Chicken Gyros

Everyone loves a good (or dirty) takeaway; I refuse to believe that there's one person that doesn't! But, they can be expensive and possibly a tad unhealthy to say the least. But making your own can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be (think rare breed meats, heritage vegetables, etc.). And, damn, making it yourself tastes so good.

The Chicken

To make this, it's best to use chicken thighs rather than breasts, as they're cheaper and tastier. I used thighs that still had the bone in, as they are half the price of chicken thigh fillets and I can use the bones to make a flavourful broth for later use is ramen or a casserole. 

Marinating the chicken

The Extras

Traditionally, gyros is served with tzatziki - a yoghurt based sauce with cucumber, garlic and olive oil. So go with that if it takes your fancy, but don't get bogged down with it. Other sauces like garlic mayo or ketchup are good too; I went for sriracha hot chilli sauce. 

Other essentials are flat breads (usually pita) and salad. I like to keep the salad pretty simple: couple of salad tomatoes, finely sliced red onion and shredded round head lettuce - all seasoned with just a little salt and pepper. Anything more can risk overpowering the flavour of the chicken you've lovingly prepared and cooked. 

Scroll down for the full recipe. 

Placing the skewered chicken across the roasting tray

Placing the skewered chicken across the roasting tray

For the chicken and marinade:

1.2kg chicken thigh fillets, approx. 12 cut into roughly 4cm² pieces

4tbsp olive oil

2tsp dried oregano

1tsp dried basil

1tsp dried mint

1tsp dried cumin

1tsp ground coriander seeds

1tsp paprika

50g lemon juice, approx. juice from 1 lemon 

To serve:

Pitta breads

Salad

Sauce of choice

Place the chicken into a bowl or container and add the oil, spices and lemon juice. Give it a good mix so all the chicken is coated evenly. Store the fridge for 2 - 6 hours to marinate. 

Preheat the oven to 200C.

When the chicken has marinated, thread it on to metal skewers that are long enough to sit across a baking tray and place in the oven. Turn the chicken occasionally and baste with the juices that will drip into the tray. 

After an hour, take the chicken from the oven and strip from the skewers on to a chopping board. Roughly cut it up and serve.