Smashed Greek Gyro Tacos – Easiest Gyros You’ll Ever Make!

Share on Social!

These easy gyro tacos made with ground lamb have all of the flavors of your favorite Greek gyros. If you love Greek food and you’re wanting a quick and healthy meal to make on the griddle or in a skillet, then this smashed Greek gyro taco recipe is for you!

Every now and then I come up with an off-the-wall griddle dinner that’s so dang delicious that I have to make it again with actual measuring spoons and an exact ingredient list so that you all can replicate it… and these lamb gyro tacos are one of those fantastic griddle recipes that deserves a permanent spot in your recipe book!

When I initially filmed the video for these smashed gyros for my YouTube channel, I wasn’t planning on creating a recipe post for the dish. But then, after my wife took the first bite and fell in love with the perfect Mediterranean-inspired flavors from the seasoned ground lamb and the homemade tzaziki, we knew that you all needed this easy gyro recipe in your life.

So we ran to the grocery store and got the ingredients to make these smash gyros again, all in the name of creating an easy-to-follow recipe for you. Hey, what can I say… eating delicious food on repeat is a tough job!

*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click a link and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Read my full terms of use for more info.

What are Smashed Gyro Tacos?

These smashed gyros are like a mash-up of two of our favorite foods – Greek gyros and smashed tacos. This Greek version of smashed tacos is made just like the original viral sensation griddle recipe, smashing a ball of ground meat on the griddle underneath a tortilla. Except for these Greek gyro smashed tacos, you use ground lamb mixed with a homemade Greek seasoning blend and pita bread instead of a tortilla.

The result is out-of-this-world fantastic. My wife called these Greek smashed tacos a “cheat code for gyros“, and she’s right. If you love gyros, but you don’t want to take the time and special skill to make authentic lamb gyros, then you need to try this recipe!

With the help of the griddle and a weighted press, you can have flavorful Greek gyros that taste pretty darn close to authentic in less than 10 minutes.

And don’t even get me started on this homemade tzaziki sauce… pure perfection!

Ingredients for Gyro Tacos

Here are the ingredients you need to make these Greek-inspired smashed gyro tacos:

For the Lamb Gyro Tacos

• ground lamb – We used 1 pound of ground lamb, which yields 6 smashed Greek gyros.
• pita – We used this Keto pita bread to keep this griddle recipe guilt-free. I highly recommend this pita variety if you’re watching your carbs. You can also use regular pita bread, just make sure it is fresh and soft… the pita can really make or break this recipe!
• shredded lettuce
• crumbled feta cheese – I prefer to buy the block of feta and crumble it as I need it. I find the pre-crumbled packages of feta to be dry.

The Greek Seasoning Blend

I made a quick homemade Greek seasoning blend for these smashed gyros. The blend of these spices perfectly compliments the ground lamb, and while the spice list is long, most of these are “pantry staples” that you probably already have in your spice cabinet.

Here’s what I added to the ground lamb:

• oregano
• ground cumin
• turmeric
• smoked paprika – Or you can substitute regular paprika.
• dried dill weed – I actually prefer dried over fresh dill.
• dried minced onion
• parsley – You can use dried or chopped fresh parsley.
• cinnamon – I know this seems like an odd addition, but if you’ve tried my fantastic griddle salmon recipe then you know I’m not crazy. Just the slightest bit of ground cinnamon adds a nice punch of unexpected flavor.
• minced garlic – You can use either the squeeze bottle of minced garlic (pictured above), or use a microplane to grate fresh garlic cloves. I’ve made these gyros both ways and either option works.
• rosemary
• thyme
• Greek seasoning
• plain breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

The Homemade Tzaziki

You can’t have Greek tacos without tzaziki sauce, and this popular Greek condiment is easy to make with the following ingredients:

• cucumber – I always prefer English cucumbers, because they have fewer seeds and the skin tastes much better in my opinion.
• plain Greek yogurt – Full fat Greek yogurt is preferred, but it can be hard to find in the smaller individual serving containers. We used the low fat Greek yogurt and the tzaziki was still fantastic!
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• minced garlic
• dried minced onion
• dried dill weed
• Greek seasoning – This all-purpose Greek seasoning is my go-to, and I HIGHLY recommend it!
• salt and pepper to taste

The Quick Mediterranean “Pico”

In the spirt of Mexican tacos, we made a quick “pico de gallo” using all of our favorite Greek flavors. To make this easy topping for your Greek gyro tacos you will need:

• diced tomato
• diced cucumber
• diced onion
• diced kalamata olives
• Greek seasoning
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Gyro Tacos on the Griddle

If you’ve made smashed tacos on the griddle, then you can definitely make these easy smashed Greek tacos, because the process is pretty much the same. Here’s how to make your new favorite gyros recipe:

Step 1: Prep the toppings for the Greek gyro tacos.

