This easy baked gyro meat is only 186 calories per 3 pieces of meat and tastes just like the meat you'd get your favorite Greek restaurant!
Recently I have been on this gyro kick that is rapidly becoming borderline obsessive. If we have a night where our dinner plans fall through or we feel like doing takeout instead of cooking, I have been suggesting gyros every. single. time. However, we've got 10 months until our wedding day and we reeeally are trying to eat healthier, which doesn't include scarfing down a giant pita every week!
This lead to me deciding to make some of my own homemade gyro meat to make Greek salads for lunch this week. That way I can still satisfy my gyro craving, I can control and calculate what is going into my meal, and I can substitute the pita for lettuce to save myself hundreds of calories.
Years ago I found this recipe for gyro meat from Brown Eyed Baker that was so similar to my local Greek restaurant it was mind-blowing. I'm so excited to share this recipe with you guys because it is so simple and healthy and the flavor is incredible! (No joke, I seriously drooled on my camera while photographing this. I admit this only as a testament to how amazing this recipe is!)Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links, meaning I will get a small portion of any sales that result from readers clicking my links. This is of no cost to you but is greatly appreciated by me! Thank you! And thank you for trying these products that I love!
GYRO MEAT
186 calories per 3 pieces
6 SP per 3 slices
First, you're going to want to season your lamb by adding about 2 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper and 2 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves to your pound of ground lamb and mixing it all together. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 1 hour.Once you're ready to cook your gyro meat, preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Cut 5 slices of bacon into ½ inch pieces, slice half a yellow onion cut into 1 inch chunks, slice 2 garlic cloves, and toss all of this into a food processor with the lamb. Process until mixture turns into a weirdly smooth meat puree that looks like strawberry sherbert.Line a baking sheet with foil and scoop your meat mixture into the middle of the foil. Wet your hands with water and form the meat into an 8x5 meat log. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the center of the meat reaches 155 degrees with a meat thermometer.Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Switch your oven over to broil and raise your top oven rack up to 1 ½ to 2 inches below the broiler element.Slice the meat into â…›-1/4 inch slices. This should make about 24 pieces of gyro meat. The hardest part at this point is resisting the urge to eat the meat before it reaches the broiler! As you can see, my sous chef Benson was begging pretty hard for some! 🙂Place the sliced gyro pieces onto a foil lined baking sheet and broil for about 2-4 minutes on each side. Watch closely because the broiler works fast!You'll know they're done once the meat is brown and crispy around the edges, just like when served at your favorite Greek restaurant! You can use the gyro meat to make pitas or salads. Since this is a "Cut" recipe, I turned mine into a salad to help save calories. Simply top some chopped romaine lettuce with diced tomatoes and cucumbers, sliced onions, and tzatziki sauce! I used a premade seasoning packet since I have yet to master a good sauce of my own!
Enjoy!! Leftovers can be simply microwaved for 30 seconds! 🙂
PrintRecipe Card
Gyro Meat
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 24 slices 1x
- Category: Greek
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Greek
- Diet: Low Calorie
Description
This easy baked gyro meat is only 186 calories per 3 pieces of meat and tastes just like the meat you'd get your favorite Greek restaurant!
Ingredients
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp fresh black pepper
- 2 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 5 slices of bacon, cut into ½ inch slices
- ½ yellow onion, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
Instructions
- Add 2 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and 2 tablespoon oregano to 1 lb of ground lamb and mix together. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 1 hour.
- Once you're ready to cook your gyro meat, preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Toss the 5 slices of bacon pieces, ½ yellow onion chunks and 2 sliced garlic cloves into a food processor with the lamb. Process until mixture turns into a weirdly smooth meat puree that looks like strawberry sherbert.
- Line a baking sheet with foil and scoop your meat mixture into the middle of the foil. Wet your hands with water and form the meat into an 8x5 meat log.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the center of the meat reaches 155 degrees with a meat thermometer
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Switch your oven over to broil and raise your top oven rack up to 1 ½ to 2 inches below the broiler element.
- Slice the meat into â…›-1/4 inch slices. This should make about 24 pieces of gyro meat.
- Place the sliced gyro pieces onto a foil lined baking sheet and broil for about 2-4 minutes on each side. Watch closely because the broiler works fast! You'll know they're done once the meat is brown and crispy around the edges.
- You can use the gyro meat to make pitas or salads. Simply top with diced tomatoes and cucumbers, sliced onions, and tzatziki sauce!
- Enjoy!! 🙂
Notes
Leftovers can be microwaved for 30 seconds.
**Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker
What do you think? Did this recipe make the cut for you or did it crumble? What would you do differently? Leave a comment below! 🙂
Susie says
Looks amazing! Pinned for dinner.
cutsandcrumbles says
Thanks, Susie!! I hope you love it! 🙂
jenna says
Would using ground pork instead of bacon drastically change the flavor?
Caitlin says
It will definitely change the flavor but could still be great! Let me know how it turns out if you try it!