A lot of people seem to be under the impression that being a vegetarian is totally restrictive and boring and all about the things you can’t eat. Untrue! Eating meatless opens up so many possibilities that I never think about the things I don’t eat. For example: gyros. If you’re having standard gyros, your possibilities are meat and meat. You are bound by tradition. I am bound by nothing. There are no bounds! So I made gyros with grilled vegetables.
“But Wikipedia says that a gyro is a Greek dish of meat roasted on a vertical spit.”
I don’t care! Wikipedia isn’t the boss of me!
I mean, I guess I could have roasted some tofu on a vertical spit. That would be weird, but I could do it. But as long as I’m getting rid of the meat in the recipe, I might as well get rid of the cooking method too. Let’s throw out the baby and the bathwater. But maybe instead of throwing the baby, we could gently move the baby and then pour out the bathwater. That’s probably better.
Before grilling the veggies, I marinated them in a tangy lemon-olive oil sauce. The veggies will soak up the sauce pretty quickly, so you can heat up your grill while they’re marinating. I use an indoor grill that has ridges on it instead of grates so I don’t have to worry about the veggies falling through, but if you’re using an outdoor grill, you’ll want to use a vegetable basket. They’ll only take a few minutes to cook, although the exact time will vary depending on the type of grill you use.
I like to throw the pita bread on the grill after the veggies are done to warm it up a little bit so it’s easily bendable. Pile the veggies on the bread, then top it with chopped tomatoes and romaine lettuce, and a drizzle of tzatziki or Creamy Cucumber Dill Sauce. Don’t forget to wrap the bottom half of your Grilled Veggie Gyros with foil for that authentic restaurant style experience—and also because these gyros are a little bit messy. At least they have that in common with the original!
This post was originally published on April 23, 2014.
Go to Grilled Veggie Gyros recipe
Go to Creamy Cucumber Dill Sauce recipe
Prep Time:
20 minutesCook Time:
20 minutesTotal Time:
40 minutes Yield:
4 servingsingredients:
instructions:
notes:
If you don't have an indoor grill, you can use a grill pan or an outdoor grill for the veggies. If you're using an outdoor grill, use a basket so the veggies don't fall through the grates!
ingredients:
instructions:
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Comments
This looks absolutely delicious. Will be making this as soon as I can.
These look so good. I’ve been craving gyros but mostly the veggies and creamy cucumber sauce. Can’t wait to try these!!
It’s “Portobello,” not “Portabella.”
If you took a minute to Google it, you’d see that both spellings are acceptable. Thanks.
I am a meat person and I thought that there was no way that these could taste as good as a regular meat gyro. How wrong I was. These are fabulous. They became a quick favorite with me. I didn’t know it was possible for veggies to taste so good.
Add some feta and it’s perfect. They do have vegetarian gyros I thought. The Greek place in my town has ones with eggplant. It’s the mashed up eggplant not hard. Although it would be good either way as an addition to this recipe.
How do you get the Nutritional info?
yumm that looks so delicious!!
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These look SO good! And, I’m making that cucumber dill sauce right now. YUM! 🙂
I love the sound of this cucumber dill sauce, and these gyros in general! “Wikipedia isn’t the boss of me” — love it! People definitely tend to think that things “should” be a certain way, i.e. certain dishes NEED to have meat as you said. But I do what I feel is right and best, and that never steers me wrong 🙂
We enjoyed these and will make again. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for your comment – I’m happy to hear it! 🙂
Oh. My. Goodness. These are astoundingly good. We just made them tonight, and will easily be adding them to our favourite recipes. That sauce! My word! It’s too-die-for, and just perfect for the dish. It’s a spot-on gyros sauce! After blending, I stirred through another cup of peeled, diced cucumber to it for some crunch, and was so happy with the flavour. The veggies were also incredible. Yum yum yum! You’re a clever lady. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I don’t like bell peppers, do you have any recommendations for a substitute? I was thinking of sweet potatoes, but I’m not sure if that would taste weird.
I’m not sure if sweet potatoes would fully cook by the time the rest of the veggies are done. Broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus could work, or you could even double up on the zucchini. Enjoy. 🙂