This easy chicken gyros recipe is simple and delicious! The lemon yogurt marinade adds so much flavor and is perfect with tzatziki, flatbread, and toppings.
Chicken gyros are one of our favorite weeknight meals, and this recipe delivers on both flavor and simplicity!
Chicken Gyro Marinade
This new and improved easy chicken gyro recipe was born from my desire to take this old recipe and simplify it a bit. I published that recipe almost 15 years ago, and we’ve made it a lot! So it’s no surprise that over the past decade I’ve made a few changes to make it even better.
The chicken marinade is the first improvement!
A marinade made with yogurt is the first step to soft, delicious, juicy chicken.
Ingredients:
- plain yogurt
- lemon juice + red wine vinegar
- oregano
- garlic
- olive oil
Although I like to grill the chicken (I place it on my pellet grill at 375 degrees F), it may easily be grilled in the oven or roasted on an indoor grill pan. oven, or probably even air fried.
Cooking chicken only until an instant-read thermometer placed into the thickest section reads 165 degrees F is the secret to perfectly juicy chicken. Don’t over cook!(Also obviously, don’t undercook!)
Quick Tzatziki Sauce
Make the easy tzatziki sauce while the chicken is marinating.
Two important pro tips to make this quick tzatziki sauce work:
- Squeeze every last bit of liquid out of the grated cucumber (plus, using a seedless cucumber helps).
- Use extra-thick plain Greek yogurt. Thinned yogurt will make the tzatziki sauce too runny.
How to Serve (and Eat!) a Chicken Gyro
Wrap the chicken pieces in flatbread, pita bread, or even naan bread (we often use Costco’s stone-baked naan bread).
Top it with tzatziki sauce, feta cheese, and any other toppings you fancy. Lettuce, tomatoes, olives, red onions (or pickled onions – yummy!).
Without a doubt, one of our family’s favorite meal recipes is this one.
It’s customizable (I’m looking at you, my child, who only eats chicken + flatbread), it’s super easy, and the flavor profile is right up there with some of my favorite recipes ever. I stuff my gyro with all the yummy stuff and enjoy every last bite!
Easy Chicken Gyros {New & Improved}
Makes: 6 servings
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Marinating Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade:
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder or 1 tablespoon of coarsely chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 and a half pounds of skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts
Tzatziki Sauce:
- 1 medium English/seedless cucumber
- 1 and a half pounds of skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breasts
- 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 to 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- Pinch salt and pepper
- Flatbread + Toppings:
- 6 pieces flatbread or pita bread
- Feta cheese in crumbles, chopped tomatoes, red onions, lettuce, and olives, etc.
Instructions
- Mix all the marinade ingredients together for the chicken. Put the chicken in a ziploc bag or a shallow plate.. Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or up to 4 hours.
- Shred the cucumber using a box grater with tiny holes for the tzatziki.. Wrap the shredded cucumber in a clean kitchen towel and wring out excess liquid until the cucumber is very dry.You should have about 1/2 cup shredded cucumber.
- Stir together all the tzatziki ingredients. Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper if necessary. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Preheat an outdoor grill, indoor grill pan, or oven broiler to medium or medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 4–5 minutes on each side, or until it is cooked through and the thickest section of an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover the chicken with foil and give it a five to ten-minute rest.
- When ready to serve, cut the chicken into slices and arrange it on a pita or flatbread with additional toppings like feta cheese and tzatziki sauce.
Notes
Yogurt for Tzatziki: use extra-thick plain Greek yogurt for the tzatziki so it isn’t runny.When opening the yogurt container, if there is excess whey on top, drain it out before using.
Chicken: the yogurt and lemon juice help tenderize the chicken – but if the chicken marinates too long, it can develop an “off” texture because of those acidic ingredients.Because of this, I advise against marinating for longer than four hours—ideally, no more than two. Using chicken thighs or breasts is also recommended. For this dish, chicken tenders are a little too “fragile,” unless you marinade them for a little 30 to 45 minutes.
