Nom :: Chicken Gyros

I found this recipe a LONG time ago on pinterest (of course), and we always said we wanted to make it, and naturally, we just never did.  Reallyyyy regretting that right now because these are delish. 

There are two components to the meal--well three because we had a salad--you have the chicken which you marinate and the tzatziki sauce made with greek yogurt.  

The recipe originates here at "The Girl Who Ate Everything", with her post linking back to Annie's Eats.

Here's your ingredients list:

Tzatziki sauce:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt 

1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (We didn't have this! So I used red wine vinegar)

Salt and pepper

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (I used about a teaspoon)

Extra virgin olive oil (just a drizzle on top)

For the chicken:

2 teaspoons minced garlic

Juice of 1 lemon (2-3 Tablespoons)

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 heaping Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper

1 1/4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

To eat:

Pita bread (we actually used flatbreads)

Tomato, diced

Red onion, sliced or chopped, however you prefer

Shredded lettuce

Instructions

Shred the cucumber or chop in food processor. I put the slices of cucumber into my Cuisinart Smart Stick which has a chopping attachment.  

everyone should have one of these smart stick hand blenders with all of the attachments! 

My cuc was pretty pureed by the time I was done with it--sorry for the blurry photo

Mix together the yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

For the chicken marinade, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat.  Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.  Note:  We pre-sliced our chicken up into "gyro" sized pieces so that the marinade would really soak into each piece.  The original I read said to just put the whole chicken breast in and then slice/cut it up afterwards. 

Cook the chicken as desired--we just put ours into a saute pan on the stove and let it go until it was done.   There were a lot of juices from the marinade, so let those stay in to keep flavor but drain them off before creating your gyro!

yummm

While the chicken is cooking, preheat your oven to warm up those pitas, and get your tzatziki out of the fridge.

 Final product:

his

hers

So I'm not really a a big "sauce" person--I hate mayo, ranch dressing, and most other creamy-based sauces, and therefore I did not use any of my homemade, hard-worked tzatziki!  But B had it and loved it.  I drizzled a little Greek dressing on top of my pita for some extra flavor and added lettuce!  We ate these with big Greek salads on the side and had them again for leftovers-they were just as great as the first time, huge win in my book.