Lamb

Greek Lamb Gyro Recipe

Making delicious Lamb Gyro at home is easy! Season the lamb, cook until tender, slice thinly and serve with pita bread, a Traditional Greek Salad and my Lemon Potatoes

Serves 4 people
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 1 hour
Total 1 hour

Jump to the recipe

Post sponsored by PGI Welsh Lamb

It must be that time of year… the time I wish I was on holiday in Greece! Despite our exceptionally hot summer, I am still longing to be on a Greek island, swimming daily and enjoying my favorite Greek (guilty) pleasure – GYROS!

But since our holiday is still a few weeks away – not that I am counting the days or anything – I have recreated the Greek gyros experience at home!

What Is Gyros?

Gyros, pronounced YEE-ros, is a meat dish cooked on a tall vertical rotisserie which rotates slowly in front of an electric grill – gyros means ‘turn’ in Greek.

You can find gyros in any fast food joint that also sells souvlaki and you would be forgiven for thinking the two are interchangeable. In fact ‘souvlaki’, like gyros, refers to the cooking method, meat cooked on a skewer – souvlaki translates as ‘little skewer’.

A kitchen scene showcases two vertical rotisserie spits with seasoned meat, as a succulent lamb gyro rotates on the larger spit in the foreground. The smaller one spins in the background, both sizzling and cooking perfectly near an open flame.

Both souvlaki and gyros are usually served on pita bread spread with tzatziki, sliced tomatoes, onions and occasionally fries or fried halloumi. The pita is wrapped to encase the filings and there you have it, Greece’s favorite street food to eat on the go.

What Type of Meat?

In Greece, gyros is traditionally made with pork, although chicken gyros is also becoming popular (take a look at my Chicken Gyro Recipe). Occasionally you will also find lamb and beef gyros. In the US gyros is made with a mixture of ground beef and lamb.

The meat is first seasoned with spices, salt and pepper and marinated in vinegar and olive oil. It is then threaded on a large skewer building up a gyro ‘cone’ which is then cooked on an upright rotisserie.

The gyro is the shaved with an electric knife before being served on pita with all the trimmings. You can also order gyro ‘merida’ (portion) served with salad and fries if you are so inclined. I am frequently inclined, when in Greece 😉

A child with short dark hair and a straw hat is holding a pita wrap filled with fries, onions, and other ingredients for a classic lamb gyro. They are wearing a blue shirt and sitting at an outdoor table, smiling at the camera.

Gyros Seasoning

The spices used to marinate gyros are salt, pepper, sweet paprika and lots of Greek dried oregano (rigani). It’s well worth sourcing Greek oregano if you can as it is much more aromatic.

I have used the same seasoning in this recipe and the taste is pretty authentic, even if the cooking method different, vertical rotisseries being a little hard to come by at home!

How to Make Greek Lamb Gyro

↓ For the full ingredients and detailed method, jump to the recipe card.

MARINATE THE LAMB

Mix oregano, sweet paprika, garlic granules, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Rub this seasoning all over your shoulder of lamb. Add olive oil and vinegar and coat the lamb. Cover and marinate for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 170C / 325 F and set a shelf on the lower third of the oven. Cook the lamb for an hour covered with foil. Remove the foil and cook for a further 20 minutes.

Marinating shoulder of lamb for Greek gyros

REST THE LAMB

Cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 30 minutes. The lamb is cooked when the internal temperature is 70°C (158°F) for medium-well done. Best way to check is with a digital thermometer*.
Slice the lamb thinly, removing any fatty bits. Add a few tablespoons of the pan juices to the sliced lamb. Keep warm.

Assemble the Gyros Pita

Finely slice one red onion (with a mandolin* if you have one) and mix with generous amount of chopped parsley. Finely slice two large tomatoes, discarding the seeds.
Spread your warm pita with the yogurt sauce. Add a generous amount of lamb and then top with the tomatoes and onions. Wrap the pita around the fillings and eat immediately!

Recipe Tips

This recipe has three distinct parts: the lamb gyros, the homemade pita (or pitta – can never decide which spelling is right), and finally the yogurt sauce which I have used here instead of the more traditional tzatziki.

