These chicken gyros are ridiculously good! Slathered with tzatziki sauce (the limit does not exist, so spoon on as your heart desires) and stuffed with juicy yogurt-marinated chicken thighs, crunchy cucumbers, tomato wedges, and red onions, these make for the yummiest dinner or lunch option.
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Picture this: warmed naan (or pita) bread stuffed with juicy chicken thighs, crunchy veggies, and tzatziki sauce. Incredible, right? These chicken gyros are unbelievably delicious and so easy to make. They’re perfect to meal prep for lunch for the week or to make for an easy weeknight dinner!
Looking for more lunch recipes? We have so many! This grinder salad is loaded with deli meat, beans, and veggies for a ridiculously satisfying (and protein + fiber-packed), flavorful lunch, these chicken burritos are the easiest grab-and-go meal prep option, and this fuji apple salad gives Panera bread a run for its money!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s delicious – in case you haven’t already picked this up, these gyros are DELICIOUS. They’re loaded with all of the goods and the juicy, yogurt-marinated chicken is truly unbeatable.
- It’s so easy – the only real cooking that needs to be done here is baking the chicken, which, as you can probably imagine, requires very little effort on your end.
- It’s family-friendly – even the pickiest eaters are going to love these gyros! They’re easily customizable topping-wise too.
Chicken Gyro Recipe Ingredients
You don’t need a whole lot to make this recipe! You’ll start with the ingredients for the yogurt marinade, grab some chicken thighs, and then pick up some fresh toppings on the produce aisle. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Greek yogurt – you’ll want to grab plain Greek yogurt here. Fat-free, low-fat, or full-fat all work!
- Chicken thighs – we chose chicken thighs because they have the unique ability to stay nice and juicy after being cooked, but if you prefer a different cut of chicken (breasts, tenders, etc.), feel free to go that route instead.
- Pita bread – we used Against the Grain Gourmet’s pita bread here (any naan or pita bread will work, though), and if you’re gluten-free too, let me tell you, this is THE BEST gluten-free pita bread you can find. It’s the closest thing to conventional pita bread we’ve ever found!
- Tzatziki – both homemade tzatziki (find our tzatziki recipe here) and store-bought are great options here.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Use a different cut of chicken – feel free to use chicken breasts or tenders here. Both will work, but know that chicken breasts will likely end up a tad less juicy than thighs or tenders.
- Use a different protein altogether – if gyros sound good to you, but chicken isn’t your thing, try our beef gyro recipe!
- Make it dairy-free – use a dairy-free tzatziki (there’s a great dairy-free recipe in this Greek meatballs article) and use a dairy-free yogurt in place of the regular yogurt in the chicken marinade.
- Make it grain-free – use a grain-free pita bread (we used Against the Grain’s) to make this recipe grain-free.
- Make it gluten-free – if you’re using a grain/gluten-free pita bread, this recipe is gluten-free!
How to Make Chicken Gyros
This recipe is incredibly easy to make – all you really have to do is bake the chicken! Follow along below for the full how-to.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, toss the chicken thighs with the Greek yogurt, minced garlic, lemon juice, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper until evenly combined and coated.
Step 2: Spread the chicken out on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake at 375°F for 25 minutes.
Step 3: Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, then slice into half-inch-thick strips.
Step 4: To assemble, spread the tzatziki over the warmed bread, and top with the chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions. Garnish with parsley and red pepper flakes as you like!
Recipe Tips
You can absolutely grill the chicken here too! Toss the chicken thighs in the yogurt marinade ingredients, then toss them on a hot grill for 5-6 minutes per side.
How to Serve
Serve these chicken gyros as is for a delicious, complete, and satisfying meal, or, if you’re looking for something to serve alongside them, a simple arugula salad or pita chips and homemade hummus would be delicious options.
How to Store and Reheat
Store any leftover chicken gyro ingredients in an airtight container in the fridge (ideally not assembled so that the pita doesn’t get soggy).
If you’re meal prepping these chicken pitas for the week, you can go one of two routes when it comes to both storing and reheating:
- Assemble right away – assemble the gyros and store them in separate food storage containers in the fridge. This allows you to QUICKLY grab a lunch and head out the door. The pitfalls here are (1) the pita is more likely to get soggy this way, and (2) heating the gyros is a little trickier (since you won’t want to heat the fresh toppings). That said, if you’re assembling a week’s worth of lunches on your meal prep day, it’s best to enjoy your chicken gyros cold (still very delicious, I promise!) when lunch time comes around.
- Assemble the day of – if you choose to go this route, simply cook the chicken, slice it, and store it in its own large container. Wash all of the toppings (if needed), chop them, and store each in a separate container. Then, each day that you plan on enjoying a gyro, you can simply heat the chicken, toast the pita (if you’d like), and assemble.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a highly individualized question and one that truly depends on your body and what you tolerate well. That said, these gyros are loaded with chicken and veggies, so for most people, they’re a healthy option!
This recipe calls for juicy yogurt-marinated chicken thighs, tzatziki, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion – pretty typical chicken gyro ingredients!
More Favorite Lunch Recipes
If you tried this Chicken Gyros or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Chicken Gyro Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 4 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice from about 1 lemon)
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 10 pita breads, toasted
- Tzatziki, homemade tzatziki or store-bought
- 3 mini cucumbers, sliced
- 2 large tomatoes, sliced into wedges
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped, optional, for garnish
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl, toss the chicken thighs with the Greek yogurt, minced garlic, lemon juice, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper until evenly combined and coated.
- Spread the chicken out on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake at 375°F for 25 minutes.
- Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes, then slice into half-inch-thick strips.
- To assemble, spread the tzatziki over the warmed bread, and top with the chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions. Garnish with parsley and red pepper flakes as you like!
Recipe Notes
- Use a different cut of chicken – feel free to use chicken breasts or tenders here. Both will work, but know that chicken breasts will likely end up a tad less juicy than thighs or tenders.
- Use a different protein altogether – if gyros sound good to you, but chicken isn’t your thing, try our beef gyro recipe!
Nutrition
Delicious! Very flavorful and healthy My kids liked the chicken! & loved the pita bread of course. I used the leftovers for a salad the next day with the tzatziki for the dressing!
Aww yay! We are so happy it was a hit with your fam, Kristy!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!