Chicken Gyros- "better than a restaraunt"

So when I was studying in Paris and Amsterdam, I ate gyros like crazy! Oh they are SO AMAZINGLY GOOD! Over there they have a gigantic chunk of meat twirling around and they shave it off into your gyro - Like this



Well obviously I don't have a gigantic chunk of mystery meat (I assume it is lamb), so I made these yummy gyros with chicken. They were a huge hit at our house! Everyone loved them - especially my hubby - whose exact words were "these are better than the gyros we get catered to our school". Followed by "oh man this is the best dinner ever"!

It is a quick weekday dinner, and perfect for these summer months when you don't want to use your oven.

Chicken Gyros: (adapted from www.beantownbaker.com)
1 1/4 pounds chicken ( I used 3 breasts)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons plain yogurt *just reserve 2 tablespoons of your tzatziki
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
salt and pepper

Tzatziki: (adapted from Kat Cora)
2 cups Greek plain yogurt (I used Oikos)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium cucumber (seeded and diced)

shredded lettuce
red onion (sliced)
feta cheese (crumbled)
diced tomatoes
pita bread or naan bread

So first of all you will make your tzatziki. Combine yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Peel your cucumber and use a spoon to get all the seeds out of the middle. Dice the cucumber then place in a dish towel to dry and get all the moisture out of the cucumbers. Let them sit in the towel while you prepare your chicken. Reserve 2 tablespoons tzatziki (minus the cucumbers) and use for your marinade.

Place chicken in a large bowl and combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Cover bowl and let chicken marinade in the fridge for about an hour.

It will look like this

While your chicken is marinading slice your onions, tomatoes and lettuce. When its done marinating cut into strips and cook chicken in a skillet with a little olive oil until its done. To prepare gyro spread some tzatziki onto your pita or naan, crumble a good amount of feta cheese, next add some chicken, then top it off with lots of red onions, some lettuce and tomatoes.

Done! That was easy!


*note- I used naan bread instead of pita bread because I couldn't find any pita bread that was good and soft. If you are feeling like super woman (or man) you could make your own pita bread... otherwise just go with whatever's good at your grocery store. The naan was fantastic...a little large.... but we had no trouble finishing it!