The marinade for the chicken for this Greek Chicken Gyros recipe is SO GOOD that I use it even when I’m not making Gyros. Try it once, and I think you’ll be as obsessed with it as I am!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Greek Chicken Gyros recipe
It’s been ages since I made this Greek Chicken Gyros. But the minute the chicken hit the grill, all I could think was “why don’t I make this more often??”
The smell is incredible. You can REALLY smell garlic and oregano. You know how sometimes you add herbs into things and you can’t really taste it? Or you can, but it’s a very subtle flavour. Definitely not the case with this!!
What goes in Gryos
Here are the components that make up a Greek Chicken Gyros wrap:
Marinated Greek Chicken
Tzatziki
Tomato Cucumber Salad
Flatbread to roll up the gyros – or use smaller pita breads and just fold them over
Greek Chicken Gyros Marinade ingredients
Here’s what you need for the marinade. There’s LOTS of garlic and dried oregano. Lots!!
Yogurt is a magical marinade – it’s a terrific flavour carrier and tenderises the chicken!
Yogurt is the secret ingredient in this recipe. The acid in the yoghurt breaks down the fibres so it not only softens the chicken but also helps the marinade really infuse into the flesh.
Plus, the yoghurt makes this marinade “paste like” so it stays slathered on the chicken when you cook it (unlike many marinades that are thin). So you have extra flavour oomph!
In the video, you’ll see that I cook this indoors on a grill pan. But during the warmer months, this is a BBQ favourite!
What goes in Tzatziki for Greek Gyros
And here’s what goes in the tzatziki.
Greek Yogurt please! Or at least Greek style which is what I mostly use because it’s easily found at everyday supermarkets. 🙂
How to make Greek Chicken Gyros
And onto the making part!! There are a few components to Gryos – but the making part is a cinch!
GREAT meal for groups – prepare ahead, make loads!
This Greek Chicken Gyros is a really fab recipe for entertaining. Because it is really fast to prepare and the men can BBQ while the girls sip wine and chatter. (Joke joke JOKE!!!)
Then you can just lay everything out on the table. Why should you slave away, rolling up a gyros for everyone? Make ’em do it themselves!
(Few more of my favourite large format foods, DIY style, include: Chicken or Beef / Lamb Doner kebabs, Chicken Shawarma and Lamb Shawarma, Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Bowls).
What to serve on the side
I serve Greek Chicken Gyros as a complete meal in itself because there’s a decent amount of tomato and cucumber used to stuff inside.
If you wanted to boost the fresh vegetables, a big fat juicy Greek Salad would be terrifically on theme! For something more substantial, especially if you’re making Gyros for a group, try this Greek Lemon Orzo Salad as well.
And though not specifically a Greek-style salad, this Cucumber Salad with Garlic & Herb Dressing OR this Creamy Cucumber Salad with Lemon Yogurt Dressing would go down a treat with this Gyros. I also offer a Greek take on my recipe for Roasted Pumpkin with Yogurt Sauce and Pine Nuts (see Customisations ideas section) that would be a great partner to the Gyros.
If you’re really wanting to impress, make Gyros using your very own homemade flatbread wraps. They’re easy and they’re made without yeast!!
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzaziki
Ingredients
- 2 lb / 1 kg chicken thigh fillets , boneless skinless
Marinade
- 3 large garlic cloves , minced (~ 3 tsp)
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar (or red wine or apple cider vinegar)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp Greek yogurt , preferably full fat
- 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Tzatziki
- 2 cucumbers (to make about 1/2 – 3/4 cup grated cucumber after squeezing out juice)
- 1 1/4 cups Greek yoghurt , preferably full fat
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or more if you want richer)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Salad
- 3 tomatoes , desseeded and diced
- 3 cucumbers , diced
- 1/2 red spanish onion , peeled and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves (optional)
- Salt and pepper
To Serve
- 4 to 6 pita breads or flat breads
Instructions
- Place the Marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag and massage to mix. Add the chicken into the ziplock bag and massage to cover all the chicken in the Marinade. Marinate for at least 2 hours, preferably 3 hours, ideally 12 hours and no longer than 24 hours.
Make the Tzatziki
- Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scrape the watery seeds out. Coarsely grate the cucumber using a box grater. Then wrap in paper towels or a tea towel and squeeze to remove excess liquid.
- Place cucumber in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients then mix to combine. Set aside for at least 20 minutes for the flavours to meld.
Salad
- Combine ingredients in a bowl.
Cook Chicken
- Brush the outdoor grill with oil, then preheat on medium high. Or heat 1 tbsp of oil in a fry pan over medium high heat.