Make the yogurt sauce first as it can be chilling in the fridge while you get on with the rest. Start marinating the lamb (1h) then cook (1 h 20m). Start making the pita (1h rising time) when the lamb goes in the oven.

Roll out the pita and get it ready to pan fry. Lamb comes out of the oven and rests (30m) while you pan fry the pita. Slice the lamb, tomatoes and onion and you are ready to serve.

This recipe serves a family of four, making six pitas and enough lamb for everyone, even if the adults have two servings. If you are serving a crowd, use a whole lamb shoulder and double the pita recipe – or use my two ingredient flatbread recipe which doesn’t contain yeast and is much much easier 🙂

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Hope you have enjoyed my Lamb Gyro Recipe! Find me on Facebook, or share a photo of your meal on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #Nusde. I can’t wait to see your take on it!

For more Greek classics from my kitchen, browse my Greek Recipes Collection.

Recipe

Greek lamb gyros with pita

Take a bite of this delicious lamb gyros served on pita bread with garlicky yogurt sauce, tomatoes and onions and pretend you are on a Greek holiday…

Serves 4 people
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 1 hour
Total 1 hour

Ingredients

For the tahini yogurt dipping sauce

7 oz (200g) Greek yogurt
2 tbsp tahini (stir before using)
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp salt or to taste

For the pita

2 ½ cups (300g) bread flour (plus more to dust)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
½ cup (130g) Greek yogurt
½ cup (120ml) water
3 tbsp olive oil plus more to fry

For the lamb

2 lb 2 oz (1kg) half shoulder of lamb
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp onion granules
½ tbsp sweet paprika
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

To serve

2 large tomatoes (sliced thinly)
1 red onion sliced very thinly
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Method

Make the tahini yogurt sauce

1
Mix yogurt, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and chopped parsley together in a bowl. Cover and keep in the fridge until needed.

Make the homemade pita

2
Put the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a bowl (or your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook).
3
Add the water, yogurt and olive oil. Mix together with a spoon and once the dough comes together use your hands to lightly knead in the bowl until well combined. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise for an hour – it won’t rise significantly.
4
Tip the dough onto a well-floured tabletop. Briefly knead and form into a log. Cut into six equal portions. Keep any dough you are not using covered with a damp cloth.
5
Roll each portion out, adding more flour if the dough is sticky. Keep the pitas separated by parchment paper and covered with a damp cloth once rolled out.
6
Heat a large non-stick frying pan and wipe with a little olive oil. Cook the pita over high heat, for a couple of minutes per side until nicely colored. Keep warm or pan fry/grill to reheat before serving.

Preparing and cooking the lamb

7
Mix oregano, sweet paprika, garlic granules, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Rub this seasoning all over your shoulder of lamb. Add olive oil and vinegar and coat the lamb. Cover and marinate for at least an hour.
8
Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C). Set a shelf on the lower third of the oven.
9
Cook the lamb for an hour covered with foil. Remove the foil and cook for a further 20 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 30 minutes. The lamb is cooked when the internal temperature is 158°F (70°C) for medium-well done.
10
Slice the lamb thinly, removing any fatty bits. Add a few tablespoons of the pan juices to the sliced lamb. Keep warm.

Assemble the gyros pita

11
Finely slice one red onion and mix with generous amount of chopped parsley. Finely slice two large tomatoes, discarding the seeds.
12
Spread your warm pita with the yogurt sauce. Add a generous amount of lamb and then top with the tomatoes and onions. Wrap the pita around the fillings and eat immediately!

Notes

Make the yogurt sauce first as it can be chilling in the fridge while you get on with the rest. Start marinating the lamb (1h) then cook (1 h 20m). When lamb goes in the oven starting making the pita (1h rising time) then roll out the pita and get it ready to pan fry. Lamb comes out of the oven and rests (30m) while you pan fry the pita. Slice the lamb, tomatoes and onion and you are ready to serve. Recipe makes 6 pitas – enough for the amount of lamb specified. Double the recipe if making a 4 lb (2kg) whole lamb shoulder. Measuring the flour for the pitas: weigh it if you can – cups vary depending on how you fill them. My Baking Conversion Calculator has the cup and gram weights.