Turn Frozen Chicken Into Gyro-Style Meat With A Kitchen Tool You Likely Already Own

While the best cuts of meat to make gyros include top round beef, leg of lamb, and chicken breast, transforming chicken fillets into thin, gyro-style strips of meat is somewhat difficult to achieve at home. While you can certainly use chicken thighs for better flavor or pound your cut of choice for a thinner end result, preparing chicken that mimics meat cut from a spit takes a little more finesse. Fortunately, there's an unexpected way to make thin, gyro-style shreds with one common kitchen tool: a vegetable peeler.

Believe it or not, shaving frozen chicken breasts with a conventional potato or vegetable peeler leaves you with perfectly thin gyro-style pieces you can cook immediately upon shaving. Just select breasts or fillets that are easy to hold and have somewhat straight or manageable curves, then shave down from the top of each frozen portion (with the peeler situated away from your body for added safety). Once you secure a decent amount of chicken shavings, add the appropriate seasonings and cook your meat in a bit of oil, or crisp them in your oven or air fryer. Serve this gyro-style chicken stuffed into pitas with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and creamy tzatziki sauce.

While taking a vegetable peeler to your next batch of frozen chicken breasts seems like a decent way to produce thin chicken for gyro-style sandwiches, there are a few drawbacks. For one, holding a piece of frozen chicken for longer than a few seconds is uncomfortable, plus the chicken can slip from your grip fairly easily. Not to mention, the shaving process may take more time than you're expecting. Allot extra prep time if you're peeling chicken for a group. Also, peeled frozen chicken cooks quicker than you think; as you prep your rice pilaf or pita for gyros, keep a close eye on your chicken as it cooks to avoid an overly chewy result.

If you're worried about the general safety and effectiveness of this method, there is another genius way to make thin gyro-style meat without a rotisserie or vegetable peeler: spread ground chicken mixed with Greek yogurt, various spices, and blended aromatics, such as onion and garlic, onto parchment paper, roll the sheets into evenly sized rolls, and bake. Once fully cooked and unfurled, the baked layers of ground chicken mimic thin pieces of sliced gyro-style chicken. For an alternative method similar to peeling, use a mandoline on the frozen chicken.