Years ago the Mediteranean diet was all the rage. Everyone was tapping into their secrets for living healthy lives. Since then, Greek food has been in the spotlight for it’s use of fresh herbs and spices, protein packed Greek yogurt, and flavorful meats.
I am full-on obsessed with it. Bring on the Greek food! I am pretty sure I could eat Pita Jungle every day of my life and be happy.
So, I wanted to create a homemade Greek Chicken Gyro recipe using marinated spiced chicken, grilled to perfection and topped with a homemade tzatziki sauce, fresh Greek Salad, all on a warm pita bread. Phenomenal!
Here’s a few key tips to making an out-of-this-world Greek Chicken Gyro with Tzatziki Sauce:
- Marinate your chicken. You want it to not only be flavorful but juicy as well. By marinating it in greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, spices, and red wine vinegar, it gives it time for the chicken to soak in all of those traditional Greek flavors. At least 2-4 hours is a suggested amount of time but 24 hours is ideal.
- Make your own Tzatziki sauce. It is so easy since it is made in one bowl and uses only the freshest of ingredients. The key is to squeeze out as much water from the grated cucumber as possible. This ensures that the tzatziki sauce stays nice and creamy. I used Fage 2% Greek yogurt but the fat-free version works well too. Taste for seasoning and salt accordingly.
- These Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki sauce can be wrapped in your favorite pita bread. You can use soft flatbread or Naan bread as well. Warm your pitas before wrapping to make them nice and soft.
- You can also serve this chicken, Greek salad, and handcrafted tzatziki sauce in a bowl. Serve alone or on top of romaine lettuce.
Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
35 mins
Marinated Greek Chicken topped with homemade Tzatziki sauce and Greek salad in warm pita bread.
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Greek
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- Chicken Marinade:
- 2 lbs. Chicken Breast cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
- 3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Oregano
-
- Tzatziki Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups Greek Yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
- 1-2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 Tablespoons Fresh Dill diced
- 3 Garlic Cloves finely diced
- 1 cucumber grated and squeezed to drain
-
- Greek Salad:
- 3 Tomatoes diced
- 2 Cucumber peeled and diced
- 1/4 Red Onion diced
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Italian Parsley diced
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Feta Cheese
-
- 4-6 Greek Pita Breads Naan bread, or Flatbread
Instructions
- Place chicken, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and oregano in bag and let marinate at least 30 minutes, preferably 2-4 hours. The ideal time is 24 hours.
- To make tzatziki sauce, stir together yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, dill, and garlic. Stir in grated cucumber and taste for seasonings. Squeeze the cucumber to remove excess water before adding to rest of ingredients.
- To make greek salad, place tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper in bowl. Stir to coat. Season to taste.
- Chicken can be cooked on grill or in skillet. To cook on grill -- place chicken on kebobs and heat grill to medium heat. Cook for 5-7 minutes per side or until chicken is full cooked.
- To cook chicken on skillet. Heat skillet to medium high heat. Sprinkle with oil. Add chicken and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked and golden brown.
- Place chicken in pita bread. You can warm the pita bread to make it pliable. Top with tzatziki sauce and greek salad. Add additional feta, if desired.
I hope your family loves these Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce and I can’t wait to hear all about what you are making in your kitchen!
I made thus tonight for my family. It was AMAZING!!!! Thank you so much;!!
Made these for dinner last night and they were delicious! Definitely keeping this recipe around. Thank you.
I made these for the first time 2 weeks ago and again tonight, the chicken, tzatziki sauce and Greek salad are fantastic and huge hit in our house! Reminds us of our favorite Mediterranean food truck so this is now a standard in our home! Thank you!!
I was wondering if these could be made ahead and frozen.
Hi Connie! I haven’t tried freezing them. I am not sure how the tzatziki sauce would do frozen. The chicken should be just fine though. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
This looks delicious! What brand of pita bread do you use?
First time I had these was at a Greek restaurant. Only thing they did different that I add now too is black olive, not the mushy called kind but good big ones whole. Pairs with the feta cheese perfectly!
This dish is also good with lamb 👌
This is my new favorite recipe! That tzatziki is AMAZING.
I made these last night and it was so good. I didn’t change a thing in the recipe. Yum. Just so much yum.
Awesome recipe! My meat and potato husband even liked them. Thank you for the great recipe.
Thank you so much, Susan! It’s one of our favorites too because it is so full of FLAVOR. So happy your husband liked it too!
Should I rinse off the marinade before cooking in skillet?
I cook mine in a cast iron skillet medium heat, I shake them off pretty good. Any type of sauce, even pepper burns, to be on the safe side I don’t Rinse but am still careful.
I made these today for lunch. Absolutely delicious! I was able to marinade the chicken overnight too.
My chicken didn’t look as good as your it still tasted great.
Love the sauce and used it multiple times on a wrap with extra chicken I had.
It was a great hit with me and my husband.
I use a cast iron skillet for almost all my meat then set it aside, cut it, whatever I need after it’s rested.
Even shrimp for Alfredo I add on top then cover with sauce, I don’t cook it in the sauce.
Beautiful my daughter ask for it a 2nd time in same week. Nothing left. Easy recipe.
I’ve been craving this meal for a long time. Made it tonight and it was fantastic. The real deal! Tons of flavor!! This is going into our family recipe book!
