Restaurant style Greek gyros can't be beat. This homemade version of gyro meat captures the general flavor and texture as best as possible without a rotisserie or industrial processing equipment.
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How to make gyro meat at home
Restaurants make traditional gyro meat by stacking thin-cut, seasoned chunks of meat on a rotisserie stick into a cone shape, and then roasting it. It's a cool process that you could reproduce at home with a grill rotisserie attachment. See how it works over at Spruce Eats.
However, many restaurants source their meat from suppliers, like Kronos, that actually use ground beef and lamb trimmings. They run the meat through an industrial grinder, turning it into a paste like consitency. Then they "fuse the meat into cylinders" by applying 60 pounds of hydraulic pressure per square inch.
The best way to make gyro meat at home uses ground meat, baked in the oven. Ground beef, lamb, and spices are pureed in a food processor into a pâté-like texture, similar to the industrial method.
Pureeing it into a paste gives it a denser consistency than just mixing it by hand in a bowl, as you would a meatloaf. Then shape it into a short, flat meatloaf and bake.
While the homemade version grinds the meat up into a paste like texture, it's not as dense as either restaurant version. The texture is half way between a meatloaf and gyro meat from a restaurant. Pan fry the slices or toast them under a broiler for a crispier texture.
Recipe
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef see note
- ½ lb ground lamb see note
- 1 small red onion (or half of a large one)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground marjoram
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
AT LEAST 1 HOUR AHEAD: MIX MEAT + HERBS
- Mix meat and 1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, and marjoram together in a bowl. Let rest in the fridge for at least an hour (overnight is also ok). The point here is to let the salt penetrate the meat to retain its juices while cooking. Skipping this step will affect final meat texture.
PROCESS GYRO MEAT
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Cut the onion into medium-large pieces. Peel garlic cloves and cut into quarters. Add onions and garlic to a food processor. Process until it's a liquidy paste. (You want onion flavor in the meat, not pieces of onions).
- Scoop onion-garlic mixture onto a tea towel (etc) to squeeze out extra juices. Add to meat mixture.
- Place meat mixture in the food processor and process until it looks like a pate. This will take several minutes, and you will likely need to scoop down the sides a few times.
COOK
- Shape meat into a loaf that's about 8x5 inches, and about 1½ inches tall. Place on a lined baking sheet and cook for 30-35 minutes. The internal temperature at the center should reach 155° - 160°.
- Remove from oven, cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Resting helps the juices stay in, as well as making it easier to cut.
BETTER THE NEXT DAY
- This meat is probably even better the next day for two reasons. 1 - when cold, it's easy to slice it really thin. 2 - toasting the slices under a broiler or in a toaster oven make for nice crispy slices. It can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Testing homemade gyro meat recipes
Homemade gyro meat is really good, but definitely not the same as at restaurants. It's one of those few foods that is really hard to replicate at home without a rotisserie running all day. Still, I wanted to make it myself, so I set out and tested several different recipes:
- Cook's illustrated makes gyro-style patties and doesn't try to replicate the gyro meat texture. This is a good option, but not what I was looking for in this case.
- Alton Brown's recipe bakes the gyro meat in a water bath. After removing it from the oven, he weighs it down with a brick (or a heavy cast iron pan) to condense that texture even more - the best we can do at home without hydraulic pressure!
- Serious Eats has a very good recipe. They found that salting the meat ahead of time retains the moisture so it doesn't cook in a pool of released fat and juices. They use 100% ground lamb and add in some bacon, not what I was looking for but easy to adjust.
My final gyro meat recipe combines the cooking techniques from Serious Eats along with the spices from Alton Brown. I placed a heavy cast iron pan on one of my test loaves and it didn't seem to affect the texture, so I left it out of the instructions. Feel free to do it though, it definitely won't hurt.
Getting the right texture
When made at home, gyro meat is essentially a meatloaf. However, the texture of gyro meat is much denser.
One way to increase the density it to process it into a paste with your food processor. That turns the meat into a thicker, paste like consistency when compared to a meatloaf.
Meatloaf is purposefully mixed very minimally, even by hand. That lets the meat retain more moisture and a more tender texture.
The other way to increase density is to make it as compact as possible, which industrial processing plants do with hydraulic pressure. To apply similar force, you'd have to weigh down your single loaf with about 2,700 pounds (over a ton!).
Alton Brown's gyro meat recipe weighs the loaf down with a cast iron skillet. I tested that method and didn't notice a difference in the final texture, likely because it wasn't nearly heavy enough to mimic the industrial version of gyro meat.
That said, if you don't want to mess around with a food processor, and don't mind having a gyro-inspired meatloaf, give it a try.
Too much work? Buy from Trader Joe's or Amazon
Of all of the homemade gyro recipes I tried, they all tasted similar to the Trader Joes gyro slices that I've bought in the past. They definitely won't replace a restaurant gyro, but they are pretty good in a pinch. They are reasonably priced, last forever in the fridge, and are a nice alternative to eat at home.
Alternatively, you can try gyro meat right from the source: Kronos. They are the biggest restaurant supplier for gyro meat and they sell it on Amazon, as long as you are committed to buying 10 or more pounds. I haven't tried it myself but hope to sometime this year at a party or something where I can use it up. I will report back once that happens.
There are several ways to buy it on Amazon - you can get it pre-sliced (which might be similar to Trader Joes, but I can't say). They are also sold in large "Gyrokones" or even smaller 4 oz cones. Comments claim it tastes just like restaurant gyros.
Check them all out here (it's an affiliate link, so I get a small commission if you buy something). If you do try it before I do, please leave a detailed comment so I can share it with others.
Greek gyros on a rotisserie grill
International Cuisines demonstrates how to make gyro meat at home with a rotisserie grill attachment. The recipe can be found in the video description. You can also check out the Greek restaurant process of stacking chunks of meat together on the stick.
Use fresh vegetables
Top your gyro sandwich or salad with fresh vegetables. While this seems like a simple, obvious statement, I do have a couple of tips worth mentioning.
Cucumbers can be bitter. The bitterness is tamed from the fat in the gyro meat as well as the dairy in tzatziki sauce. However, if the bitter flavor of cucumbers often bothers you, there are two options.
The bitterness in cucumbers is most concentrated in the skin and near the stem end. Cut the end off and peel of the skin before slicing up the cucumbers. Alternatively, buy varieties that are almost never bitter like Persian cucumbers (the small ones usually wrapped in a plastic tray) or English cucumbers (the long ones wrapped in plastic).
Red onions are another classic topping for gyro sandwiches and restaurants make them taste good by first soaking them in water. The sharp onion flavor comes from pyruvic acid which is water soluble. So a quick soak mellows out that sharp bite.
Tomatoes are sometimes pretty watery, which can ruin a sandwich. Cherry tomatoes are usually a good option and are often more flavorful. If you plan ahead, you can also remove some of the water. Cut the tomatoes up then place them in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let them sit for 10 minutes and they will drain off some extra liquid.
Easy homemade tzatziki sauce
Tzatziki sauce is a classic gyro pairing. It's easy to make using fresh cucumbers, yogurt, garlic, and dill. Using the right cucumber and squeezing out the water is key.
Once you get the basics down, it's a great sauce for endless variations (from a super lemony version to an Italian one with sun-dried tomatoes).
Get the basic recipe for tzatziki sauce & 9 variations.
More recipes & resources
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