Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce

Happy Labor Day weekend! For me, it doesn't mean much since I don't have a job, but it's always nice to spend time with family regardless. Kevin and I went to the casino a few days ago which was nice and much needed, Jace spent the night with his friend and then he gets two sleepovers with his cousins before I spend the day in San Luis Obispo (SLO) tomorrow with my cousin and bring him home. I love that he has so many friends and so much support. 

This school year, so far, has been way less stressful than in the past. Jace doesn't have homework and he currently has A's and B's. This time last year he already had a C or two. He can come home, we can spend some time with him, he has time for his game and then a chore or two so right now, this is the perfect schedule for all of us. Plus, with not having to help him with homework every night, it leaves me more time to make delicious meals like this one -  Chicken Gyros with Homemade Tzatziki Sauce. 

Recipe inspo: RecipeTinEats for the Greek Chicken Gyros recipe. It did take awhile to make but all of us ate our plates clean so this will definitely be in the rotation. Kevin was the one who actually suggested making Chicken Gyros. I hadn't even thought about it but I have tried them before they were really good so I thought, "why not?" plus, since I'm not working, I have more time to cook and spend more time making recipes. Making the chicken using the indoor grill, for me, was a much better option. It wasn't messy, didn't take a lot of time, and I was able to be right in the kitchen and not be in the 100 degree weather outside.

The changes that we made included: Eliminating salt from the marinade, used lime juice instead of lemon juice and used garlic powder instead of garlic cloves. We replaced the garlic cloves with garlic powder in the Tzatziki, used less yogurt, used lime juice instead of lemon juice and removed the salt as well. We did not make the salad. 

Ingredients:
5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Pita bread

Ingredients for the marinade:
3 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp Fage plain yogurt
1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
Pepper to taste

Ingredients for the Tzatziki:
2 cucumbers
1 cup Fage plain yogurt
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp garlic powder
Pepper to taste

                                                        

Directions:
Place the marinade ingredients in a Ziploc bag and massage to mix. Add the chicken and cover with marinade. We added ours to the fridge and let it sit for 3 hours. 

While that is marinating, you can make the Tzatziki sauce. This was the toughest part. Cut the cucumbers lengthwise and use a teaspoon to scrape the seeds out. I then peeled the cucumbers and grated them into a bowl. Two cucumbers for me was about 1/4-1/2 cup. Wrap the cucumber in a towel to squeeze all of the extra liquid. 

Add remaining ingredients then mix to combine. Set aside.  

For the chicken, I used my indoor grill which worked perfectly. Feel free to use an outdoor grill as well. I took the chicken out of the fridge after three hours and added it to the grill over medium/high heat. 

After five minutes, flip, chop and cook for an extra few minutes, until cooked all the way through. 

Move to a plate. 

Assemble the gyro. Heat up your pita bread - I usually just heat mine up directly on the stove on medium heat, 5 seconds or so per side.  Add the Tzatziki sauce to the pita, add the chicken and fold. 

I thought that it would lack flavor by missing tomatoes and the salad inside the gyro but it really didn't lack flavor at all! I would highly recommend! 

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