This smoky BBQ vegan gyro recipe makes a speedy lunch or weekday dinner. It contains only 394 calories per serving and is a recipe that your whole family will adore.
This easy vegan gyros recipe has been the most requested recipe by my husband out of all of the recipes I’ve ever made, and is adored by my whole family.
I love these vegan gyros because they taste so meaty and satisfying with a delicious BBQ, and smoky flavor.
You can make these delicious gyros in less than 15 minutes making it perfect for lunch or dinner on busy weeknights.
This delicious greek dish contains only 394 calories and 13 grams of protein per serving, so you get all of the taste without going over your calorie count for the day.
These gyros are especially nice when made with some of my homemade gluten-free flatbread, but they are also nice with any fluffy pita bread from the grocery store. I have filled these with my Vegan Jackfruit Shredded “Chicken” and topped it with some Easy Vegan Tzatziki Sauce but any creamy sauce will work fine with this recipe.
Video Demonstration
If you’d like to see how easy it is to throw all this together, check out my video where I walk you through the recipe step by step. Click here to subscribe to my Youtube channel.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This recipe and all recipes on my website are suitable for the special diets, vegan, plant-based, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, free from refined sugar, and vegetarian.
- This recipe contains just 394 calories per serving.
- This recipe contains 13g protein per serving.
- One serving of this recipe contains 31% of your recommended daily intake of fiber.
- This recipe is made from a combination of vegan protein, whole food sources of carbohydrates, vegetables, essential fats, and ingredients that make the dish extremely tasty.
- This easy recipe takes 5 minutes of active preparation time and 15 minutes of cooking time. You can use the cooking time to get your fillings ready.
- This recipe contains so much flavor because it is made with my homemade vegan chicken and homemade BBQ seasoning, but I do have substitutions for all ingredients below.
- I have simplified this recipe by limiting the number of ingredients and using everyday, simple ingredients such as pita bread and tomatoes.
Ingredients
Ingredient Substitutions
- Vegan Jackfruit Shredded Chicken: Please see the post for substitutions for all jackfruit chicken ingredients. If you don’t want to make my vegan gyro meat recipe, you could use some sliced mushrooms, or king oyster mushrooms for a more meaty texture, or soy curls or TVP, and cook them with some tamari and BBQ seasoning.
- Lettuce: Replace this with any green leaves, salad vegetables or omit it.
- Tomato: You can replace tomato with any fresh veggies or omit it completely.
- Pickled onions: You can replace pickled onions with any pickled vegetables, salad vegetables, or omit it.
- Vegan Tzatziki Sauce: You can replace homemade tzatziki sauce with Vegan Ranch Dip or just plain plant-based yogurt.
- Gluten-free pita breads: You can replace pita breads with flatbread, naan bread, a bread roll, or any bread of your choosing that is less than 200 calories per serving.
The Structure Of A Plant Based Plate
Each of the recipes I create fits into my Plant Plate System. This system incorporates 5 food groups into every meal.
The 5 food groups are 1) Plant Protein, 2), Leaves, Fruit, And Veg, 3) Aesthetic Additions, 4) Nutrient Packed Carbohydrates, and 5) Taste
This recipe is a complete meal because it contains all 5 components of my Plant Plate and contains around 400 calories per meal.
The diagram below helps you see the 5 different components of a Plant-Based Plate.
Click here to discover more about my Plant Plate System and some of the benefits of eating this way.
Here’s how this recipe is structured according to the Plant Plate System.
Adding each ingredient to the following categories helps you to easily see how to make substitutions. It also lets you know the exact reason why the ingredient is in the recipe.
Plant-Based Protein
- Vegan Jackfruit Shredded Chicken
Leaves, Fruit & Veg
- Lettuce
- Tomato
- Pickled onion
Aesthetic Additions
- n/a
Nutrient Packed Carbohydrates
- Pita bread
Taste
- Vegan Tzatziki Sauce
Recommended Equipment
Here are the main kitchen equipment tools I have used to create this recipe.
Non-Stick Pan
I highly suggest you use a non-stick pan for the vegetable and sauce part of this recipe. In a non-stick pan, this recipe cooks like a dream, with minimal stirring needed.
You can get the large pan that I use by clicking here. Please note, I bought the largest size.
You can get the 10-piece cookware set that I have by clicking here. Please note, this set contains a smaller version of the large deep pan that I bought separately.
How To Make This Recipe
Add the vegan jackfruit shredded chicken, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions, and vegan tzatziki sauce to the top of a large pita bread or wrap.
Vegan Carbohydrate Side Dishes
If you want to increase the calories in the recipes, you can serve this recipe with any of the following carb side dishes which are all around 100 calories per serving and are my favorite things to serve with gyros:
- Crispy Homemade Baked French Fries
- Spicy Sweet Potato Fries
- Most Crispy Vegan Jacket Potato
- Easy Whole Baked Sweet Potato
- Perfect Long Grain White Rice
For more options, see all of my best vegan, gluten-free carbs side dishes.
Vegan Vegetable Side Dishes
Here are some vegetable side dishes that go very nicely with this recipe which are all under 100 calories per serving.
- Easy Vegan Cheesy Broccoli
- Vegan Zucchini Fritters
- Spicy Vegan Cauliflower Buffalo Wings
- Nacho Cheese Baked Kale Chips
- Easy Baked Mushroom Bacon
For more options, see all of my best gluten-free vegan vegetable side dishes.
