Chicago-Style Gyro (Home Oven Beef and Lamb Gyro Loaf)
Ground lamb and beef salted ahead, puréed with onion, garlic, oregano and bacon into a springy sausage-like loaf, baked low, sliced thin and broiled crisp, then piled into soft pita with a yogurt, mayonnaise and garlic sauce, tomato, onion and cucumber.
In Greece, gyros is sliced pork. In America it is a cone of finely ground beef and lamb, and that cone was born in Chicago. Wikipedia says that by 1970 gyros wraps were popular in Athens, Chicago and New York, that Gyros Inc. of Chicago was starting to mass-produce vertical rotisserie machines while the meat stacks were still made by hand, and that there are several claimants to the first mass-produced American gyro, all Chicago-area Greek Americans in the early 1970s. The typical American cone is "finely ground beef mixed with lamb."
The claims pile up. The Daily Meal, citing a 2009 New York Times interview, reports that George Apostolou said he served the first gyros in Chicago in 1965 and began mass-producing them in 1974, that Peter Parthenis, who built rotisserie machines and founded Gyros Inc., says he beat Apostolou to mass production by a year, and that John Garlic's wife said the couple made cones at a sausage plant before anyone. Kronos Foods, founded in 1975 by Chris Tomaras, is "one of the first to produce, standardize, and market gyro cones" and Wikipedia calls it the largest gyro manufacturer in the world. Serious Eats' J. Kenji López-Alt, who says he prefers the Greek-American style, worked out how to make the cone's springy, crisp-edged meat at home: treat it like a giant sausage.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Ground lamb and beef salted ahead, puréed with onion, garlic, oregano and bacon into a springy sausage-like loaf, baked low, sliced thin and broiled crisp, then piled into soft pita with a yogurt, mayonnaise and garlic sauce, tomato, onion and cucumber.
🇬🇷 The original
In Greece, gyros is usually stacked slices of seasoned pork turned on a spit, wrapped in a soft pita with tomato, onion, tzatziki and a few fries tucked right inside. See the Greek Pork Gyros Pita (Gyros Souvlaki with Tzatziki and Fries) recipe.
🗳️ Gyro or döner? Vote: Gyro vs Döner kebab →
Why it works the kitchen science
Salting ahead
Salt dissolves meat proteins over time, so meat salted an hour or more before puréeing holds its juices and turns springy, like a hot dog; Kenji found pre-salted meat lost about a fifth as much juice.
Bake, slice, broil
Baking low sets the loaf evenly, and broiling the thin slices gives them the crisp edges you get from a vertical spit.
Step by step
- Step 1
Mix the lamb, beef, salt, pepper and oregano by hand until uniform. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or overnight). At the same time, set the yogurt in a fine strainer over a bowl in the refrigerator to drain 1 hour.
- Step 2
Heat the oven to 300°F with a rack in the middle. Put the cold meat, onion, garlic and bacon in a food processor and process about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, until it is a smooth purée.
- Step 3
Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. With wet hands, shape the meat into a loaf about 8 inches long, 5 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches high. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the center reads 160°F. Rest 15 minutes.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, stir the strained yogurt with the mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and herbs; season with salt and refrigerate.
- Step 5
Move a rack to the top position, 1 1/2 to 2 inches below the broiler, and heat the broiler. Slice the loaf crosswise into 1/8- to 1/4-inch strips and lay them on a foil-lined sheet. Broil about 2 minutes, until the edges are brown and crisp. Tent with foil.
- Step 6
Broil the pitas about 45 seconds a side, until soft. Spread each with 1/4 cup sauce, add the meat, tomato, onion, cucumber and hot sauce, and wrap in foil to serve.
Chicago-Style Gyro (Home Oven Beef and Lamb Gyro Loaf)
Serves 4 · 4 gyros · 2 hr 10 min total
Gyro loaf
- 1/2 lb ground lamb
- 1/2 lb ground beef (85% lean)
- 2 tsp kosher salt (or 1 tsp table salt)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried)
- 1/2 onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 3 oz slab bacon (or about 5 slices), cut into 1-inch pieces
Sauce
- 3/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley or mint
- Salt
To serve
- 4 soft, pocketless pitas
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cubed
- Hot sauce
Method
- Mix the lamb, beef, salt, pepper and oregano by hand until uniform. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour (or overnight). At the same time, set the yogurt in a fine strainer over a bowl in the refrigerator to drain 1 hour.
- Heat the oven to 300°F with a rack in the middle. Put the cold meat, onion, garlic and bacon in a food processor and process about 1 minute, scraping down the sides, until it is a smooth purée.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. With wet hands, shape the meat into a loaf about 8 inches long, 5 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches high. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the center reads 160°F. Rest 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, stir the strained yogurt with the mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and herbs; season with salt and refrigerate.
- Move a rack to the top position, 1 1/2 to 2 inches below the broiler, and heat the broiler. Slice the loaf crosswise into 1/8- to 1/4-inch strips and lay them on a foil-lined sheet. Broil about 2 minutes, until the edges are brown and crisp. Tent with foil.
- Broil the pitas about 45 seconds a side, until soft. Spread each with 1/4 cup sauce, add the meat, tomato, onion, cucumber and hot sauce, and wrap in foil to serve.
Adapted from J. Kenji López-Alt, "Greek-American Lamb Gyros", Serious Eats (published June 4, 2010; updated December 10, 2025), serves 4. We follow it as written: 1 lb ground meat salted with 2 teaspoons kosher salt, pepper and oregano and refrigerated 1 hour to overnight; puréed about 1 minute with onion, garlic and 3 oz bacon; formed into a 1 1/2-by-5-by-8-inch loaf on a foil-lined sheet and baked at 300°F; rested 15 minutes; sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch and broiled about 2 minutes, close to the element; a sauce of strained yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic, lemon and parsley; pita broiled about 45 seconds a side. Kenji uses all lamb or all 85 percent lean beef; we use half of each, the way a Chicago cone mixes them. Kenji bakes to 155°F; we bake to 160°F, the ground-meat number, which adds a few minutes. Serious Eats. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- The baked loaf keeps in the refrigerator up to a week, Kenji says; slice and broil as needed.
- Use soft, hand-pulled-style pita, not the thin pocket kind.
- Bacon is Kenji's addition for fat and smoke; it is not in a factory cone.
- Chicago gyros are usually served with raw onion, tomato and plenty of sauce; fries on the side.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Chicago invented the American gyro cone. Disputed as to who: Wikipedia and The Daily Meal agree the mass-produced cone came from Chicago-area Greek Americans, but name several claimants (Apostolou, Parthenis, the Garlics) and do not settle it.
- George Apostolou served America's first gyros in 1965. Disputed: his own claim, as reported via the New York Times; Parthenis claims he was first to mass production.
- Kronos invented the gyro cone. Disputed: Wikipedia says it was "one of the first" to produce and standardize cones and that an argument exists about who was first.
- American gyro meat is beef and lamb; Greek is pork. Documented (Wikipedia; Kenji).
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Meatballs of the World
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Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.