Kebab Meatballs Served Gyro-Style

Published: Feb 9, 2011 · Modified: Apr 14, 2022 by Faith · This post may contain affiliate links · 70 Comments

Kebab Meatballs Served Gyro-Style is a delicious fusion of the flavors in classic Middle Eastern kebabs and Greek gyros.

For some reason, I really don’t make a lot of fusion foods, but I do like to update classic dishes with slight subtle nuances to keep them fresh and exciting. This fusion was born out of necessity to solve a problem I had with making gyros at home (more about that in a second), and it really is a match made in heaven. Kebab is a Middle Eastern dish of ground meat (typically lamb, but beef can also be used) that’s seasoned with parsley, onion, cumin, allspice, salt, and pepper (and sometimes other spices such as paprika, cinnamon, etc.). Nimble fingers mold the spiced ground meat into a cylindrical shape on skewers, and then it’s char-grilled to perfection.

Gyro sandwiches are a Greek dish of gyro meat, tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce rolled up in pita bread. Gyro meat is often lamb, but can be anything from beef to veal to chicken; it’s spiced with a spice mixture that’s similar to kebab spices (with the addition of oregano) and cooked on a vertical rotisserie. As you can see, making gyros at home poses somewhat of a problem…who has a vertical rotisserie?! (Mike, darling, if you’re reading this, just an FYI…if you buy me one we can also use it to cook shawarma.)

Since the meat in both dishes is so similar tasting, I thought why not make kebab meatballs in the oven and turn them into gyro sandwiches? (Definitely a fun solution to solve the problem of how to make gyros at home without a vertical rotisserie, isn’t it?) These sandwiches were a beautiful combination of flavors (it’s the tzatziki that makes them!) and of course I couldn’t resist adding a little feta to the mix for a little extra oomph. Served alongside salad greens, sliced tomato and cucumber, and kalamata olives, it was a fantastic meal.

Kebab Meatballs Served Gyro-Style

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Yield: 4 servings

Kebab Meatballs Served Gyro-Style is a delicious fusion of the flavors in classic Middle Eastern kebabs and Greek gyros.

Ingredients

Kebab Meatballs:

1 lb (450 g) ground lamb or beef
½ bunch fresh parsley, minced
½ medium onion, very finely diced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed or grated on a microplane
1 teaspoon dried crushed oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground sweet paprika
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne (more or less to taste)
1 pinch ground allspice

Tzatziki Sauce:

1 cup Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt, but it will be more watery)
1 (3-inch) piece of seedless cucumber, washed, dried, and grated on a box grater
1 large clove garlic, grated
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dried crushed dill and/or dried crushed mint

Other:

Pita, or any kind of flatbread you like (I used pocketless pitas)
Sliced onions
Sliced tomatoes
Crumbled feta

Instructions

For the meatballs, preheat the oven to 350F and brush a little olive oil on a large baking sheet. Use your hands to combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and scoop the mixture into meatballs (I use a 1½ tablespoon-sized scoop and I get about 15 to 20 meatballs) and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until fully cooked (about 25 minutes), flipping the meatballs once halfway through.
Stir together all ingredients for the tzatziki sauce and chill until ready to serve.
To serve each sandwich, arrange tomato and onion slices on a pita; top with 3 to 4 meatballs, a dollop of Tzatziki sauce, and a sprinkle of crumbled feta. (If you want to warm the pita, wrap it tightly in foil and put it in the oven for the last 5 minutes or so while the meatballs are cooking.)

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