You can’t keep me away from a good gyro.
I want them.
I need them.
And now, I can make them myself.
I stumbled across this recipe for crock pot gyros during a visit to Stephanie O’Dea’s website, A Year of Slow Cooking. I must say, this lady and her Crock Pot got it goin on. Say what you will about slow cookers. Some cooks love them (myself included), and some think that their recent comeback is like re-introducing Jello salad into haute cuisine.
Personally, I can’t imagine my life without my slow cooker. We’re in a relationship. And it’s serious.
So when I saw this recipe, I immediately trotted off to the grocery to pick up the ingredients so my Crock Pot and I could give it a shot (I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my own personal taste, so bear in mind it’s not an exact replica of the original).
First, you’ll need:
A head of garlic, one lemon, and one yellow onion.
Ground lamb. About a pound of it. Stick it in a bowl so we can add some more junk to it.
Don’t be afraid of the lamb, my darlings. You can handle it just as you do any other red meat.
Ground turkey (or chicken, or pork, or beef–whatever tickles your tootsies). About a half pound. Dump it on into the bowl.
Add one teaspoon of paprika,
two teaspoons of oregano,
one teaspoon of salt (kosher, please),
and top it all off with a few turns of freshly ground black pepper.
Now’s the part when you have to get adventurous and trust me.
Dump the whole thing into the food processor.
I know, I know.
Pulse for a few minutes to get it all nice and combined.
Never thought you’d see raw meat in your Cuisinart, huh?
Me neither.
Grab your onion and hack it in half.
Peel and give it a rough dice. Nothin fancy–just a quick chop.
Grab about four cloves of garlic. Five if you’re ambitious. Ten if you’re certifiable.
Get ‘em smashed and nekkid.
Boy am I naughty.
Give those a rough chop too.
Now it’s time to get brave again.
Summon all of your culinary strength.
Grab the meat mixture out of the food processor and shape it into a sort of oblong ball/log shape. Football, maybe?
Toss the chopped garlic and onion into the bottom of the slow cooker and place the meat log on top.
Yes, I just said “meat log.”
Oh, boy I hope this recipe is worth it.
Grab that beauty of a lemon and hack it in half.
Squeeze both halves over the meat.
Make sure to squirt some lemon juice onto your camera. It’s good for it.
Put a lid on it and cook on low for 4 hours, or high for 2 hours.
Go twiddle your thumbs and wait for your house to fill with the delicious smell of cooking gyro meat.
Ta-da!
Carve it on up, baby.
Grab some fixins. I chose lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and feta cheese.
And, of course, a ton of Tzatziki sauce. Mad props (and much deliciousness) if you make your own.
Me? I unfortunately went with the store-bought kind. It was meh.
Don’t forget the pita bread. It’s mighty tasty warmed in the oven.
Now, built it, stack it, and get ready for some serious yum.
Does it get better than this?
I think not.
My, my, my.
If you love your family you will make these for them tonight.
Opa!
Happy cooking,
-RDG
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed these, and that they turned out so well for you!
Your site and photos are lovely—-you have a real talent!
xoxo steph
Thanks, Stephanie! I owe it all to your recipe!
I’ll have to try this one. I never in my life imagined making gyro meat, but it sounds simple enough!
I am obsessed with this recipe! Have made them twice now and making them again tonight! Never in a million years did I think I would be able to make gyros at home! Mmmm, mmmm, good.
Wow that looks absolutely delicious!!! I once tried to make something similar using an Alton Brown method of cooking the meat in a bread pan submerged in water in the oven and it turned out crap. I’m obsessed with gyros too and will definitely be trying this. Although I don’t have a slow cooker so I’ll have to figure something out. I’m sure doing it in a dutch oven in “the” oven on a low temperature would work, probably, right?
Thanks for sharing!!
-Sheryn
Oh my goodness! I am so adding your site to my Favorites! I’m actually looking forward to going grocery shopping because of you!
Thank you!
Deborah
Making this recipe now, with just one modification. I put the meat log ingredients directly into the food processor
Now it’s a two dish meal!
Ooh, so excited to make this! Just curious… about how many does this recipe serve?
Depends on if you’re a stuff-lots-of-meat-in-your-gyros family or not. If yes, 4. If no, 6-8.
What if I can’t find lamb? Would a lean beef work as well or would you suggest turkey or chicken?
I think any of the above would be fine, Kate!
I just made this today (with homemade tzazitki sauce!) and it was soooo tasty! I used ground turkey with the lamb. Yum! My hubby loved it too, which made me so happy because he asked me if I could learn to make gyros. I’m glad I found your super easy recipe and I’ll be making this again for sure!
I made these last night and they were DRY! Not sure if it it was the grinding in the food processor, or if they needed a liquid in addition to the onions and garlic, or what, but they were very dry. I also doubled the seasoning, and you could barely taste the spices. I suggest hand pounding/forming the loaf, and maybe adding the garlic and onions to the meat. Not sure that I would make this again. I think I’ll stick to mini lamb meatballs with gyro seasoning.
My fiance made this tonight and it was out of this world! He used ground lamb, pork and turkey and put some cranberries in with the onion to give it some more tang. We got tzazitki sauce from Trader Joe’s and it was delish
. Thank you for the recipe!
I can’t get enough of your blog! The recipes you showcase are just ridiculous. The buffalo chicken mac n cheese has been a favorite of ours for some time, but within the last week I’ve made the bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers, the crock pot gyros (OH!) and the ragu bolognese. Thank you so much for documenting each and every step of each recipe with your beautiful photographs. My boyfriend is shocked at how much I’ve been cooking lately and it is thanks to you
I’m so glad you like it, Cassie! Thanks so much for your kind comment!
can you just use lamb? or do you have to combine? i love this recipe and can’t wait to try it out =]
Cooking this right now, OMG smells so good!
Can I make this with lamb only? Do I have to include another type of ground meat?
Thanks!