Loaded with plenty of fresh herbs, garlic, and Mediterranean flavor, these Slow Cooker Greek Chicken Gyros are a healthy 10-minute dinner for your busiest days! The juicy, tender chicken is delicious when stuffed in a pita, piled high on rice, or tossed in a salad. And thanks to plenty of customizable toppings, it’s a meal that everyone at the table can enjoy!
When I was growing up, my mom prepared almost all of our dinners at home. She’s a great cook, there weren’t a lot of restaurant options nearby, and it certainly saved us money. But when we needed something fast, or when Mom was gone from the house all day and didn’t have an opportunity to get supper made, we had a few favorite options that we turned to: Chinese food, pizza, and a little Greek diner that sold the best gyros. Oh my gosh, the Tzatziki sauce on those gyros was to-die-for!
Since the whole family loved that Mediterranean cuisine, my mom quickly learned how to grill her own Greek-style chicken and how to stir together her own garlic-cucumber-yogurt sauce for an Americanized version of our favorite restaurant gyros.
Today, I’ve taken it one step further. I’ve turned a childhood favorite into weeknight gyros that I can serve my own family with just 10 minutes of prep!
Admittedly, these are not authentic Greek gyros. I’m not shaving meat off the spit; I’m not whipping up my own Tzatziki; and I’m certainly not baking fluffy, soft flatbread in my oven. But you know what? This dinner is so full of fresh, healthy, Mediterranean ingredients that nobody cares if they are technically “real” gyros. They’re just really good and really easy.
For those of you with picky eaters at home, this is a great way to keep the entire family happy at the table. Just set out the toppings on the counter and let everyone design their own gyros to suit individual tastes. It’s a simple mealtime solution that will make your life just a little bit easier!
Slow Cooker Greek Chicken Gyros
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 red onion sliced (plus additional for serving, if desired)
- 4 large carrots peeled and chopped into chunks
- 1 lemon halved
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- Olive oil about 1 tablespoon, salt, and pepper
- For serving: pita bread or rice or salad; Tzatziki sauce; feta cheese; sliced red onion; sliced olives; sliced tomatoes; lettuce; sliced cucumber
Instructions
- Place chicken in a large Ziploc bag. Drizzle with olive oil. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Add oregano, basil, thyme, and garlic to the bag. Seal the bag, toss to coat the chicken. You can let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for a couple of hours (or overnight), or you can just use it right away.
- Place onion, carrots, and lemon halves in the bottom of a slow cooker. Top with chicken and herbs from the bag.
- Cover and cook on low for about 4-6 hours, or on high for about 2-3 hours. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Chop chicken or shred with a fork before serving.
- Pile the chicken on top of pita bread, rice, or salad. Garnish with Tzatziki sauce, feta cheese, olives, and fresh veggies.
These sound delicious. Can’t wait to try them.
Thanks, Carolyn! Enjoy! 🙂
This sounds like such a great meal, Blair! I love gyros, but have never made them with chicken before, let alone in the slow cooker. I love how easy the prep time is, too. What a fun dish to recreate from your childhood and I know my husband would love these flavors, too!
Thanks so much, Gayle! I think your husband would like this healthy dinner too!
I love love love Gyros and have been craving them and these made with chicken sound divine. The fact I can make in my sleep cooker is a bonus. I took the chicken out to thaw i can mari ate overnight and make tomorrow. Once again thanks for a great recipe. You’re the best!
That’s great, Kathleen! I hope that you enjoy them! 🙂
Woman! I’ve been eyeing these all day on FB! IT’s about time I came here and drooled. LOVE gyros and slow cooker is GENIUS!
Thanks, friend! 🙂 Can’t beat the slow cooker for EASY dinners!
What do you do with the carrots when through cooking? I’ve never had a gyro with carrots. ???
You can just toss the carrots if you don’t want to eat them on the side. They give the chicken additional flavor as it cooks, keeps the meat juicy, and acts as a roasting rack for the chicken to sit on as it cooks. 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
This was delicious!!! Love all your recipes
Hi, Blayke! Thanks so much — you totally made my day. 🙂 I’m glad that you enjoyed the meal, and I’m so appreciative that you read the blog. Have a great week!
