| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 3 hr 45 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 2 hr |
| Cook: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped or shredded
- 2 pounds ground lamb
- 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried marjoram
- 1 tablespoon dried ground rosemary
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Tzatziki Sauce, recipe follows
- 16 ounces plain yogurt
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
- Pinch kosher salt
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 5 to 6 mint leaves, finely minced
Instructions
- Process the onion in a food processor for 10 to 15 seconds and turn out into the center of a tea towel. Gather up the ends of the towel and squeeze until almost all of the juice is removed. Discard juice.
- Return the onion to the food processor and add the lamb, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, salt, and pepper and process until it is a fine paste, approximately 1 minute. Stop the processor as needed to scrape down sides of bowl.
- To cook in the oven as a meatloaf, proceed as follows:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Place the mixture into a loaf pan, making sure to press into the sides of the pan. Place the loaf pan into a water bath and bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until the mixture reaches 165 to 170 degrees F. Remove from the oven and drain off any fat. Place the loaf pan on a cooling rack and place a brick wrapped in aluminum foil directly on the surface of the meat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F. Slice and serve on pita bread with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, tomatoes and feta cheese.
- To cook on a rotisserie, proceed as follows:
- Form the meat mixture into a loaf shape and place on top of 2 overlapping pieces of plastic wrap that are at least 18 inches long. Roll the mixture in the plastic wrap tightly, making sure to remove any air pockets. Once the meat is completely rolled in the wrap, twist the ends of the plastic wrap until the surface of the wrap is tight. Store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to overnight, to allow the mixture to firm up.
- Preheat the grill to high.
- Place the meat onto the rotisserie skewer. Place a double-thick piece of aluminum foil folded into a tray directly under the meat to catch any drippings. Cook on high for 15 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium and continue to cook for another 20 to 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 degrees F. Turn off the heat and allow to continue to spin for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees. Slice and serve on pita bread with tzatziki sauce, chopped onion, tomatoes, and feta cheese.
- Place the yogurt in a tea towel, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
- Place the chopped cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for gyros. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 385 |
| Total Fat | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 13 g |
| Carbohydrates | 6 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Cholesterol | 90 mg |
| Sodium | 511 mg |
Reviews
My sister made this gyro recipe for a party and all I can say is that the tzatziki sauce was the bomb!! Yummy, garlicky goodness. I was smothering that sauce on everything. (I’m vegetarian so the sauce is all I’m rating).
This is really tasty. I was amazed how well it came out. The texture is so close to the restaurant version. Will definitely make this again.
We love this recipe! We make it with ground beef. ( just don’t like the flavor of ground lamb).- thank you Mr.Brown for a great recipe!
We use just the seasoning and use it in ground lamb to make pita. It is delicious.
This was awesome! I had to use ground beef/pork as lamb was not available. Still awesome. The brick part was a challenge, but I took another loaf pan, wrapped in foil, and dumped a change jar full of quarters in to completely fill loaf pan. Worked out perfectly!
This recipe is mouthwateringly delicious. Any left over gyro loaf can be made into lamb egg rolls.
My husband and I have been making this recipe for almost 10 years! We saw it while watching the episode on AB’s “Good Eats” and was in awe.
The first time was a process… Second time was better and easier. Now, after making this about once every couple of months, it’s pretty much memorized. We’ve made it with and without bricks… There’s a slight difference but nothing earth shattering. I reduced the marjoram about 5 years ago and introduced Greek oregano…wow, really a game changer for us. We use premade tzatziki that we get from a local shop. I agree that letting the mixture sit in the fridge a couple hours (or overnight) really helps with the flavors marrying. However, let your mixture come to room temperature before baking or it will be crumbly. That’s pretty typical of most meat prep, but really crucial with this.
I didn’t a couple of times and regretted it. Still tasted ok, but presentation was affected.
We’ve used all lamb and half/half lamb/beef. We prefer the all lamb, but that’s just our own preference. Americans typically aren’t big lamb eaters, so for many it can be overpowering (the gaminess of the lamb). I’m half Norwegian and grew up eating lamb regularly, so it’s not an issue.
This recipe can be easily tweaked for personal tastes.
The first time was a process… Second time was better and easier. Now, after making this about once every couple of months, it’s pretty much memorized. We’ve made it with and without bricks… There’s a slight difference but nothing earth shattering. I reduced the marjoram about 5 years ago and introduced Greek oregano…wow, really a game changer for us. We use premade tzatziki that we get from a local shop. I agree that letting the mixture sit in the fridge a couple hours (or overnight) really helps with the flavors marrying. However, let your mixture come to room temperature before baking or it will be crumbly. That’s pretty typical of most meat prep, but really crucial with this.
I didn’t a couple of times and regretted it. Still tasted ok, but presentation was affected.
We’ve used all lamb and half/half lamb/beef. We prefer the all lamb, but that’s just our own preference. Americans typically aren’t big lamb eaters, so for many it can be overpowering (the gaminess of the lamb). I’m half Norwegian and grew up eating lamb regularly, so it’s not an issue.
This recipe can be easily tweaked for personal tastes.
The texture was amazing! Based on other feedback, I tried half ground lamb, half 80/20 ground beef. My 1500 watt ninja had no problems making the meat paste. To get the juice out of the onion after chopping I used a fine mesh strainer and pushed down with a big pile of paper towels. Worked great. It took 75 min to get to an internal temp of 175 and the top was nicely browned. I patted fry the grease and immediately sliced and pan fried for extra caramelization. It looked really authentic. I didn’t think that was even possible at home. I thought the onion and garlic were perfect but I’d like to adjust the rest of the seasoning next time as that was the only part a little off. Still really glad I made it.
I made the tzatziki sauce only and Alton Brown the only reason you didn’t get a 5 was because of all the nonsense over tea towels and drying yogurt. Not necessary. Whole Greek yogurt is perfectly fine and dense enough. And the cucumber procedure was also unnecessarily over complicated. Just dice up Persian cucumbers and let them hang out on a paper towel for 15 minutes. Turned out delicious.
Great recipe but I watched the video for the first time and noticed that he put the raw meat in the fridge for two hours to ‘firm up’ and meld the flavors. He doesn’t say to do this with the oven version. However, this time, I did. It absolutely makes a difference so even if you are cooking it in an oven, put it in the fridge for 2 hours. Also, I found if I do his trick with the plastic wrap, then gently push it into a loaf pan after the 2 hours, it is more compact than just packing it straight into the loaf pan.