Parchment-paper chicken gyros
95 min · 50 g protein · 444 cals / serving
The viral home trick for gyro meat: marinated chicken rolled tight in parchment into a log, roasted, then shaved thin and crisped in a hot pan, just like the meat off a vertical spit. Piled into warm pita with a thick garlic-cucumber tzatziki, tomato, onion and lettuce.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 lb chicken breast, butterflied and pounded thin
- 1 lb chicken thigh, trimmed and opened flat
Marinade
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1, juiced lemon
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Tzatziki
- 1 1/4 cups nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 large cucumber, grated and squeezed dry
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 2 tsp juice lemon
To serve
- 6 small whole wheat pita bread
- 3 medium tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
Steps
- Mix the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, add the chicken and turn to coat. Marinate at least 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Lay a large sheet of parchment on the counter and stack the chicken pieces along one long edge, alternating breast and thigh. Roll it up tightly into a firm log, twist the ends like a candy wrapper, then wrap in foil. Roast on a sheet pan 45–55 minutes, until the center of the log reads 165°F. Rest 10 minutes.
- While it roasts, stir the tzatziki ingredients together with a pinch of salt. Chill until needed.
- Unwrap the log and shave it into thin slices with a sharp knife. Crisp the slices in a hot, dry nonstick skillet for 1–2 minutes a side, in batches, until browned at the edges.
- Warm the pitas. Fill each with lettuce, a pile of chicken, tomato and onion, and a generous spoonful of tzatziki. Fold and eat.
Good to know
Why roll it in parchment?
Packing the meat into a tight log makes it roast like a gyro cone: dense and juicy, so it can be sliced paper-thin. The quick sear afterwards gives the crisp edges you get from a spit.
Why both breast and thigh?
The thighs baste the log from the inside and keep it juicy; the breast keeps it lean. All breast works, at about 72 instead of 68, but pound it evenly thin and don't skip the marinade.
Watery tzatziki?
Squeeze the grated cucumber hard in a clean towel before it goes in. Cucumber is nearly all water, and whatever you leave in ends up in the sauce.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 116
- Protein
- (46%)
- 13 g
- Fat
- (21%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (33%)
- 10 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 194 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 2663 kcal goes into the pot and 2694 g of ingredients comes out as about 2300 g of food: 116 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.