I’ve got this recipe in the crock pot as we speak and it smells amazing! My husband is active military and is also taking night classes to get his CDL, I work from home, we have a 3 year old son, and I’m almost 6 months pregnant so I need all the dinnertime help I can get! I’m so excited to share this with the gang for dinner. Thanks for posting this recipe!
Hi, Kay! That’s wonderful! I’m so glad that this might make your life a bit easier. I completely relate to the chaos of trying to work from home with multiple little kids at your feet (and a husband who is gone a lot). With three baby boys born in less than 4 years, that has definitely been my reality recently as well! At least I can share some of the easy recipes that we love with other women in similar situations!
Hi, thank you so much for delicious food, but I don’t know how to make Tzatziki sauce
Hi, Lia! Tzatziki sauce is a yogurt-based garlic and herb sauce…but I rarely make it myself! Instead I just buy a container of it at the grocery store for a short cut! 🙂 I usually find it either near the hummus in the deli section or near the dips in the refrigerated/dairy section. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! Does a 4-6 yield mean that it makes 4-6 gyros or feeds 4-6 people? I’ll be cooking for 5.
Hi, Tania! It should be enough meat/fillings to serve 4 large appetites or 6 small appetites. If you stuff one gyro really full, you might just get one gyro per person. If you fill them lightly, you will probably get more. Serving sizes are such a tricky thing because everyone had different size appetites. My kids eat a lot less than my husband, so calculating “one” serving size is very arbitrary. 🙂
Long story short, you should have enough fillings for all 5 of you. I’d buy at least 6 (or more) pitas, just to make sure there are plenty!
Can’t thank you enough for all your wonderful recipes! I’m a soon to be mother and your recipes have been my saving grace- My husband is also a huge fan. Every single recipe is a wow!
Hi, Kimberly! Thank you so much for your kind note. You totally made my day! 🙂 I’m really happy that you and your husband enjoy the recipes, and I SO appreciate the fact that you took the time to let me know. Thank you for reading the blog, and congrats on your soon-to-be baby!
This looks delicious! Have you ever made it with dried herbs? I always have dried thyme, oregano and basil on hand and would love to make this as a quick weeknight dinner.
Hey, Anna! You can definitely use dried herbs for this dish. I would adjust the amounts as follows, since dried herbs are more potent than fresh herbs:
– 2 teaspoons dried oregano
– 1 teaspoon dried basil
– 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Enjoy!!!
Made them for dinner last night…oh my gosh so yummy & delicious! Super easy too! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Yay! That’s great, Haylea! Thank you for letting me know!
Made this it’s absolutely phenomenal. Marinated the chicken over night. Chicken is unbelievably tender.
Yay! Thanks, Cherish!
Im confused, do we add water to slow cooker or not if so how much? It doesnt mention anything.
No, there’s no water in the recipe. 🙂
If you see liquid in the photos, it’s just from the slow cooker process as the vegetables and meat release some liquid.
Thanks for breaking it all down so we know what to expect every step of the way, both the easy and hard
🙂
I only have bone in thighs, would this change the cooking time?
Hi, Michelle! Bone-in chicken typically requires a longer cooking time. That said, every slow cooker is a bit different in temperature, so it’s hard to give you a specific amount of time for the thighs in your pot. I would suggest trying 4-6 hours on low, and they should be good to go! 🙂
Thank you for the quick reply, starting these now 😁
Wonderful! Enjoy!
Oops! I made it with dried herbs with tablespoons versus the suggested teaspoons. I’ll find out tomorrow how it tastes. Smells relish!
They were delicious! And they did not taste over seasoned due to my mistake! Full of flavor! I enjoyed them in my pita with all of my toppings and my kiddos enjoyed just the chicken alone!
That’s great, Jennifer! I’m so glad that they still worked! 🙂