07/10/2026
You asked. We answered.
It's Sh**un Kitchen time.
Let's do Greek-style turkey gyro with homemade tzatziki. This is going to make plenty for a family of 6 with plenty of leftovers. By my math, we're looking at about $33.00 for the ingredients so this is a little over $3 per serving because we're going to be making about 10 full servings.
Ingredients
Gyro
3lb of ground turkey $11.99
1 white onion ~$.99
1 garlic bulb $.99
1/4 cup breadcrumbs $1.78
1 tablespoon of dried oregano
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of paprika
For serving
8 tortillas $2.14
1 tomato ~$1.00
1 red onion ~$1.00
1 head of lettuce $2.59
Feta cheese $2.99
Tzatziki Sauce
16 oz Greek yogurt ~$2.50
1 lemon $.99
1 packet of ranch mix $2.00
2 teaspoons of fresh dill ~$1.00
1 cucumber $.59
Let's Cook!
Gyro Meat
Smash the garlic and quarter the onions. Throw that into a blender and pulverize it until you have a paste. Add in the oregano, cumin, salt, paprika, and black pepper to taste. Pulse the blender a little bit until it's well combined and set it aside.
Throw your ground turkey in a large bowl and pour the breadcrumbs and onion/garlic paste over the top. Fold everything together. Generally, you need to be careful not to overmix ground meats, but for this recipe, it doesn't really matter because of the consistency of gyro-style meat.
Grease a baking dish. Form your meat mixture into a large loaf. I use my fingers to round off the edges and keep it from touching the sides.
Go ahead and start your smoker or oven to 325.
We’re going to let these go for about 30 minutes. Turn the pan 180 degrees and then go for another 30 minutes. We want an internal temperature of 165.
We’re at 165! Time to go into the fridge. We want it in there long enough to completely chill to it’s easier to thinly slice. Once we’re ready for dinner, we’ll get it sliced up and sear both sides. It’s amazing how close we can get to restaurant-style, spit-cooked gyro meat.
Tzatziki Sauce
Add the greek yogurt to a bowl. Chop the dill and throw it in there. Juice the lemon into the bowl. Stir to combine.
Grate the cucumber.
Add the cucumber to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. We have to get the moisture out of it. Cover it with some paper towels and let it sit to draw as much out as possible.
Stir your moisture-free cucumber into the bowl… and, voila. You have done it. You made tzatziki sauce from scratch. Good job, you. Throw it into the fridge and let that Greek yogurt work its magic. It’ll further break down the ingredients and enhance the flavors.
Putting It All Together
Slice up the gyro loaf into about 1/4” slices. A serrated bread knife makes easy work of it. You can either sear these in a skillet or put them back on a smoking hot grill. That why I do, so I’ll be preheating the grill to about 425. These are already cooked to a food safe temperature so we’re just going until they’re slightly crisped up.
And… we’re done. Steam the tortillas in the microwave. Top the sliced gyro meat with lettuce, tomato, onion, feta, and your tzatziki sauce. You did it, you crazy bastard. You really did it. Gyros from scratch.
Nearly all of these ingredients were purchased from Food Lion. It's important to support your local grocery stores.
