These Gyro Burgers are inspired by several things:
1. For the love a good burger!
2. My family has been experimenting with traditional gyro recipes lately, and I just had to make an easy weeknight version.
3. And finally, it’s the start of another grilling season!
My main goal for this recipe was all the fantastic gyro flavors without the 1 hour baking time and all the dishes to cleanup. Instead, the spices are added to the meat, grilled in burger patties, and placed on a bed of lettuce. Then they’re topped with tomatoes, feta cheese, and tzatziki sauce – Yum! It’s not that I don’t enjoy spending a fair amount of time in the kitchen, (obviously) but I’m often running short on time, so I love 30 minute weeknight dinners (even on the weekends)!
For the tzatziki sauce, start by peeling 4-5 strips from the cucumber. Cut off both ends and quarter it lengthwise, then thinly slice the cucumber crosswise into triangles.
Tip: Keep the sliced cucumbers separate from the yogurt mixture until you’re ready to serve. Cucumbers have a lot of water in them that makes the sauce runny if it sits more than a half hour.
Next, mix together the yogurt mixture and slice up the tomatoes.
For the gyro meat, pulse the onion in a food processor until there are only small pieces, you’ll need to scrape down the sides 3-4 times. Then, add the meat and spices and pulse together until everything is thoroughly combined. You can form the patties as big or small as you’d like. I did 12 mini burgers and the cooking time is much shorter. Be careful not to overcook your gyro burgers because poultry is relatively lean, and it can dry out easily if overcooked.
While the burgers are grilling, wash the lettuce leaves and spin them dry. Mix together the sliced cucumbers and the yogurt mixture until well combined.
When the meat is done, serve the gyro burgers over lettuce leaves with the tzatziki sauce, sliced tomatoes, and extra feta cheese.
I hope you enjoy these all summer long!
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Feta Gyro Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
Gyro Burgers:
- 1/2 of an onion, ends cut and outer skin peeled (4 ounces)
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 Teaspoon dried, marjoram leaves
- 1 Teaspoon dried, ground rosemary
- 1 Teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Tzatziki Sauce:
- 1 – 12 ounce cucumber
- 1 cup whole milk Greek Yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Teaspoons olive oil
- 1 Teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- sea salt to taste (1 Teaspoon)
Serve with:
- 12 leaves of lettuce, (romaine or bibb)
- 4 small roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
- additional crumbled feta (1/4 cup)
Instructions
- For the burgers, process the onion in a food processor until only small pieces remain, scraping down the sides 3-4 times. Add the ground turkey, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, sea salt, and pepper – process to thoroughly combine.
- Stir in the crumbled feta cheese by hand and form into patties. You can do 4 patties like regular sized burgers or 12 for mini burgers.
- Set the patties aside and preheat the grill on high.
- While the grill heats, prepare the cucumber by peeling 4-5 strips off. Cut off both ends and cut lengthwise into quarters, then thinly slice the quarters crosswise into triangles. Set the cucumber aside and prepare the yogurt portion of the sauce.
- Stir together the Greek Yogurt, garlic, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and sea salt to taste (I used 1 Teaspoon).
- Place the prepared burgers on the preheated grill and immediately lower the heat to medium high. Grill for 4-5 minutes each side, depending on the size of your burger patties.
- While the burgers are grilling wash and dry the lettuce, and thinly slice the tomatoes. Mix together the slice cucumbers and the yogurt sauce, finishing your tzatzkiki sauce.
- Serve the grilled burgers over the lettuce, topped with tztazkiki, tomatoes, and additional crumbled feta cheese.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Scrumptious! My wife and I have made this a couple of times now and both love it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, these are definitely a summertime favorite especially when we have tomatoes and cucumbers coming on in the garden.
I’ve made these several times now, and they are a huge hit for everyone (including my 3 yr old and 1 yr old)! For my one year old, I just dice the burger pattie into small pieces, and then smother the entire thing in the sauce. She literally devours it in huge quantities! One of the few meals where she will eat a good amount of protein. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, it always makes my day when one of my recipes is a hit with kids!
Ok, that looks really nice. Will try it today.
Germany – freezing level – Grill ON ^^
I love your attitude! We grill all seasons here too, even when it dips into the minus temperatures. There’s just not enough months in the summertime so you gotta grill in all kinds of weather! 🙂
Feta + Gyro + Burger???? Is this even for real??? This is going to be my dinner tonight. No kidding, it’s going to happen.
Can’t wait, I’m excited!
I’m on a burger kick lately, just can’t get enough grilling now that it’s a bit warmer out!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but wanted to comment on your tip about keeping the cukes out of the sauce until ready to serve… one of the things I always do for sauces that contain cucumbers is to slice, chop. etc. them and then put them in a strainer/colander, sprinkle them w/some salt, and let them drain for about 30 minutes. Then rinse them, drain, and put them on a kitchen towel or paper towels to absorb the remainder of the moisture.. then you can add them to your sauce… it works very well, not too much water in your sauce.
Thanks for all your recipes… I live in MT also, and spent some time up in the Flathead Lake area last summer… another beautiful spot in MT!
Thanks for leaving a your comment because that’s a great method for Tzatziki Sauce that keeps well in the fridge. I always try to skip any extra steps, and I like to try to and keep as much of the ‘veggie water’ as possible because it’s great for hydration! It’s cool to hear from another Montanan, let me know if you make the burgers! 🙂