This easy Greek Gyro sandwich turns into a hearty meal that is both simple and delicious!
This easy gyro skillet meal is all made in one pot, which keeps things nice and simple!
This gyro skillet meal is a perfect dinner idea for the family. It’s filling, easy to make, and always a huge hit! the flavors are spot on too, making it perfect as-is but it’s also incredibly versatile so feel free to adjust it to your family’s tastebuds as well. I’ve had a lot of readers telling me about how they customized this meal by omitting a veggie here, adding more there, or cutting back on the rice, and honestly, it all sounds delicious!
What Are Gyros Made Of?
A traditional Greek gyro sandwich features lamb, often roasted on a spit (rotisserie style) which is then shaved and placed on a piece of warm pita bread. The meat is then topped with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and a creamy tzatziki sauce. The sandwich has a terrific blend of flavors, it’s filling and addicting!
We’re taking that traditional sandwich and instead, placing it in a skillet meal (minus the bread) and serving it up with hot rice. Every bite will remind you of a gyro sandwich but in a comforting home-cooked kind of way.
Ingredients
- Olive Oil
- Diced Onion
- Garlic
- Ground Lamb
- Diced Zucchini
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Dried Greek Seasoning Blend (Like McCormick)
- Vegetable Broth
- Basmati Rice
- Roma Tomato
- Kalamata Olives
- Crumbled Feta Cheese
For the exact measurements needed, please see the recipe card below.
How To Make Greek Skillet Meal
- Heat your large skillet over medium heat on the stove. Add in the oil and onions.
- Cook the onions until they are soft and translucent, then stir in the garlic.
- Add in your ground lamb and cook, while crumbling, until the lamb is browned and no longer pink.
- Add in the zucchini and then cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the zucchini beings to soften.
- Sprinkle in your salt, pepper, and Greek seasoning mix. Stir until blended.
- Add in the vegetable broth and vegetable mixture and bring the liquid to a low boil.
- Stir in your rice and cover the pan with a lid.
- Reduce the heat and cook the rice for about 10-15 minutes or until it is fluffy and the liquid has been fully absorbed. The total amount of time taken here will depend on the rice you used, the size of your skillet, and the temperature of the water/burner. If you turn the heat down too low or didn’t have it at a good low boil before adding in the rice it can take longer to fully cook it through.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese.
- Serve warm.
Substitutions
- Meat options. Lamb can be a strong flavor if you don’t want to use lamb, then ground beef or ground pork can be substituted.
- Don’t want to use basmati rice? Feel free to use orzo pasta instead of the rice called for in this recipe.
Additional add-ins include:
- sun-dried tomatoes
- artichoke hearts
- chopped green bell peppers
- pepperoncini peppers
- red onions
FAQs
What Is Classic Gryo Meat Seasoning?
Gryo meat has to have garlic, Greek food has to have lots of garlic! In addition, you will find, oregano, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Sometimes, you will find marjoram, cloves, and even cinnamon.
Is Greek Gyro Meat Healthy?
Yes and no. Ground lamb is a good source of protein, however, it can be high in saturated fat. Consuming too many saturated fats can elevate your “bad” cholesterol. If you are watching your fat content, then stick to lean ground beef or even ground turkey or chicken.
Is Gyro Meat Gluten-Free?
Yes, the ground lamb in this recipe is gluten-free. You can easily serve this will cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles instead to maintain totally gluten-free meal!
Skillet meals, like this Greek Gyro skillet, are the best! They don’t take a lot of time, the process is simple and hurrah for fewer dishes to wash! If you like this skillet meal, then you should try this Loaded Greek Fries, Tortellini Skillet Lasagna, Cheeseburger Skillet Dinner, Skillet Turkey Tetrazzini, One Pot Taco Pasta, Beef and Broccoli Rice Skillet, Philly Cheesesteak Skillet and this Chicken Enchilada Skillet!
Easy Greek Gyro Skillet
This easy Greek Gyro sandwich turns into a hearty meal that is both simple and delicious! This easy gyro skillet meal is all made in one pot, which keeps things nice and simple!
Ingredients
- • 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
- • 1/4 cup Diced Onion
- • 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
- • 1 pound Ground Lamb
- • 1 cup Diced Zucchini
- • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- • 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- • 2 teaspoons Dried Greek Seasoning Blend, Such as McCormick
- • 32 ounces Vegetable Broth
- • 2 cups Basmati Rice
- • 1/2 cup Roma Tomato, Diced
- • 1/3 cup Chopped Kalamata Olives
- • 1/4 cup Crumbled Feta Cheese
Instructions
1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil and onions.
2. Cook onions until they are soft and translucent. Stir in garlic.
3. Add ground lamb. Cook and crumble until lamb is no longer pink.
4. Add zucchini and cook for just 3-4 minutes or until zucchini begins to soften.
5. Sprinkle in salt, pepper, and Greek seasoning; stir.
6. Add vegetable broth to vegetable mixture and bring to a low boil.
7. Stir in rice, cover and reduce heat. Cook rice for 10-15 minutes or until it is fluffy and liquid has been absorbed.
8. Remove from heat.
9. Stir in tomatoes and olives and feta cheese.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 346Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 79mgSodium 1308mgCarbohydrates 20gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 22g
Tori//Gringalicious.com says
Yum! I completely adore any kind of greek food so this sounds amazing!
Maria says
hahahaha, it drives me crazy when people mispronounce “gyro” too!! Cringe-worthy. This skillet looks delicious and who doesn’t love a 1-pan meal!!
Art from My Table says
It is hard to turn down a good Gyro. I love that this dish is a one pan meal!
Lemonsforlulu says
Thank you! I agree.
