Oven roasted chicken gyros are thinly sliced and charred on the edges. The lemon, garlic, oregano, and smoked paprika add so much to this easy chicken entree. Serve on pita bread with tzatziki and all the toppings.

A lot of family-owned, mom and pop restaurants are suffering right now.

In my town we relish any new non-chain opening. It reminds us of living back in the city.

I love me my McDonalds, but we really don’t need another new one nearby.

In the time before Corona, a little Mediterranean, family-owned restaurant opened up nearby.

They had the best hummus. The take out plating and presentation of this hummus was on par with something featured in the New York Times Cooking section.

We loved this place. Sadly, it has closed down, indefinitely.

Here’s to hoping that it reopens.

I always shy away from gyros since I had a bad experience a while back. Let’s just say I got sick and, rhymes with “schomited” up some delicious gyro from the day before… Needless to say, I never had a gyro again.

Mike looooves gyros. 

He didn’t “schomit” one up. Ask him about Jimmy John’s Turkey Tom though. No fault of the restaurants, just poor timing of a flu bug in our house.

I tend to lean more towards the chicken shawarma. That way I can still get all the tzatziki and hummus and veggies.

There really isn’t a great way to recreate the gyro at home. I don’t cook on a spit after all.

I found that the secret to the oven roasted chicken gyro is slightly freezing the chicken so you can easily and thinly slice the chicken. It mimics the thin slices and crispy edges of spit-cooked gyros from your fave Mediterranean restaurant.

Plus, the marinade for the chicken is insanely easy and packed full of lemon, oregano, garlic, and smoked paprika.

I think as good as the chicken is, the thing that really makes a gyro is all the toppings.

Be sure to load up on sliced tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and of course, tzatziki.

Oven Roasted Chicken Gyros

Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Roasted, thinly sliced chicken marinated in tomato, onion, garlic, lemon, olive oil, smoked paprika, and oregano served on top of pitas with all the toppings.

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Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken tenderloins
• 3/4 yellow onion, sliced
• FOR THE MARINADE:
• juice and zest of 2 lemons
• 4 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 yellow onion, grated
• 10 cherry/grape tomatoes
• FOR THE GYROS:
• tzatziki sauce
• sliced cucumber
• sliced tomato
• lemon wedges
• fresh parsley
• fresh dill
• pita bread

Instructions

1. Arrange the chicken tenders on a large plate/platter. Place in the freezer for 30-40 minutes to slightly freeze. This will help us thinly slice them just like real off the spit gyro meat.
2. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the cherry/grape tomatoes to a food processor and grind until pureed. Add the tomatoes to the marinade. Mix to combine.
3. Remove the chicken from the freezer. Use a sharp knife to thinly slice, against the grain, long thin strips of chicken. Add the sliced chicken and the sliced onion to the marinade bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and marinade in the fridge for at least 30-40 minutes or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a medium/large baking sheet with foil.
5. Use tongs to remove the chicken and onions from the marinade. Arrange in one layer on the sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges of the chicken and onion are slightly charred.
6. Serve the chicken on pita bread with whatever toppings you desire.