Chicken Gyro Bowls – Mixed greens are topped with Greek chicken, chickpeas, tomato cucumber salad, feta cheese, and a homemade tzatziki sauce.
I wasn’t kidding when I told you I’d be making savory recipes this month. Today, I’ve got my second recipe of January and also my second savory recipe in a row. Last week, I shared this yummy Orange Chicken. It may be savory but it definitely isn’t healthy. So I decided to make a savory recipe that you can also feel good about. Because during this time of year, we’re all looking to feel a little better, right?!
Today’s recipe is inspired for my love of Greek flavors – cucumber, feta, oregano, I love it all! So I decided to throw all those Greek flavors into one yummy bowl. Say hello to my Chicken Gyro Bowls!
Components of the Gyro Bowls
These bowls have all my favorite components of Greek food:
- Chicken cooked in a Greek marinade
- Tzatziki sauce
- Tomato & cucumber salad
- Feta cheese
- Garbanzo beans
Olives and pepperonchini peppers are also great staples in Greek food so if you like them more than I do, feel free to add them to your bowl.
How to make the Gyro Bowls
About half of the components in these bowls need preparation. But don’t worry, it will only take you about an hour. Let’s talk through each of them.
Greek Chicken
First, we marinate the chicken in a blend of lemon juice, oregano, garlic, and olive oil. It only takes about 30 minutes to an hour to marinate the chicken so you should do this step first so the chicken will be ready once you’ve finished preparing the other components. Pro tip: in order to get the most flavor in every piece of chicken, make sure to cut the chicken into chunks before marinating.
Once the chicken is done marinating, it’s simply cooked in a skillet for 8-10 minutes or until it’s cooked through.
Tzatziki Sauce
Tzatziki sauce is a staple in Greek food. It is a creamy explosion of flavor. But the reality is that it’s so simple to make!
Tzatziki sauce is made by shredding cucumber and adding it to plain Greek yogurt, olive oil, garlic, and fresh dill. Once you mix all the ingredients together, it’s done – no cooking required!
Tomato & Cucumber Salad
This salad is so popular in Mediterranean cuisine. But traditionally, it’s made with large wedges of Roma tomatoes and cucumbers. My version, chops them up to make them easier to add to the gyro bowls. Once the veggies are chopped, they are tossed in a simple vinaigrette to bring out their natural flavors.
Putting is all together
Once all the components are completed, it’s time to assemble. I start by creating a bed of mixed greens and then add all the components on top. I used the vinaigrette in the tomato & cucumber salad and the tzatziki sauce to serve as my “dressing” for the bowl so there is no additional vinaigrette needed.
Tips & Tricks
- It’s so important squeeze out as much water from the cucumber shreds as possible. If you don’t, the tzatziki sauce will be too runny.
- I love the texture of freshly-crumbled feta cheese so I always purchase a block of feta and crumble it myself. It’s so much creamier than the crumbles you buy in a tub.
- Though I love the ease of dried herbs, there is no substitute for fresh dill. So please use the fresh stuff for the tzatziki sauce
- To make Roma tomatoes easier to dice, I cut them in half and remove the seeds and juices with a spoon. Then, I dice them similar to how I do it with an onion.
Chicken Gyro Bowls
Ingredients
For the Greek chicken:
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
For the tzatziki sauce:
- 1 large cucumber
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 16 ounces strained Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill chopped
For the cucumber tomato salad:
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- ½ large cucumber diced
- ¼ red onion diced
- 1 tablespoons parsley chopped (measure after chopping)
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
For the gyro bowls:
- 4 cups mixed greens
- 1 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- 4 ounces feta cheese crumbles
- 1 pound cooked greek chicken (recipe above)
- tomato cucumber salad (recipe above)
- tzaziki sauce (recipe above)
- 1 soft pita
Instructions
For the Greek chicken:
- Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Add to a large bowl with rest of the chicken ingredients. Combine with the chicken using a wooden spoon or your hands. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge to marinate for 30 mins- 1 hour. While you wait, skip down and make tzaziki sauce.
- Once the chicken is ready, heat medium saute pan over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, use tongs to pull chicken from the bag and add to hot pan. Cook for 8-10 minutes until cooked through. Remove from heat.