Tracie Dellinger says
Could you use orzo, instead of basmati?
Lemonsforlulu says
Yes you can!
Donna says
Darn, I wish I had read a little further! Oh and folks, I doubled the recipe. Now there is enough for an army. Next time, Double everything but rice and liquid.
Candi says
This definitely did not cook the rice in 10-15 minutes :-/
Bethany says
It is NOT pronounced ji-row, it is yee-row, with a very slight roll of the ‘r’. At least that’s the authentic Greek way. I am guilty of saying ji-row, too, but years ago in college, one of my professors was from southern Greece. I asked her after class, “How the hell do you pronounce gyro.” And she pronounced it like “yee-row”, with the rolled ‘r’. Many Americans say ji-row, but the Greek say yee-row.
Tanya Schroeder says
Right? It makes me cringe to hear it mispronounced!!! Thank you for understanding!
Sarah says
Oddly, I was at a Greek restaurant last week and the non-Greek server called it a GY-ro even when I ordered it as a hee-ro, saying she had never heard otherwise. A passing (Greek) server confirmed the Greek pronunciation.
Amanda says
Nutrition information please
LJordan says
Very good! I’m not a huge fan of lamb, but my husband is. Oldest son liked it too, said it was amazing. I forgot to buy the zucchini, not sure how I missed that, but that was the only change. We all really liked it, served with Naan bread. Thanks for a different (and quick) recipe!
Tanya Schroeder says
Oh, this is fantastic, especially since you aren’t a huge fan of lamb! Thank you for trying the recipe!
Maggie Rose says
Lovely flavors. Few suggestions/thoughts: I’ve never cooked rice that only took 10 – 12 minutes and this was no exception. I did use brown basmati rice and it took at least 40 minutes. Too long for the zucchini to manage, so next time I’ll probably put it in at the end. I used za’atar and it was a good suggestion for an alternative. Thanks for that! Would be helpful to actually put the size of the “large pan” — mine just squeezed by; add the nutritional info, double check the timing of the rice, perhaps bor both wite and brown rice; and I’d be interested to know if the greens on top of the last photo are parsley, cilantro or? Thanks for sharing this with us.
Tanya Schroeder says
Hi Maggie, thank you for your thoughts on the recipe! The greens are parsley. I hate to put pan sizes, as we all have different sizes at home and I wouldn’t want to limit anyone from trying the recipe because they don’t think they have the correct size. I use Mahatma brand rice and while the package says 20 minutes, I find that it cooks much quicker than that. I’m glad you tried the recipe!
Kristine F Candler says
i’m sorry. There are so many problems with this recipe. I love lamb and I used it with alterations. I cooked the rice separately. SO MUCH RICE!! Too much for the recipe. I also added the zucchini at the end for 10 minutes.
Tanya Schroeder says
It sounds as though you made modifications to fit your taste, which is great! But because the recipe as listed here, doesn’t fit your taste, doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the recipe. I make this regularly for my family. We love it as is. It’s ok if you like less rice where we like more. The great thing about recipes is they are adaptable. I’m very happy you gave it a try and that you made it work for you 🙂
Kristin says
We make our rice separately too! We use the rice maker and cook it in veggie broth or chicken broth, and usually do half the rice but more veggies. I have yet to make ANY variation of this recipe that was not outstanding
Tanya Schroeder says
Oh my gosh, that is so awesome!! Thank you so much for the comment!
Lisa Lobdell says
Cut the broth and omitted the rice for a keto diet. Topped with tzatziki sauce, it was delicious.
Tanya Schroeder says
I love the low carb option! Thank you for sharing!
Roger Moretz says
Made this the other night as a use of 1 lb of ground lamb that we had in the freezer. Excellent! Since there’s only 2 of us, we are having half of it tonight. Thanks for the recipe.
Tanya Schroeder says
I LOVE ground lamb! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe, it is one of my favorites!
Dina says
I just made this. I feel the ratio of rice to meat was too heavy on the rice. It was delicious and we enjoyed it. I used canned dice tomatoes because it is all I had. I used more zucchini as well. I think next time I would cut the rice in half and double the meat for My protein loving son.
Tanya Schroeder says
Hi Dina, I’m glad you enjoyed the taste and found ways to adapt this to fit your family’s preferences! This is a family favorite!
Sarah says
Help!
I’m not seeing the recipe! This is a fan fav!!
Sarah says
Great recipe; filling, quick and delicious. As author points out, this recipe is quite flexible. Made it with 1.5 cup of jasmine rice.
Olivia says
Rice was extremely undercooked, which impacted the texture/flavor of the other ingredients since I had to cook longer. Willing to give it another try – cooking the rice separately. Definitely thumbs up for inspiration though.
Angie says
Was wondering what to do with my ground lamb! Had leftover cooked rice and used that instead. Very easy to make (even threw in a bell pepper) but the tomato and feta really added a pop of flavor. Served alongside roasted lemon potatoes and everyone was happy. Thank you for this recipe!
Martha Turek says
Hi ! Just wondering if I can use some leftover gyro meat instead of the ground lamb ?
John Anthony says
Hello. I followed the instructions exactly, but it seems the meat got cooked out and there was barely any left at the end of the process. I think next time I should remove the mixture and set it aside after step #3(cooking the ground lamb), then add it back after step #7(Stir in rice, cover and reduce heat, etc..). Besides, step #6 indicates, “Add vegetable broth to vegetable mixture and bring to a low boil.” However, the meat was added prior to step #6 so it’s no longer a vegetable mixture.
What do you think? Is the recipe in error? Did I do something wrong?
John A.
Marianne says
I made this. Flavor was great, but I only used a heaping cup of rice and 3 cups broth. There was still a lot of rice in the finished product.