Mediterranean-style marinated chicken is stuffed into pita pockets with veggie and a delicious homemade yogurt sauce. You will love this healthier and spiced-up version of your favorite chicken gyros.
What are gyros?
What's not to love about gyros?! Slices of meat are loaded into a pita with veggies, tzatziki and hot sauce.
Gyros are popular Greek street food. Meat is typically cooked on a rotisserie or rotating vertical spit. Today, you can find them in street carts in many cities around the world.
This recipe is inspired by the traditional Greek recipe with the addition of a few different spices.
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Simple. The ingredients in this chicken pita pocket recipe cook on one pan and they are super easy to assemble.
- Healthy. This recipe is super flavorful yet healthy and filled with chicken breasts, warm spices and lots of veggies.
- Great for meal prep. You can easily make this recipe for meal prep to enjoy as lunches throughout the week. The recipe can easily be doubled if needed.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Chicken breasts- you can use chicken breasts or chicken tenders for this recipe. Boneless chicken thighs will also work.
- Spices- this recipe calls for lots of warming spices, including paprika, allspice, nutmeg and coriander.
- Vegetables- red onion and bell peppers are roasted in the oven. You will also be adding diced tomato and cucumber.
- Yogurt- plain, unsweetened yogurt is needed for the yogurt sauce. You can use dairy or non-dairy.
- Pita bread- your favorite pita bread will work. I like these pita pockets from Toufayan.
See the recipe card below for quantities and remaining ingredients.
Equipment
Grab what you need for this recipe:
- 3 bowls (2 large, one small)
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board
- Sheet pan
- Mixing utensils
- Measuring spoons and cups needed: ¼ teaspoon, ½ teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, 1 tablespoon and ½ cup.
Instructions
These chicken pita pockets are easy to make. Only a few steps before dinner is on the table!
- Marinate the chicken. Mix the chicken with the marinade ingredients and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile prep the veggies. Slice and dice the onion, peppers, cucumber and tomato.
- Bake. Cook the chicken, onion and peppers on a sheet pan.
- Assemble the pita pockets by filling with chicken, veggies, yogurt sauce and hot sauce. Enjoy!
Ways to Customize
- You can skip the pita and eat everything over lettuce or make them into bowls by serving over rice or quinoa. Top with the yogurt sauce and hot sauce!
- Add or eliminate some veggies. You can add lettuce to the wraps or kalamata olives. Chickpeas and feta woud also be great additions.
- In place of the chicken, you can use steak, lamb or even shrimp!
Storage and Reheating
Store all of the ingredients in separate containers. They will keep fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days. The chicken can also be frozen for about 3 months if kept in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag.
Reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Top Tip
If you want juicier and more flavorful chicken, I highly recommend marinating for longer than 30 minutes. Anywhere from 2-3 hours to overnight will give you the best results.
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Recipe
Healthy Chicken Gyro Pita Pockets
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 pound chicken breasts or tenders
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ lemon, juiced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon Mediterranean or Italian seasoning
Wraps
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 2 small bell peppers, sliced
- One large or 2 small tomatoes, diced
- 1 small cucumber, diced
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- ¼ lemon, juiced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried or ½ teaspoon fresh dill
- Pita pockets
- Hot sauce
Instructions
- Begin by marinating the chicken in olive oil, lemon juice and spices for at least 30 minutes.
- While the chicken is marinating, slice 1 red onion and 2 bell peppers. Add them to a sheet pan and season with ½ tablespoon of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the chicken on the sheet pan with the vegetables and bake for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. It should be 165 degrees F. Slice or dice the chicken.
- Dice 1 large or 2 small tomatoes and 1 cucumber. Add them to bowl and mix together with ½ teaspoon of salt.
- Make yogurt sauce by mixing the yogurt with lemon juice, garlic powder and dill. Store in the fridge until ready to assemble the pitas.
- Cut tops off of pita pockets and stuff with ¼ cup diced chicken and veggies. Top with the yogurt sauce and hot sauce and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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