Pork Gyros

Don't Make These Mistakes

Chips inside the wrap is not a gimmick; it is how gyros is served across Greece.

Ask the butcher to slice the shoulder for you — it saves 20 minutes of fiddly work.

The stack can be roasted a day ahead and the shavings crisped to order.

Cooking Pork Gyros

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1. Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, spices, salt and pepper together and coat the pork slices thoroughly. Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.

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2. Stack the slices tightly onto two long skewers driven vertically through them, building a compact block about 15 cm tall. Press down hard as you go.

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3. Stand the skewers upright in a roasting tin — resting on a halved onion works well — and roast at 200°C / 390°F for 60 to 70 minutes.

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4. Turn the tin every 20 minutes for even browning, and baste with the rendered fat that collects.

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5. Rest for 15 minutes, then shave thin slices from the outside of the stack with a sharp knife.

   Mark done Start 15 min timer

6. Toss the shavings in a very hot dry pan for 60 seconds to crisp the edges.

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7. Warm the pitas, brush with a little of the pork fat and dust with paprika.

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8. Fill each with tzatziki, pork, tomato, onion and a few chips, then wrap tightly in paper and serve.

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Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Why It Works

Stacking marinated slices tightly and roasting them as a block mimics a vertical rotisserie: the exterior dries and browns while the interior bastes in rendered fat. Shaving thin slices off the outside and returning them briefly to a hot pan crisps the edges the way the traditional gyros knife and grill do.

After You've Cooked It

The roasted stack keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes 3 months. Shave and crisp only what you need each time.

Ingredient Swaps

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
• Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.

What to Serve Alongside

• A cold Greek lager
• Serve with extra tzatziki and lemon wedges
• Finish with a strong Greek coffee

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Greek Lemon Potatoes, Air Fryer Eggplant, Greek Fried Potatoes.

Questions and Answers

Pork Gyros Nutrition Facts

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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