Vegan Dips
You can replace the vegan tzatziki sauce with a different sauce of your choosing. Here are some vegan dips or vegan sauces that go very nicely with this recipe, and are very quick to make. These are all under 50 calories per serving.
- No Cook Marinara Sauce (this makes a great salsa or tomato sauce dip)
- Vegan Ranch Dip Recipe
- Creamy Edamame Guacamole
For more options, see all of my best gluten-free vegan dips recipes.
How To Serve
This recipe is best served straight away. The homemade bread is best served immediately and doesn’t taste as good on the second day.
How To Reduce The Calories
If you’d like to reduce the calories of this recipe even further, I using a wrap instead of a pitta bread. I can find a few different brands in the stores that contain under 100 calories per wrap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Traditional gyros usually consist of meat that has been cooked on a vertical rotisserie. This traditional gyro meat is then sliced and served inside a pita bread with salad ingredients such as tomato, onion, and some tzatziki.
How To Store Leftovers
This recipe keeps for up to 4 days in the fridge in separate airtight containers but is better served immediately. My homemade flatbread isn’t as fresh tasting the next day.
More Tasty Vegan Lunch Recipes
This recipe is part of my vegan lunches series.
If you’re looking for some easy, vegan lunches, that are around 400 calories per serving, check out some of my other recipes:
- Easy No-cook Vegan Egg Salad Sandwich
- Smoked Vegan Tempeh BLT Bacon Sandwich
- Vegan Burger And Fries Recipe
You can see all of my 400-calorie vegan meals here.
🥬️🥭️ 7 Day Meal Plan
If you want to discover all of the benefits of eating a plant-based, gluten-free diet, grab a copy of my 7-day meal plan by Green Thickies.
My 7-day detox has been doctor and nutritionist approved and featured on a major national TV channel.
Thousands of people have had incredible results with this meal plan.
Click here to read more about it.
FREE Gifts
🥗 Free Smoothies (Drink And Shrink) Bundle
For A Limited Time, Grab Your FREE 260+ Page Smoothies (Drink And Shrink) Bundle From Green Thickies.
Click here to grab your copy FREE.
🎩 5 Magical Fruit Recipes Book
If you're looking for some easy, raw, fruit-based, complete meal recipes, grab my free recipe book now.
Recipe
Vegan Gyro Recipe
Equipment
- Medium Pot or Medium Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 1 Batch Of Vegan Jackfruit Shredded Chicken
- 1 Cup Lettuce
- 1 Large Tomato
- 4 Tablespoons Sliced Pickled Onions
- 4 Servings Of Easy Vegan Tzatziki Sauce
- 4 Large Gluten-Free Pita Breads Or Flatbreads Around 200 Calories Or Less. I Made 2 Batches Of 3 Ingredient Gluten Free Flatbread (Double The Recipe And Make 4 Double-Sized Flatbread Instead Of 4 Small Flatbread)
Vegan Jackfruit Shredded Chicken
- 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion
- 100g Smoked Tofu (Or Plain Extra Firm Tofu)
- 1 400g Can Jackfruit In Water (Drained And Rinsed)
- 2 Cloves Fresh Garlic (Minced)
- 2 Tablespoons Of My Homemade BBQ Seasoning Or 1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika, 1 Teaspoon Chipotle Chili Powder, 2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder, And 2 Teaspoons Onion Powder
- ¼ Cup (60ml) Tamari
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste/Tomato Puree
Easy Vegan Tzatziki Sauce
- 240g Unflavored Vegan Soya Yogurt, Vegan Coconut Yogurt Or Other Plant-Based Yogurt
- ½ Large English Cucumber
- 2 Cloves Fresh Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Of My Homemade Ranch Seasoning Or 1 Teaspoon Of Parsley Or Chives, 1 Teaspoon Dried Dill, 2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder, 2 Teaspoons Onion Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- Pinch Black Ground Pepper
Instructions
Vegan Jackfruit Shredded Chicken
- Add the oil to a medium frying pan over a medium heat.
- Slice the onion. Add the onion to the pan and stir.
- Drain as much water as you can from the tofu and squeeze it to expel as much liquid as you can.
- Slice the tofu as thinly as you can. Add that to the pan and stir.
- Shred your jackfruit pieces by pulling them apart with your hands and cut the hard ends off. (Some canned jackfruit is already shredded) and then add that straight to the pan.
- Add the garlic, and the BBQ seasoning to the pan. Stir.
- Add the tamari, maple syrup, and tomato paste to the pan and stir to combine.
- Cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Easy Vegan Tzatziki Sauce
- Grate the cucumber using a box grater in a large mixing bowl. There is no need to squeeze the excess liquid out of the grated cucumber.
- Add in all of the rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir.
Vegan Gyros
- Slice the tomato and lettuce.
- Add the vegan jackfruit shredded chicken, lettuce, tomato, pickled onions, and vegan tzatziki sauce to the top of a large pita bread or wrap.
Notes
Now it’s your turn to make magic with food.
- Gluten-Free Vegan Yorkshire Pudding - August 6, 2023
- Air Fryer Greek Potatoes Recipe (Vegan, Gluten Free) - August 5, 2023
- Vegan Yorkshire Pudding Wrap Recipe (Gluten Free) - August 3, 2023
Leave a Reply