For the tzatziki sauce:
- Grate cucumber so it's in shreds. Strain to remove water. But to remove EVEN MORE water, place into a cheese cloth or paper towels and squeeze out the water. Set aside
- In a medium bowl, add oil and minced garlic. Whisk quickly to help blend the garlic flavor into the oil. Do this for 1 minute. I used a mini food processor for this but if you don't have one, whisking violently in a bowl will do.
- Add yogurt, cucumber, and rest of tzatziki ingredients to medium bowl with oil and garlic. Combine with a spoon or spatula. Let it sit in fridge until we prepare the bowls.
For the tomato cucumber salad:
- Add all the ingredients to a medium bowl and stir together. Give it a taste and add more salt/pepper if necessary.
For the chicken gyro bowls:
- Add 1 cup of salad to the bottom of a medium bowl. Top with ¼ of the chicken, ¼ cup of chickpeas, 1 ounce feta crumbles, ¼ cup of tomato cucumber salad, and 1-2 tablespoons of tzaziki sauce. Repeat with 3 other bowls. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
Pin for later:
More recipes you’ll love:
Mexican Street Corn Chicken Salad
This IS the best and EASIEST!!!
Thanks for sharing! Does the sauce keep long?
This looks so good! Do you use this sauce for any other recipes?
This was amazing start to finish. I made homemade tortilla’s or naan to go with it. Everything was so flavorful! I had fresh dill for the sauce. So delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
So so good! I made these For dinner the other night and have to remind myself to make a double batch next time so we have More leftovers. I put my portion over the mixed greens as the recipe instructs, but I put my fiancé’s portion over brown rice and he loved it. Thank you for posting!
This is just the recipe I needed. I just strained a bunch of yogurt because I needed whey. Thanks so much! Will make these gyro bowls for dinner this week.
Oh my goodness, these look perfect! I love gyros and would have never thought to do them bowl style!
Sharon this sounds fantastic. I love taking something you love and making into a healthier version and putting it in a bowl . These Chicken Gyro Bowl sounds fantastic and I can’t wait to try it. Pinned and saved for later.
So much flavor! I made this for my lunches last week and I think I will be doing that again soon!
Now this is a great idea! I never thought to make gyro bowls before! I love this healthier version of the Greek classic! I can’t wait ti try this out! YUMMY!
This is a mouth watering post. Every single thing looks so fresh and delicious, especially that chicken!
This is perfect comfy yet healthy meal to make for the whole family! I used to have a take out of something similar at our local restaurant, but i think next time I’ll use your recipe and make it at home!)
My husband and I made this recipe, this past weekend! We feel in love! So much flavor in one bowl! Will be making again! Thanks so much for sharing!
This looks so yummy! I love all of those Greek flavors. Recreating my favorite take-out flavors at home sounds amazing.
Can looking at pictures of amazing food make your stomach growl? Because I’m pretty sure that just happened. Seriously, this looks so delicious! I’ll have to make a vegetarian version!
Sharon, these look so delicious! Such a simple way to enjoy the wonderful flavors of a gyro and would be great for the kids so they can pick how much they want of everything in their bowls.
We love all the flavors of Greece and this bowl has them all! I love that it’s healthy and easy to put together!
These look like the perfect combination of flavors. I love Greek food! I can’t wait to make these for lunch this week thank you!
I love everything about this recipe! I want to dive right into that delicious greek bowl.
We are so into the “bowl” meals lately and are getting just a bit tired of the Mex-Tex ones. This Gyro bowl recipe has me super excited! Can’t wait to try this — I know it’ll be a huge hit in our house!
I love gyros, but I’ve never had them in a bowl like this. This is so much easier and less messy to enjoy gyro. 🙂
This delicious bowl has my name written all over it! Looks so delicious!
I’ve ordered a lot of Gyro bowls in my life but have never made it at home. This recipe looks so delicious; it makes me want to start chopping right away. 🙂 Just added it to this week’s meal plan. Thank you so much for sharing.
Yum! This looks incredible and love that it’s a heathy spin on the typical gyro.
I love that this is made into a bowl. I love gyro’s but don’t like all the bread. I can’t wait to give this a try next week. Adding to my menu now.