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White square plate with sliced seared gyros meat, a dome of tomato rice topped with tzatziki, and a mound of tzatziki with cucumber

Gluten-Free Gyros with Tomato Rice and Tzatziki

These gluten-free gyros start with pork neck sliced 5 mm (1/5 inch) thick, marinated in olive oil, yogurt, lemon, garlic and spices, then packed tightly onto a rotisserie spit and cooked in a gas grill over indirect heat at about 200 °C (390 °F).
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings: 6 servings
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Greek
Calories: 1394
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 2 kg boneless pork neck, sliced 5 mm (1/5 inch) thick about 4.4 lb. Ask the butcher to slice it
  • 6 tbsp olive oil, for the marinade 90 ml
  • 3 tbsp Greek yogurt (10% fat), for the marinade 45 ml. Check the label (plain, no flavoring or thickeners)
  • 1.5 lemons, juiced juice amount not specified
  • 6 garlic cloves, pressed, for the marinade
  • 3 tbsp dried oregano 45 ml. Check the label
  • 1.5 tbsp sweet paprika 22.5 ml. Check the label
  • 1.5 tsp cumin 7.5 ml. Check the label (spice blends can contain gluten)
  • 2 tbsp salt, for the marinade 30 ml. Fine or coarse salt not specified; see the notes
  • 1 tsp black pepper 5 ml
  • 500 g Greek yogurt (10% fat), for the tzatziki about 17.6 oz. Check the label
  • 1 cucumber, unpeeled no weight specified; about 350 g (12 oz) is assumed
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves, pressed, for the tzatziki
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, for the tzatziki 30 ml
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar (or lemon juice) 15 ml
  • salt and pepper, for the tzatziki to taste. Plus a light sprinkle of salt for the grated cucumber
  • 300 g long-grain rice about 10.5 oz. Rinsed in a sieve under cold water before cooking
  • 1 onion, finely diced size not specified
  • 1 garlic clove, finely diced, for the rice
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (or butter), for the rice 15 ml
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste 15 ml. Check the label
  • 400 g can chopped tomatoes 14 oz. Check the label
  • 300 ml gluten-free vegetable or chicken broth 1¼ cups. Check the label
  • 1 tsp dried oregano, for the rice 5 ml. Check the label
  • 1 tsp salt, for the rice 5 ml
  • black pepper, for the rice a little
  • red onion rings, fresh tomato slices, gluten-free oven fries optional, for serving, no amounts specified. Fries instead of rice if you prefer; check the package label for gluten-free

Method
 

  1. Marinade. In a very large bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients thoroughly: the olive oil, the 3 tbsp (45 ml) Greek yogurt, the lemon juice, the pressed garlic, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.
  2. Coat the meat. Pull the pork neck slices through the marinade one by one until every slice is covered.
  3. Marinate. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, best overnight. Make-ahead: this can be done the day before.
  4. Tzatziki: grate the cucumber. Coarsely grate the unpeeled cucumber. Put the shreds in a clean kitchen towel, sprinkle with a little salt and let stand for 5 minutes.
  5. Squeeze it dry. Wring the water out of the towel as firmly as you can. Otherwise the tzatziki turns watery.
  6. Mix the tzatziki. Combine the dry cucumber with the 500 g Greek yogurt, the pressed garlic, 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil and the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste and keep it cold until serving.
  7. Pack the spit. Push the marinated meat onto the rotisserie spit as tightly and densely as you can. Press the meat together very firmly at both ends with the meat forks.
  8. Set up the grill for indirect heat. Turn the two outer burners to medium-high. Keep the burners directly under the meat off. Aim for about 200 °C (390 °F) inside the grill.
  9. Add a drip pan. Set a heatproof dish with a small splash of water directly under the meat, on the grate or the metal bars above the burners, so the dripping fat does not burn.
  10. Grill. Put the spit in place, switch the motor on and close the lid.
    Marinated pork slices packed on a rotisserie spit inside a gas grill with a glass dish of drippings underneath
  11. Harvest the first layer. After about 45 to 60 minutes the first layer is brown and crisp. Briefly stop the motor and slice the crisp outer layer off thinly with a sharp knife. Keep the rest turning with the lid closed until the next layer is crisp, in all about 60 to 90 minutes.
    Rotisserie spit lifted out with the browned crisp layers of the meat block on a white and green cutting board
  12. Start the rice. Once the meat has been sliced for the first time, start the rice in an electric pressure cooker. Heat the oil on sauté. Cook the onion and garlic for about 2 minutes, until glassy.
  13. Toast the rice. Add the tomato paste and the rinsed rice to the pot and toast for 1 minute, stirring.
  14. Add the broth. Switch sauté off. Stir in the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
  15. Layer the tomatoes. Put the chopped tomatoes, the oregano, salt and pepper on top of the rice only. Do not stir from now on.
  16. Pressure cook. Close the lid with the valve on sealing. Pressure cook on high for 4 minutes (settings may differ by model).
  17. Sear for the crust. While the rice cooks, cut the sliced meat into pieces and brown it in a frying pan over high heat with a little oil until it has a crust.
    Cooked pork pieces in a grey frying pan with steam rising
  18. Release. Let the pressure drop by natural release for 10 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually (quick release).
  19. Fluff the rice. Open the lid, fluff the rice with a fork and mix it well.
  20. Serve. Serve the seared meat with the tomato rice and the tzatziki. Optional: red onion rings, tomato slices and gluten-free oven fries if you prefer them to rice.

Notes

Gluten check: the recipe contains no gluten ingredients, but read the labels of the yogurt (flavored or thickened yogurts), oregano, paprika and cumin (spice blends), tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and broth. If you serve oven fries, check the package label for gluten-free. Use clean utensils, bowls, pans and a clean grill to avoid cross-contact.
Food safety (general guidance): pork should reach a safe internal temperature. USDA guidance for whole cuts of pork is 63 °C (145 °F) with a 3 minute rest. Check the meat with a thermometer and slice off only layers that are crisp and cooked through. Do not reuse the raw marinade as a sauce.
Grill time: about 45 to 60 minutes until the first layer is crisp and 60 to 90 minutes in all. Treat this as a guide; grills differ.
Salt: fine and coarse salt differ a lot per spoon. 2 tbsp (30 ml) is a lot for 2 kg (4.4 lb) of meat: fine table salt weighs about 18 g per tbsp, so roughly 36 g, about 1.8 % of the meat weight, while coarse salt weighs less per spoon. Use the salt you know and adjust to taste.
Rice ratio: 300 g rice is cooked with 300 ml broth and a 400 g can of chopped tomatoes layered on top.
Pressure cooker: the settings (sauté, 4 minutes on high, 10 minutes natural release) may differ by model of electric pressure cooker.
Make-ahead and leftovers: the marinade needs at least 4 hours, best overnight. The recipe serves 6, enough for 3 people over 2 days.
Nutrition values are an estimate calculated from the ingredient list, not a lab analysis. They cover the gyros meat, tomato rice and tzatziki (not the oven fries, optional toppings, the oil for searing, spices, salt or pepper). The whole marinade is counted although part of it is discarded, and fat that drips into the drip pan is lost, so the real values are likely lower: treat the estimate as an upper bound.
Optional serving ideas: tomato slices, red onion rings and gluten-free oven fries if you prefer them to rice.