Chicken Gyro Bowls

Chicken Gyro Bowls with tzatziki sauce turn your favorite traditional Greek sandwich into a quick, healthy dinner. Lots of yummy gyro toppings piled on a bed of fluffy quinoa.

Fall is coming. And for me, that usually means the onslaught of comfort food making its way into the kitchen – dishes like pumpkin risotto, osso buco and braised short ribs. But this year, I’m focusing on more mindful eating…

I’m ready to create more dishes that taste light and fresh, and feature lots of color. Enter these Chicken Gyro Bowls.

Gyros are traditionally made with either lamb or chicken and served on pita bread with lots of tzatziki (a cucumber-yogurt sauce), a bit of lettuce and a sprinkling of tomatoes.

For this recipe, I’m using all of those traditional ingredients, but I’m swapping out the heavy pita bread for quinoa which is filled with protein, fiber and iron.

Just made this for dinner. YUM! So delicious. We added a bed of salad greens underneath everything and it was perfect!

Jill

Looking for more bowl recipes? Be sure to try these Poke Bowls, Quinoa Taco Bowls, Spicy Peanut Tofu Bowls and Sweet Potato & Chickpea Buddha Bowls.

Why you’ll love them

You can make these from start to finish in just about 30 minutes. Just be sure to marinate the chicken the night before.

Plus, these bowls are great for meal prep. Since it’s just the two of us at home, I’ll normally have a couple extra servings to enjoy lunches during the week. Love that!

Ingredients needed

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts – You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
• Quinoa – My new favorite way to make quinoa is in the Instant Pot. If you have one at home, I’d definitely suggest cooking it up in there. It takes just a minute (plus time for pressure to build and release) and it comes out so flavorful and fluffy using these tips.
• Garlic
• Lemon
• Cucumber
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Feta Cheese
• Red Onion
• Vinegar – White wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar. Or use just one or the other. Or, swap in red wine vinegar.
• Olive Oil
• Plain Greek Yogurt – Nonfat or full fat.
• Fresh Herbs – Parsley and mint.
• Spices – Dried oregano, ground mustard, salt, pepper, sugar

How to make them

Marinate the chicken

• Add the marinade ingredients to a large Ziploc bag, add the chicken and massage the marinade into the meat. Allow to marinate for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight.

Make the pickled onions

• Add sliced onions to a medium bowl. Pour enough boiling water over them to fully cover and count to 10. Drain onions and place in jar or bowl.
• Heat vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes.
• Pour vinegar mixture over onions. Allow to stand at room temperature, until fully cooled, about 20 minutes.

Tip: I’ve got an entire post dedicated to how I pickle my onions. In the recipe for these Chicken Gyro Bowls, I make a half batch, but why not go ahead and pickle an entire onion. Then you can have leftovers for topping things like scrambled eggs, migas, tacos and salads.

Make the homemade tzatziki sauce

• Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Coarsely grate the cucumber using a box grater or food processor. Then wrap in paper towels or a tea towel and squeeze to remove excess liquid.
• Place cucumber in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients then mix to combine. Set aside for at least 20 minutes for the flavors combine.

Tip: Take a shortcut here are purchase premade tzatziki sauce in your grocery store. It’s found near the hummus in the refrigerated cheese section. Or, try my Creamy Feta Dressing!

Cook the chicken

• Remove chicken from marinade and cook in a large skillet or grill pan over medium heat 5-6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Cut into strips.

Assemble the bowls

• Divide quinoa between bowls. Top with chicken strips, pickled onion, tomato, cucumber and feta. Drizzle with tzatziki sauce and garnish with parsley and mint.

Variations

• Instead of serving these gyro bowls on quinoa, you can serve them on a bowl of white rice, Greek Lemon Rice, farro, or greens.
• Swap out the chicken breasts for pork chops, or ground turkey or ground chicken.

How to make ahead & store

You can make these bowls 3-5 days ahead of time. I like to cook the chicken and the quinoa, then package them up together in a microwave safe container. When ready to heat, simply pop it into the microwave, then top with the tzatziki, pickled onions and other veggies.

Wine pairings

• Sauvignon Blanc or Vinho Verde will nicely compliment the fresh herbs and citrus in this recipe.
• A light fruity red wine, such as Beaujolais, won’t overpower the fresh flavors in this dish
• A dry Rosé will also pair well with these quinoa bowls.

More quinoa recipes

• Quinoa Taco Bowls
• Quinoa Soup
• Taco Lettuce Wraps with Turkey & Quinoa
• Southwest Beef & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
• How to Cook Perfect Quinoa in the Instant Pot
• Cauliflower Salad with Roasted Chickpeas & Quinoa
• More → 35+ BEST quinoa recipes

More bowl recipes

• Yumm Sauce Bowls
• Harissa Chicken Bowl
• Power Bowls
• Sweet Potato & Chickpea Buddha Bowl
• Poke Bowls Recipe
• Spicy Peanut Tofu Bowls with Coconut Rice
• Spring Roll Bowls with Shrimp
• Fish Taco Bowls with Avocado Crema

Did you try this chicken gyro bowl recipe?

If you loved these chicken gyro bowls, I would appreciate it so much if you would give this recipe a ⭐️star review⭐️! Also, be sure to snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #platingsandpairings and tagging me @platingsandpairings.

For more great Platings and Pairings recipes, be sure to follow me on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and Facebook.

PS- Check out these 30+ sides for gyros and 15+ tasty sauces for gyros too!

Chicken Gyro Bowls

These Chicken Gyro Bowls with Tzatziki turn your favorite traditional Greek sandwich into a quick, healthy dinner.

5 from 12 votes

Print Pin

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 bowls

Created by Platings and Pairings

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade

• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons Nonfat Greek Yogurt
• 1½ Tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Tzatziki

• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ¼ cups Open Nature Plain, Nonfat Greek Yogurt
• 1 medium cucumber
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Pickled Onions

• 1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Assembly

• 3 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 cup grape tomatoes (halved)
• 1 cucumber (sliced)
• 4 ounces feta (crumbled)
• ¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• ¼ cup chopped mint

Instructions

Marinade:

• Add the marinade ingredients to a large Ziploc bag, add the chicken and massage the marinade into the meat. Allow to marinate for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight.

Pickled Onions:

• Add sliced onions to a medium bowl. Pour enough boiling water over them to fully cover and count to 10. Drain onions and place in jar or bowl.
• Heat vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes.
• Pour vinegar mixture over onions. Allow to stand at room temperature, until fully cooled, about 20 minutes.

Tzatziki:

• Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Coarsely grate the cucumber using a box grater or food processor. Then wrap in paper towels or a tea towel and squeeze to remove excess liquid.
• Place cucumber in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients then mix to combine. Set aside for at least 20 minutes for the flavors combine.

Chicken:

• Remove chicken from marinade and cook in a large skillet or grill pan over medium heat 5-6 minutes on each side until cooked through. Cut into strips.

Assembly:

• Divide quinoa between bowls. Top with chicken strips, pickled onion, tomato, cucumber and feta. Drizzle with tzatziki sauce and garnish with parsley and mint.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @platingsandpairings or tag #platingsandpairings!

Nutrition

Calories: 678kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 67g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 174mg | Sodium: 2076mg | Potassium: 1430mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 550IU | Vitamin C: 18.2mg | Calcium: 280mg | Iron: 3.4mg

This post was originally published in 2017. It was updated in 2023 to add new information. The gyros bowl recipe remains the same. Enjoy!