- Remove chicken from Marinade. Cook the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked through (cooking time depends on size of chicken).
- Remove the chicken from the grill / fry pan onto a plate. Cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Assemble Gyros
- If your chicken thighs are large, you may need to cut them. Mine were small.
- Get a pita bread or flatbread (preferably warmed) and place it on a piece of parchment (baking) paper (or you could use foil). Place some Salad down the middle of the bread, then top with chicken and Tzatziki.
- Roll the wrap up, enclosing it with the parchment paper. Twist the end with the excess parchment paper to secure it and cut if desired.
- I prefer to lay everything out on a table and let everyone help themselves.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
First published June 2015. Long overdue for fresh new photos and a brand new video!!
Life of Dozer
WAY too close to the BBQ!
Delicious – I was a bit conservative with how long I would marinate the chicken. The flavor was amazing, but next time I will marinate longer and add one more clove of garlic. Served with a chopped lettuce tomato, onion, cucumber olive salad and Tazik on pita, No complaints from the family!!
Please add 5 stars to the comment I just wrote, I forgot! Thank you
Nagi,
I love this recipe! I make it all the time. The tzatziki is fabulous, I often just make this to encourage more veggies at lunch, instead of chips.
I have & love 2 your cookbooks, appreciate your emails and always search your website for ideas.
Thank you for sharing your talent and passion. Of course Dozer is the icing on the cake!
Best wishes!
This is TO DIE FOR! 😳😳 I made a mess frying the chicken but who cares??!! Thank you Nagi for all of your wonderful recipes! 💕
Made these a few nights ago & they turned out great! Will be making them many times again.
As I was making this, I was thinking, how good could it be? It seemed that I was just using lemon, garlic and cucumber. Anyway, I always follow Nagi’s recipes exactly the first time I cook them. I cooked the chicken on the bbq. I didn’t have time to make my own flatbread so used lavash. I cannot believe how flavorful this was. I loved it!!! The only thing I would change is I would put MORE in and I would make my own flatbread. Perfectly balanced flavors. I made Nagi’s Schwarma before and I think I prefer the Gyros.
Hi Nagi! Made this and it’s so good!! Another hit recipe of yours 🙂 I saw from the comments that dill can be added, which I did. I didn’t have pita bread so I used tortilla instead. Loved it! 🙂
I did not give it stars as it would have been a 2
99% of the time I love her recipes. This one was one I was glad I did not print it out. I followed it to a T not much flavor, what I did taste was a lot of lemon, I did marinate it for 3 hours.
I wonder what went wrong with yours. Did you follow the exact steps? I tried it and I liked it.
I love eating gyros in restaurants so naturally I wanted to try them at home. This recipe didn’t disappoint. The marinade was spot on. I had to freeze them in the marinade because I didn’t have time to cook them. So a week later I defrosted them and massaged the marinade as you suggested and they cooked up perfectly. We were so impressed with the restaurant quality flavor. Thank you…this is a keeper for me.
Delicious diner! Even made the flatbread:) We cooked our chicken on the traeger at 425 and they turned out so juicy. The herbs and garlic didn’t burn so it was so flavorful. We cooked it over charcoal the first time we made this, and it was good, but the smoker was much better!
This recipe is delicious! I’m wondering if I can dice the chicken and do skewers will it still turn out ok?
These are FANTASTIC!!!! Easy to make and my entire family loved them!
Thank you!!!
So delicious!
Very delicious and simple meal. This will be a regular in my meal rotation from now on
Omg! Very good recipe for gyros but do make your own bread. Thanks for this great recipe 👍
Yum! We really enjoyed this recipe. Bonus that I could prep everything so that in evening all I had to do was pass off the chicken to my hubby to be grilled. Great flavorful chicken and who doesn’t love a light mix of fresh cucumbers and tomatoes.
I DOUBLED the chicken so we’d have leftovers. However, my son stopped by after the gym and there’s not a speck left!! This is dead on delicious.
Truly an excellent marinade. Husband is low carb and this took bland grilled chicken to a spectacular level. He didn’t even realize that it was thigh meat, which he always thought he didn’t like. Used it for pitas the first time but will grill marinated breasts next, just to use as entrée. I’m imagining that it will keep it extremely moist. Thanks so much for recipe.
This worked perfectly and the flavor was excellent. I will certainly be making this regularly! Thanks for the recipe!
This is the best chicken marinade. I cook it often and use it for summer bbq’s. People always comment how delicious it is. You need to give this a try!