Greek Chicken Gyros (Authentic and easy)

The marinade for this Greek chicken gyro is so good, and the cooking technique is easy. With this recipe you will end up with an authentic gyro, like the one you might have in the best local estiatoria (restaurant) in Greece.

Growing up Greek, and spending summers in Greece, there were several things we looked forward to when it came to food, and still do. Personally, I dream about the lalagia and zaharota (sugar doughnuts) that we enjoy on the beach. The produce is amazing, and I can’t get enough of the fresh Greek horiatiki salad made with the most amazing tomatoes. And then there is the gyro. Oh, the gyro! A day in Greece is not complete without gyro (or souvlaki) and since I can’t spend every day in Greece, I had to find a way to recreate that amazing Greek specialty at home. And guess what, I have done it!

Why this is the only chicken gyro recipe you need

The flavour is out of this world! Honestly, nothing beats the flavour of this marinade, with the brightness from the citrus, the tang and richness of the yogourt and the herbs and garlic. It tastes like a bite of Greek heaven.

It is easy! There is nothing to this recipe guys. The marinade is so easy to make and assembling the gyro stack of chicken thighs is pretty fun.

It is impressive, and can feed a crowd. Your family and friends will be so impressed when they sees the chicken stack come out of the oven. Cooking the thighs this way is not only fun, it also helps give the meat the perfect gyro appearance and texture. Crispy in some parts, totally tender in others.

It is versatile. As you will learn when you read on, there are many ways to enjoy the chicken gyro meat, including my favourite way which is wrapped in a pita!

Key ingredients

Chicken thighs I always use skinless, boneless chicken thighs when I make chicken gyro. The meat is so tender and juicy, and holds up the marinade so well!

Garlic Greeks love garlic, and adding fresh garlic to the marinade is a great way to infuse flavour into your chicken.

Red wine vinegar The acidity in this marinade really helps tenderize the meat even more than it already is.

Olive oil Of course I always use Greek olive oil in my chicken gyro recipe. The oil helps to emulsify all the marinade ingredients together and adds richness to the dish.

Yogourt Plain, Greek yogourt is such a wonderful base for the marinade. Tangy, rich, creamy…it is perfect!

Lemon (zest and juice) I don’t like to waste any opportunity to add flavour to a recipe, so here I use not only the lemon juice but also the lemon zest. Extra citrus zing! So good!

Oregano Dry Greek oregano is so flavourful, and so fragrant. I love to add it to this dish for a real Greek flavour wow!

Paprika I find that sweet paprika is really underrated, and it should not be! In my family we add it to many chicken dishes – it adds colour, but also a great sweet flavour.

Salt & pepper Of course I add salt and pepper to my marinade – is there ever a savoury recipe that does not need salt and pepper?

Potato The potato in this recipe is more functional than food related. Sure, you can eat it if you want, but the potato really just serve the purpose of supporting the skewers so that you can assemble your tower of chicken gyros to be roasted.

How to make it

Making chicken gyros is really quite straightforward. You do need a bit of time, because the chicken has to marinade, and the longer the better! Here is a summary of the key steps, and be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for all the details!

Step 1
Prepare the marinade and marinade the chicken for between 2 hours and 24 hours, in the refrigerator. Be sure to coat all the chicken pieces well, and if you will be marinading it for a long time, give them a stir once in a while.

Step 2
Soak the wooden skewers (if you are using wooden skewers) for about 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Farenheit and cut your potato so that you have a flat edge. Insert one end of your skewers into potato. Place potato in the center of an aluminum foil lined baking pan.

Step 3
Remove chicken from marinade and start to assemble your gyro by passing the thighs, one by one, through the skewers. You will end up with a tightly packed tower of chicken thighs.

Step 4
Add about 1 cup of water to the bottom of your baking pan. Bake in the bottom rack of your oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of your chicken reaches 165 degrees F.

Step 5
Remove from oven, allow to rest for about 10 – 15 minutes and then carve the chicken gyro.

Recipe substitutions

There are a few simple substitutions that you can make with this recipe, in order to maximize using what you already have on hand. Here are a few easy swaps you can make, which won’t compromise flavour much.

1. Instead of red wine vinegar you can use white wine vinegar, or even apple cider vinegar.
2. Instead of fresh lemon juice and fresh lemon zest, you can use lime (zest and juice).
3. If you don’t have Greek yogourt you can use regular yogourt. If you have time to strain it a bit through some cheesecloth, great! Otherwise, it will do just as it is.
4. If you want to play around with the spices, you can add about 1 teaspoon of ground cumin or ground coriander as well. You can also add some dry garlic powder.
5. You can use half a large onion as the base for your skewers instead of the potato.

Cooking tips

Making your own Greek chicken gyro is so easy, and by following these cooking tips and helpful hints you will have the most amazing meal!

Marinade your chicken well
Part of the beauty of this recipe lies in the marinade. For this reason it is really important to marinade your chicken for at least 2 hours, and not more than 24 hours. The longer, the better! I also like to toss my chicken in the marinade every once in a while during this time, to make sure that everything is well coated.

Cook the chicken to perfection
Making sure that your chicken is cooked through is really important, and the best way to do this is to use a meat thermometer. This is my favourite meat thermometer; it is easy to use and works really well. For the chicken gyro it is really important to check the temperature in various parts of your chicken gyro.

How to serve

Make a chicken gyro pita

One of my favourite ways to enjoy chicken gyro is to make a chicken gyro pita wrap. There are a few ways that I make this exceptional! The first is that I use my homemade pita and also homemade tzatziki in the pita. I layer in the chicken gyro and then I add some sliced tomatoes, some red onion and sometimes some lettuce because I love the crunch! A chicken gyro pita is one of the best things in the world to eat!

Make a chicken gyro bowl

I sometimes like to prepare some rice or quinoa and then I top it with sliced gyro, a dollop of my homemade tzatziki, some sliced cucumbers, diced tomatoes and some Kalamata olives. This is a great Greek bowl that is such a wonderful meal.

Make a chicken gyro salad

I like to make a Greek maroulosalata, which is usually served as a side salad, and I top it with chicken gyro meat for a complete meal.

Related recipes

If you like the idea of making this authentic Greek chicken gyro recipe, then I think you will also like these recipes. I would love to know what you think:

Greek marinated chicken thighs

Chicken wings with a feta dipping sauce

Greek chicken souvlaki

Grilled chicken bowl

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