Beef gyros
Quick homemade gyro meat: garlicky, oregano-spiced ground beef pressed thin, seared crisp and sliced into warm pitas with cool tzatziki, tomato and onion.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Serves
- 4
- Per serve
- 690 kcal
Ingredients
Method
Grate the yellow onion on the large holes of a box grater, then squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Add it to a bowl with the beef, two-thirds of the garlic, the oregano, cumin, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Knead the mixture firmly with your hands for about a minute until it turns sticky and paste-like; this gives gyro meat its dense, sliceable texture. Divide into 8 pieces and press each between sheets of parchment into thin patties about 1/4 inch thick.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the patties in two batches until well browned and crisp at the edges and cooked through (160°F), about 2 minutes per side, so about 8 minutes in all.
While the patties sear, make the tzatziki: grate the cucumber, squeeze it dry in a clean towel and stir into the yogurt with the remaining garlic, lemon juice, dill and a pinch of salt. Slice the tomatoes and red onion.
Slice the patties into thin strips. Wipe the pan, then warm the pitas two at a time for about 30 seconds per side until soft and lightly charred.
Spread each pita with tzatziki, add the gyro meat, tomato and red onion, then fold and wrap the bottom in parchment or foil to eat.
Tips
- Squeezing the onion and kneading the meat are what make this taste like gyro meat rather than a burger, so don't skip either.
- Make it lamb gyros by using ground lamb, or go half lamb, half beef for the closest match to a Greek-diner cone.
- Leftover gyro meat reheats well in a hot skillet; it gets even crispier.
