Gyros are so delicious! There is that fantastically flavored meat along with lots of veggies and tzatziki all wrapped together in a soft pita. Until just a few days ago I did not know how to make gyro meat that tasted and looked like what I have gotten at restaurants. Well that all changed when I bought a big bag of pitas because I immediately thought about how great they would taste with tzatziki. Then I thought they would be even better if I could make a gyro with tzatziki! So I was finally determined to see if I could make something similar.

The key is to mix all of the ingredients together in a food processor so that the meat becomes quite smooth and uniformly seasoned.

Then it can be shaped and baked in the oven. The whole process is really easy. The best part is that once you have the meat baked you can slice it and brown it in a pan with a little olive oil to make a  delicious gyro in just a few minutes! The way we have been making our gyros is to warm up a pita and fill it with lots of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, this meat and a lot of tzatziki (check out my recipe for tzatziki here ). This gyro meat would also taste great on a Greek salad.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons dried minced onion
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 pounds ground beef (I used 80% lean ground beef)

Instructions

Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until the mixture is smooth and sticking together. Shape this mixture into two loaves, about 1 inch thick and 3 inches wide. Place a metal rack on a cookie sheet and place the loaves on the rack. Bake the loaves at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes or until they are at least 155 degrees. Once the loaves are cool they can be sliced into thin pieces and served cold on salads or heated in a pan with a little olive oil and served in pitas with tzatziki and vegetables.