Start by making the tzaziki sauce so that the flavors have a chance to marry in the fridge while you prep the other ingredients. To make your own Greek tzaziki, first you’ll need to whip out the cheese grater and grate a cucumber into a large bowl. I prefer to use the larger holes on the grater for this.

Then, gather the grated cucumber in a coffee filter or cheese cloth and squeeze the excess moisture out. You don’t want the extra cucumber water diluting the other flavors of your tzaziki sauce and making it watery, so this is a super important step. Empty all of the cucumber liquid out of the bowl and wipe the bowl dry with a paper towel. Then, add the grated cucumber and all of the tzaziki ingredients to the bowl and mix well.

Here’s what your tzaziki ingredients should look like before you mix them together:

Refrigerate the sauce for at least 1-2 hours, or you could even refrigerate it covered overnight. While the tzaziki is refrigerating, prep the other gyro taco toppings. This includes cutting the shredded lettuce and making the quick chopped vegetable “salad” to go on top of the gyros.

Chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and kalamata olives are popular accompaniments for gyros, so we decided to mix them all together and up the flavor a bit for an awesome gyro taco topping. Just dice all of the vegetables for the Mediterranean “pico de gallo”, and mix them together in a bowl with salt, pepper, garlic, and Greek seasoning. Refrigerate the mixture alongside the tzaziki.

Step 2: Make the ground lamb balls.

Next, it’s time to prep the ground lamb for the griddle. First, add the dried spices, breadcrumbs, garlic and other ingredients to a large bowl with the ground lamb. Here’s what it should look like before mixing:

Then, work the spice blend and the breadcrumbs into the ground lamb, and roll the lamb into six equally sized balls that are about 3 ounces each. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, you can use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to measure out your lamb balls. For one pound of ground lamb, a 1/3 cup medium-packed measuring cup will yield six balls. *This trick works really well for making smash burgers also!

Here’s what your ground lamb should look like before you smash it on the griddle:

While you’re prepping the lamb, go ahead and turn your griddle on and let it heat up to about 375-400 degrees F.

Step 3: “Smash” the lamb on the griddle underneath a piece of pita bread.

Here’s where your smashed taco skills come into play. Just place each lamb ball on the hot griddle, lay a pita bread over top each ball, and use your press to smash the meat down on the griddle like this:

After you’ve pressed the lamb ball down, allow the smashed gyro taco to cook on the first side for about 3 minutes. Then, use your spatula to flip the pita and smashed lamb patty to the second side, so that the lamb is on top like this:

Cook the Greek style smashed taco on the second side (pita bread side) for about 2 minutes, just so it can get a bit of color on it. Then, once you make sure that the ground lamb is cooked through, take your lamb gyro tacos off the griddle.

Step 4: Assemble the gyro tacos and serve.

Top the lamb patties with shredded lettuce, tzaziki sauce, and the Mediterranean chopped vegetable mix, and your gyro tacos are ready to serve!

FAQ’s about Gyro Tacos

Can I make these smashed gyro tacos in a skillet?

Absolutely! The process is exactly the same in a skillet, but you’ll only be able to make one Greek smashed taco at a time. To make these gyro tacos on the stovetop, preheat a skillet on a medium heat before smashing the ground lamb under the pita bread.

What temp should I cook ground lamb to?

The USDA recommends cooking ground lamb to an internal temp of 160 degrees F before removing from the heat source.

Can I substitute ground beef for these Greek smashed tacos?

Yes! The seasoning blend works well with 80/20 ground beef also. However, for more authentic tasting Greek gyros, I definitely recommend that you try this recipe with ground lamb!

I can’t find the pita you used… Can you recommend a different bread?

If you can’t find the Keto pita bread from Toufayan but you still want to make this recipe lower in carbs, then you can substitute the Joseph’s brand of pita bread with flax, oat bran, and whole wheat…. This pita (and many of the other Joseph’s bread products) is a staple in our pantry!

Or you can also substitute a naan bread for the pita. Just look for a round bread that is about 5-6″ in diameter. If you’re bread is too large, then the smashed ground lamb won’t cover it and your meat to bread ratio will be off. Too much smaller and you won’t be able to pile on the Greek taco toppings.

Smashed Gyro Tacos Recipe

Want to make these easy gyro tacos on the griddle? Just print the recipe card down below and save it for later… Heck, just this homemade tzaziki sauce alone makes the recipe worth saving!