinate.
- Cook's Tip for Prepare Ahead: You can prepare the chicken and marinate one night in advance. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to cook.
- Cook's Tip for Outdoor Grilling: If you'd rather fire up the grill for these chicken gyros, you can grill them on a medium-heated grill for 5 minutes on one side, turn over and cook another 3 to 5 minutes or until chicken is fully done (internal temperature should register 165 degrees F.)
- Cook's Tip for Baking in the Oven: heat oven to 375 degrees F. Shake excess marinade off the chicken tenders and arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in heated oven for about 20 minutes or until done.
- What to Serve With Chicken Gyros? The obvious choice to add next to these gyros is a traditional Greek salad, but I also highly recommend this tasty Mediterranean couscous salad or this grilled zucchini salad. Greek Roasted Potatoes are also great to add, if you have the time.
- To make Tztaziki sauce: Use this recipe for tzatziki sauce (tztaziki sauce nutrition information is included with its own recipe.)
- Shop Ingredients: Visit The Mediterranean Dish Shop for our Greek Extra virgin olive oils and our all-natural and organic spices including sweet paprika, ground cumin, and coriander. Create your own 6-pack of spices or try our Ultimate Mediterranean Spice Bundle.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Entree
- Method: Stovetop or grilled
- Cuisine: Greek
These gyros are out of this world! Thank you so much for sharing!
Served them with your tzatziki sauce - the whole family loved it!
I also added some grilled kefalotyri to the filling,
The recipe is pinned, printed out, memorized and will definitely be used over and over again 🙂
Oh, wonderful!! Thank you, Irina!
I don't have red wine vinegar. Can I use regular vinegar and what would be the measurement? Thank you.
Regular vinegar can be overwhelming, but a milder-tasting vinegar like white wine vinegar will work. If all you have is white distilled vinegar, maybe use just 1 tablespoon instead of 2.
Love, love love these. The marinade is the secret. It is delicious!u
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed them, Susie K 🙂 🙂
I made the Greek gyros and they were so tasty!! I loved the marinade so much that I used this marinade to make a more flavorful And healthier chicken salad and it was amazing!! Highly recommend making extra marinade and doing the same!
Thanks for that tip, Gina!!
This is good.
Jane Muhonen
I made this for dinner last night and it was all I had hoped it would be. The flavors were fantastic as written. I marinated for about 3 hours but think next time I will marinate overnight. Make it, you won't be disappointed!
Thanks, Rhonda!
Just made this and it’s wonderful! So tasty! I haven’t used yogurt as a marinade before so I’m so excited to now have this recipe! I love the “crust” it creates on the chicken while having the inside stay juicy and tender. I just wish I had a better quality pita bread and some of your suggested veggies on this first try. Next time! Thank you so much!!
Hi, Elaine! So glad you enjoyed the marinade! If you're looking for a great pita, check out our homemade pita recipe! They're really easy to do! https://www.themediterraneandish.com/homemade-pita-bread-recipe/
This came out awesome I will marinate overnight family loved it
That's great to hear! Thanks, Adrianne!
Addictive!! So freaking good ?
Thanks, Jessica!
Wow this is a fantastic recipe, the chicken came out great (marinaded it over night). The gyros tasted just like our favorite Mediterranean restaurant. Thanks.
So glad you enjoyed it, Richard!
Just made the marinade for dinner tonight and can’t wait! I’m doing Weight Watchers— is the above nutritional value JUST for the chicken? Or a fully assembled pita, with the exception of sauce? Thank you!
Hi Shelby, the nutrition info is for 1 assembled gyro with pita, veggies and yogurt. Keep in mind, nutrition information is provided via a nutrition calculator and is really a best estimate
It's amazing how some of your dishes just stand out in my mind, even though I made this months ago. Just scrolling through all the recipes reminds me that I have to make this dish or that dish again and again. Thank you.
Oh thank you so much, Ellen! I am so glad to hear it.
You are amaizing & simple. It inspiyers very much to cooking . I appriciate , thank you
Thank you for the kind words, Tajer!
Hi - wondering do you think this recipe would work in a pressure cooker?
Thanks 🙂
It could, Sofia, but this method is pretty quick and easy, not sure you'll get a better result with the pressure cooker.
This is an absolutely incredible recipe!!! I was planning on Gyros for our Sunday dinner this week and after finding this recipe, I decided to do a trial run on my husband today. A man who typically prefers red meats to chicken, he LOVED this so much, he has requested it again on Sunday with extra for next week!
Thank you so much for sharing.
That's awesome! Thanks, Susan!
Please advise what to use instead of yogurt
Micky crmn