These Chicken Gyro Bowls take all the flavor and ingredients from the traditional Greek sandwich and turn them into a quick and easy, healthy dinner! Marinated chicken, fresh vegetables, feta, and tzatziki all piled onto a bed of rice.
If you love Greek food then you’re probably familiar with gyros. I absolutely love them, but I can almost assure you that I will never make them the traditional way at home.
Gyro meat is cooked on a vertical spit or rotisserie, which I’m guessing many of you, myself included, don’t have. To keep things easy, I took all the flavor that you find in chicken gyros and simply cooked the chicken in a skillet.
I also decided that instead of serving them in a pita like a wrap, that rice bowls would be a great alternative and one that also works well if you meal prep.
Gyro wrapped sandwiches usually include other ingredients like tomato, onion, lettuce, and tzatziki. These gyro bowls contain many of the same ingredients, plus a couple extras, like feta and olives. I’m always looking for an excuse to add them to recipes.
What Is A Gyro?
Gyros originated in Greece. They’re made from meat that is tightly layered and cooked on a vertical rotisserie or spit.
Once the meat is cooked, it’s shaved off and served wrapped inside pita bread. The meat is traditionally pork or chicken, but many place also use beef and lamb.
Along with the meat, gyros are often filled with other ingredients including tomatoes, onion, fried potatoes, lettuce, and tzatziki.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s easy to make!
- It’s a great option if you meal prep or like to have leftovers for a day or two.
- It’s light, fresh, and a great balance of protein, carbs, and vegetables.
- You can easily customize the toppings if the ones listed aren’t your favorites.
Ingredients For Chicken Gyro Bowls
Plain Greek yogurt – This is used for both the chicken marinade as well as the tzatziki. I recommend using 2% of full fat Greek yogurt.
Lemon juice – Always go with fresh squeezed lemon juice if possible for the best flavor.
Garlic – I prefer to grate my garlic on a microplane zester so that it dissolves into the marinade. It’s fast and you don’t risk biting into any chunks of garlic.
Flat leaf parsley – Fresh and flavorful herb that’s used in the chicken gyro marinade.
Fresh Dill – I like to use fresh dill versus dried dill in the tzatziki for the best flavor. You can use dried dill if that’s all you have, but you’ll want to use less of it.
Dried oregano, smoked paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander – The spice blend used in the chicken gyro marinade.
Boneless skinless chicken breasts – I prefer to use chicken breasts for the bowls, but you can substitute with boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.
Cherry tomatoes – Unless it’s summer, I always use cherry tomatoes in recipes as they tend to be sweeter and taste better.
Cucumber – Persian or English cucumbers are best for this recipe. They’re crunchy, don’t have as many seeds and you don’t have to peel them.
Red onion – It has a milder flavor that yellow onion, which is preferable since it will be used as a raw topping.
Kalamata olives – This variety of olives is commonly used in Greek recipes, especially salads. They add a great briny salty flavor to the bowls.
Feta cheese – Feta is one of the most popular and well known Greek cheeses. It’s a brined white cheese made from sheep’s milk. The consistency is crumbly and has a slightly grainy texture.
Brown rice – Brown rice is a great gluten-free, whole grain option and adds a nutty flavor to the bowls. You can always substitute with white rice if you prefer.
How To Make Greek Chicken Gyro Bowls
- Start by cooking the rice. While the rice cooks combine the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and dried spices in a bowl. Add in the cubed chicken and let it marinate for 30-60 minutes.
- While the chicken marinates make the tzatziki sauce. Combine Greek yogurt, shredded cucumber, lemon juice, garlic, and fresh dill. Be sure to squeeze as much of the liquid out of the cucumbers as you can. Stir everything together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Chop the cucumber, tomatoes, olives, and red onion.
- In a large skillet, add some olive oil and when it’s hot throw in the chicken. Let it cook for several minutes before flipping it over. This will allow it to brown and get a light crust on the outside.
- Once the chicken is cooked through remove it from the heat and assemble the bowls.
- Fill the bowl with rice and then top it with some of the chicken, cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, kalamata olives, crumbled feta, and a big dollop of tzatziki sauce.
Storage and Reheating Tips
I like to store the chicken and rice together since they taste best when warmed up. Simply reheat them in the microwave for 30 second increments until they are warmed through.
Keep the tzatziki sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You will need to stir it before each use because the cucumber will continue to release water and the sauce may separate.
The cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and olives can either be stored all together in one container or in separate containers. They’ll also keep for 4-5 days.
More Bowl Recipes
Did you make these Chicken Gyro Bowls? I’d love if you’d leave a recipe rating and review below.
Chicken Gyro Bowls
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, low fat or full fat are best
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated
- 2 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
Tzatziki sauce
- 1 cup shredded cucumber, you can also dice the cucumber
- 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt, non-fat, 2%, or whole
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 1/2 teaspoon grated garlic, 1 teaspoon if you like it extra garlicy
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Other Ingredients
- 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup diced cucumber
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the chicken marinade in a bowl and stir together until combined. Add in the cubed chicken and let it marinate for 30 minutes.
- While the chicken marinates make the tzatziki sauce. Stir together all of the ingredients and taste for seasoning. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add in the chicken and spread it into a single layer. Let it brown for 3-4 minutes before flipping it over. Continue to cook another 4-5 minutes or until it's cooked through.
- To assemble the bowls, fill the bowl with rice and then top it with some of the chicken, cucumbers, red onion, tomatoes, kalamata olives, crumbled feta, and tzatziki sauce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Amount Per Serving: Calories: 553Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 143mgSodium: 396mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 4gSugar: 8gProtein: 62g
Nutritional information is an estimate. Please consult a registered dietician for the most accurate nutritional information.
My husband is losing weight and didn’t feel deprived when he tasted this! Very tasty
indeed!
Just made this for dinner tonight and it IS fantastic. Absolutely loved it. Will be on rotation for sure.
We made the Gyro Bowls earlier this week, I make A LOT of recipes I find on Pinterest and have never wanted to leave a review before but, these bowls were SO GOOD. My husband said “this is the best thing you have ever made for dinner”. It was fresh, hearty, and left us both feeling good. We did use jasmine rice cooked in chicken stock instead of brown rice, just a preference but everything else we followed exactly and wow, so good.
Thanks so much for leaving a review Devin and I’m glad you and your husband enjoyed the bowls!
We made this last night. We grilled the chicken on kebabs instead, but I intend to do the skillet next time. I also used made quinoa instead of rice for the lower carb count. It was delish and hit the spot for sure!! I didn’t make the tzatziki, went with store bought. I’m not ready to try that yet.