1 - 6 of 6 Posts

kosta_karapinotis

Active member
For this recipe, you will need: 1 onion, chopped, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 pounds ground meat (lamb, pork, beef or a mixture), 1 tablespoon dried Greek oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper. Gather these ingredients and have a great gyro night at home with your family and friends!

Processes onion in a food processor, add the garlic and pulse for ten seconds. Add the meat, oregano, salt, and pepper and pulse until all the ingredients are combined. Form the mixture into a the shape of a loaf. I like to make min in the oven, but if you have a rotisserie machine then by all means go ahead and make it there! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the gyro mixture and place in the center of the oven. Bake until cooked all the way through. This should take 40-45 minutes depending on the oven.

Add your favorite toppings and place the meat on a pita with tzatziki and you have a great tasting gyro!

Homemade-Gyro-Meat-720x478.jpg
 
For this recipe, you will need: 1 onion, chopped, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 pounds ground meat (lamb, pork, beef or a mixture), 1 tablespoon dried Greek oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper. Gather these ingredients and have a great gyro night at home with your family and friends!

Processes onion in a food processor, add the garlic and pulse for ten seconds. Add the meat, oregano, salt, and pepper and pulse until all the ingredients are combined. Form the mixture into a the shape of a loaf. I like to make min in the oven, but if you have a rotisserie machine then by all means go ahead and make it there! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the gyro mixture and place in the center of the oven. Bake until cooked all the way through. This should take 40-45 minutes depending on the oven.

Add your favorite toppings and place the meat on a pita with tzatziki and you have a great tasting gyro!

View attachment 764
Kosta, that sounds really good & I am going to try it. I am a little confused though, as I have always eaten gyros (pork or chicken), which are usually thin slivers of the meat, not mince. Will this cut like gyros meat?
 
  • Like
Reactions: efhernandez_
Kosta, that sounds really good & I am going to try it. I am a little confused though, as I have always eaten gyros (pork or chicken), which are usually thin slivers of the meat, not mince. Will this cut like gyros meat?
It sounds like it will be more like the gyro meat that you get in the fast food places. I've made gyro at home like this and the texture is not the exact same but the flavour is there!
 
For this recipe, you will need: 1 onion, chopped, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 pounds ground meat (lamb, pork, beef or a mixture), 1 tablespoon dried Greek oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper. Gather these ingredients and have a great gyro night at home with your family and friends!

Processes onion in a food processor, add the garlic and pulse for ten seconds. Add the meat, oregano, salt, and pepper and pulse until all the ingredients are combined. Form the mixture into a the shape of a loaf. I like to make min in the oven, but if you have a rotisserie machine then by all means go ahead and make it there! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the gyro mixture and place in the center of the oven. Bake until cooked all the way through. This should take 40-45 minutes depending on the oven.

Add your favorite toppings and place the meat on a pita with tzatziki and you have a great tasting gyro!

View attachment 764
 
I do mine in the slow cooker. works great!
 
This looks great! When doing gyros like this, the texture isn't quite the same as the store bought stuff, but the flavor is there. Also, I like to do it at home so I can control the amount of salt and the sources of meat that go in.
 

How Much Garlic in a Batch of Tzatziki?

How much garlic do you usually put in a batch of tzatziki? I think I may be using a little too much. I usually make mine with about 2 cups of Greek yogurt and 4 cloves of garlic, along with cucumber, olive oil, and the other usual ingredients.

It tastes great when I first make it, but we usually take about three days to finish the batch. By the second or third day, the garlic flavor and smell become really strong. Some people in my household love that and don’t mind it at all, but others think it becomes a bit overpowering. I’m starting to agree that four cloves might be too much, especially since the garlic seems to get stronger as it sits.

What do you all do? How many cloves would you use for about 2 cups of Greek yogurt?

Greek cooking without a recipe?

I've been thinking about how much traditional Greek cooking relies on instinct rather than following exact recipes. Some of the Greek dishes I learned to make were taught to me by feel, with someone showing me what to do rather than measuring everything out.

I actually enjoy cooking this way, but I've noticed that it can make certain dishes difficult to recreate consistently! Sometimes everything comes together perfectly, and other times I wonder what I did differently.

I'm curious how others approach this. Did you learn Greek cooking by watching your yiayia, mother, or other relatives? Do you measure ingredients, or do you just know when something looks, smells, or tastes right?

Is lamb or beef more traditional for giouvetsi?

I've been looking into traditional Greek giouvetsi recipes lately, and I'm curious about which meat is considered the most traditional. I've seen recipes that use lamb, others that call for beef, and even some that use chicken.

I love the idea of slowly cooking the meat in a rich tomato sauce with orzo until everything becomes tender and flavorful. However, I'm wondering whether lamb or beef would be the more authentic choice.

Is one traditionally preferred in certain regions of Greece? I've read that lamb is often associated with older Greek recipes, but beef seems to be very common in modern versions of giouvetsi.

I'm also curious whether the choice of meat changes the way the dish is prepared. Does lamb require different seasonings or cooking times than beef?

For those familiar with traditional Greek cooking, which version do you prefer, and which would you recommend trying first?

My Family’s Keftedes Recipe

Keftedes are one of those foods that always remind me of family gatherings. Everyone seems to make them a little differently, but this is the basic version my family has always used.

For about a pound of ground beef, we add one small grated onion, a handful of chopped fresh parsley, a little fresh mint, one egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, oregano, and a small splash of red wine vinegar. Sometimes we add a little grated garlic as well.

The important part is mixing everything well and then letting the mixture sit in the refrigerator for a little while before shaping the keftedes. We make them fairly small, roll them lightly in flour, and fry them in olive oil until browned on the outside and cooked through.

We usually serve them with lemon, potatoes, salad, or tzatziki.

How does your family make keftedes? I’m especially curious about which herbs and seasonings everyone uses. Thought I'd share!

Do you make Greek lentil soup with vinegar

I’ve always made fakes with a splash of vinegar, either stirred into the pot near the end or added individually at the table. To me, that little bit of acidity is part of what makes the soup taste right, especially with the earthy lentils, olive oil, onion, garlic, and bay leaf.

But I have a Greek friend who makes hers very differently. She doesn’t use vinegar at all and instead adds quite a lot of tomato product, so her version is much redder and more tomato-forward than mine.

Now I’m curious about what is considered more traditional in Greek cooking. Is vinegar usually a standard part of fakes, or is it more of a regional or family preference? Are tomato-heavy versions just as traditional?

How do you make yours, and what did your family serve growing up?
Sign up for a free account and share your thoughts, photos, questions about Greek food, travel and culture!

WorldwideGreeks.com is a free online forum community where people can discuss Greek food, travel, traditions, history and mythology.
Join Worldwide Greeks here!

JOIN COMMUNITY FOR FREE

LOGIN TO YOUR ACCOUNT
Back
Top