Hi how long will this last in the fridge? I usually meal prep and this sounds like a great idea to do for the week 🙂
This was really good. I mean really, really good! Next time I’ll cut down on the salt but this is definitely a keeper. Thank you
I made this recipe the other night and it was delicious! Even my husband who is not a fan of chicken loved it. This is a keeper. Thank you for sharing!
How do I squeeze the juice out of the cucumber?
Shred onto a kitchen towel, fold the towel up at the sides to enclose the shredded zucchini and then twist the towel to squeeze out the water. There will be a surprising amount so squeeze into a bowl or in the sink. There’s a YouTube video on this (actually a zucchini but same technique).
Made this last evening,summertime on a flatbread! So good. Make sure to use fresh ingredients !
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit. This will definitely be a regular on our menu. Thanks for posting!
For the marinade, do you use fresh or dried oregano?
Can’t wait to try these – sounds perfect for a hot summer day!
Made this last night – chicken & tzatziki only & it was absolutely divine. Added grilled zucchini & put that tzatziki on everythinggg. It’s going to become and all time fridge staple, methinks!
Made these tonight, on a hot summer night in Austin TX, wanted something grilled outside. Great chicken – grilled on kebab sticks. The tzatziki had a really good zing to it.. I may have put a little extra garlic in it.
Added to the favorites list! Will need to check out more of the recipes here. :- )
This was sooooo good! I didn’t actually make the salad part because I made a different salad. But the chicken and tzatziki were delicious.
I don’t leave comments on recipes often but have to with this one. It was a huge 5 star success. I didn’t scrimp with the ingredients. Using fresh herbs and the freshest of vegetables, lemon, feta etc. The flavors were amazing. It made alot! Had to go to a potluck the next day and added a package of cooked cooled rotini. Stirred in the rest of the tzatziki in the salad. That was a hit as well. Thank you. This is now a show stopper potluck success!!
I’m full on obsessed with Greek food and with this recipe. I’ve made it a half a dozen times this summer and love it!
I had a craving for chicken gyros and ran across your blog. What an amazing find. The tzatziki is hands down the best I’ve ever had. The chicken was flavorful and juicy! My neighbor, who’s father ran a Greek restaurant loved the food! I couldn’t find fresh dill and used dried. It was still excellent. I also only used 1 tsp of salt instead of 2. This has been printed and added to my recipe binder. Thank you!
I made this tonight and everyone loved it – very flavorful and juicy chicken and the sauce was yummy too. I cooked the chicken on the stove in batches. Definitely a keeper!!
This recipe is excellent. My whole family loved these gyros. I will definitely make this again. Great recipe!
My husband and I tried this recipe, but with fish since we didn’t have chicken. It’s yummy! Thank you.
I make a similar recipe but mine doesn’t include the red wine vinegar for the tzatziki–I’ll have to try that! The first time I made tzatziki I didn’t squeeze the cucumber and it wound up too thin, so I added feta that was crumbled up really fine. Now I add feta to my tzatziki every time! It’s a good quick fix if you like feta.
Hi I want to make this for a large group of people and need to take it somewhere. Do you think I could make it the day before and when ready to leave heat it up in the oven and then place in a crock pot to keep it warm? Thank you-
Made this tonight and it was a hit, will definitely save this recipe and make it again
I LOVE this recipe. I use this for the chicken, I use it for tzatziki, I use it all together. I love this recipe! So amazingly delicious. I would like to note; I have used a skillet once to make the chicken instead of the grill and it just wasn’t as delicious. I would definitely suggest using the grill to cook the chicken. So good. It has become a staple dish in my house.
Amazing so happy i found this recipe!
I have made this recipe several times over the past couple years. It is always a hit! (It’s always an accomplishment to find something all 4 kids will eat). Sometimes I use the marinade just to make grilled chicken; must be the yogurt that makes it moist and keeps it from drying out (?) Anyway, we love it – thank you!
Made these for dinner last night and LOVED them! My hubby loved them, too – the kids just ate the pita (they are super picky, I made them at least try the chicken)
will be sharing this with friends and making it again.
This was amazing and I shared with my online meal planning group!
I followed your recipe a to a “T” and my family absolutely loved it. When we lived in Detroit we could easily go to
Greek Town to find a good gyro, but now we live in Georgia and the good ones are far and few in between. Thanks for the recipe and a little taste of home.
I made these for dinner last night. I am only one person, so I cut recipe in half. Plenty for two big Naan bread. I could only eat a half. This recipe is perfect. Did all the prep in the morning, plenty of time for full flavor. Tomatoes are not good in the grocery store, so used sliced cherry tomatoes, perfect size. Did chicken in iron skillet. Gave chicken great crust. This is definitely a keeper!!!!!
DELICIOUS!!!!!! 5 stars!!
I have to come back and leave a comment for you. The chicken was so delicious that my Greek mother-in-law approved it. Very juicy, flavorful and easy to make. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made this today and it was amazing! For the chicken, I had to use dried Basil because my local store did not have any oregano. I made the sauce way too thin I guess by putting way too much cucumber water. I grabbed the biggest cucumber I saw and when it was all squeezed, I did not have any yogurt left to even it out, but it still was tasty regardless! Thanks again!