Smashed Gyro Tacos on the Griddle
These Greek style gyro tacos are made just like smashed tacos, except with ground lamb and pita bread. Mix together the fantastic Greek seasoning blend, make your own homemade tzaziki sauce, and get ready for the most delicious and easiest Greek lamb gyros you'll ever make!
Servings: 6 gyro tacos
Ingredients
For the Lamb:
- 1 lb ground lamb
- ¼ cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 TBSP dried minced onion
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- ½ tsp Greek seasoning
- ½ tsp rosemary
- ½ tsp thyme
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- black pepper
For the Tzaziki Sauce:
- 2 5.3 oz containers plain Greek yogurt
- ½ English cucumber
- juice of ½ lemon
- 2 TBSP minced garlic
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1 TBSP dried dill weed
- ½ TBSP dried minced onion or substitute grated onion
- 1 tsp Greek seasoning We recommend Cavendar's All Purpose Greek Seasoning.
- salt to taste
For the Gyro Tacos and Toppings:
- 6 pita bread We highly recommend the Keto pita bread from Toufayan.
- ¼ cup diced onion
- ½ English cucumber diced
- ¼ cup kalamata olives diced
- 1 cup tomatoes diced
- ½ TBSP olive oil
- ½ tsp Greek seasoning
- juice of ½ lemon
- shredded lettuce for topping
- feta cheese for topping
Instructions
- Start by making the tzaziki sauce. Grate half of the cucumber. Place the grated cucumber in a coffee filter or cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess liquid. Add the squeezed grated cucumber to a medium bowl. Add all other tzaziki sauce ingredients, and mix well to combine. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or covered overnight.
- Prepare the chopped vegetable topping for the gyro tacos. Add diced onion, diced cucumber, diced kalamata olives, diced tomatoes, juice of half lemon, half tablespoon of olive oil, and about half teaspoon of Greek seasoning to a medium bowl. Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Heat griddle to about 375-400 degrees F.
- Make the ground lamb balls. Add one pound of ground lamb to a large bowl with all of the herbs, spices, and breadcrumbs listed in the "For the Lamb" ingredient list. Use your hands to mix together well. Portion the meat mixture out into 6 equally sized balls. *You can use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to equally portion the meat.
- When griddle is hot, place one lamb ball on the griddle surface. Cover the meat ball with one piece of pita bread, and smash the lamb into a patty underneath the pita. Apply pressure to the pita and lamb patty for about 6-8 seconds. Repeat this process for the other 5 lamb balls.
- Cook the Greek lamb smashed tacos on the first side for about 3 minutes. Then, flip to the second side (pita side down) and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the lamb patty reaches at least 160 degrees F internal temperature. Then, remove the smashed gyro tacos from the griddle.
- Top each gyro taco with tzaziki sauce, shredded lettuce, some of the chopped Mediterranean "pico" vegetable mix, and crumbled feta cheese. Serve warm.
Notes
- I highly recommend the Keto pita bread from Toufayan. You can also substitute naan bread for pita bread. Be sure to use a fresh, soft bread that is about 5-6" in diameter.
- For the Greek seasoning, I highly recommend Cavendar's All Purpose Greek seasoning. The recipe and all measurements are based on this particular Greek seasoning.
- You may substitute ground beef for the ground lamb, or do a mixture of beef and lamb.