Slow Cooker Gyro Rice Bowls

Whether you pronounce it jy-roh or yee-roh, one bite of these small scale Slow Cooker Gyro Rice Bowls with homemade tzatziki sauce will transport you to Greece. Recipe makes 4 servings, enough to realistically feed 1-2 people.

How do you pronounce gyro?

Here in Pittsburgh we say jy-roh even though the authentic Greek pronunciation is yee-roh. Everything’s great until you travel out of town and left standing in a long gyro line wondering “ok exactly how do I say gyro so I can order one without looking like an idiot?”

Since they sold only gyros, I got away by saying “one, please”. Problem solved (until next time).

I wanted to make another slow cooker recipe for two but was stuck on ideas.

I was telling my friend about this dilemma when she blurted out without hesitation “gyro bowls!”

Apparently a Greek restaurant near her makes these rice bowls topped with everything you’d find in a gyro. I love gyros so much, I ran with the idea and made these Slow Cooker Gyro Rice Bowls topped with everything you love about Greek food – shredded lamb, tomatoes, pickled red onion (or raw), lettuce, kalamata olives, feta, and homemade pita chips served over brown rice.

Or as chefs on cooking challenge shows often say, I made deconstructed gyros.

What is a gyro?

Gyros are Greek sandwiches made of thinly sliced meat (usually lamb or beef) that turns on a tall vertical pole called a spit then layered onto pita bread with tomatoes, lettuce, onion, and tzatziki (cucumber yogurt sauce).

I’ve probably been eating gyros since before I can remember because my parents bought (and still buy) gyro kits from the store where they supply you with the meat, pita, and tzatziki.

Which cut of lamb to use for gyro bowls?

The biggest challenge for this recipe was figuring out what cut of lamb to buy. As I talked about with my Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken, my biggest peeve is most slow cooker recipes make too many servings.

I like to keep it around 4 servings for my 6 quart slow cooker – 2 helpings per person or leftovers for lunch the next day (see: slow cooker BBQ pulled chicken).

However, when buying a boneless leg of lamb you’re usually forced into buying a minimum of 3 pounds, usually more. I knew you could buy a lamb shank, a smaller cut of meat, but I couldn’t find any.

Finally after checking three grocery stores, I saw butterflied leg of lamb pieces at the Whole Foods counter. I bought two small pieces, equaling about 1 pound of meat total.

If you’re not as lucky, you can either portion a leg of lamb into future meals (such as my Chipotle Barbecue Lamb Kabobs) or you can substitute a smaller cut of beef, such as chuck roast.