These Instant Pot beef gyros are an easy meal prep lunch, or a quick family dinner. Flavorful beef topped with Weight Watchers tzatziki sauce is a healthy twist on the classic gyro.
Table of Contents
Where’s the recipe?
I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site. To better serve everyone here at My Crazy Good Life, I’ve made a commitment to put a ton of helpful information in all of my posts.
If you’d like to skip over the tips, nutritional information, Weight Watchers Plan Point counts and meal prep info, please simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you will find the easy to print Weight Watchers Beef Gyros recipe!
What are Gyros?
Traditional gyros are a mixture of lamb and beef formed into a sausage, roasted, and shaved. The meat is served on pita bread and topped with tzatziki sauce or cucumber yogurt sauce.
Gyro meat usually has a ton of sodium and fat, that would eat up using most of your daily points. I use lean beef here, or you can swap it for chicken and get the points even lower.
What’s Tzatziki?
Tzatziki (tuh·zee·kee) is a dip or sauce typically eaten in Southeast Europe and the Middle East. It’s traditionally yogurt based with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, sometimes with vinegar or lemon juice, and herbs such as dill, mint, parsley and thyme.
My simple recipe is authentic inspired, made with Greek yogurt and spices, and is sure to be one of your new favorite sauces!
Gyro Meat Ingredients
- Flank Steak: This very lean cut of meat is commonly used in the London broil. This contains a lot of muscle fiber so it’s not always tender, but is perfect for gyros, fajitas, or tacos. Just slice thinly, across the grain.
- Garlic: Use fresh. Garlic powder won’t give this quick beef gyro recipe the traditional taste that fresh does.
- Parsley
- Pepper
- Beef Broth: You can water instead, but I like using broth for a little extra flavor. Just be sure to use a low-sodium variety.
- Red Onion
- Lemon Juice: High in vitamin C, lemons aid in digestion and can help prevent kidney stones.
WW Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients
- Fat Free Greek Yogurt: Did you know that Greek yogurt isn’t really Greek? In Greece it’s called straggisto and loosely translates to strained yogurt. It’s yogurt with most of the whey strained out.
- Cucumbers: Made mostly of water, cucumbers can promote hydration and keep you full longer.
- Garlic
- Dill: You can use dried dill, but I really prefer fresh for Tzatziki sauce. It brings so much bright flavor.
Optional Toppings
- Whole Wheat Pita: You can substitute with naan bread or whole wheat tortillas if you prefer.
- Carrots
- Red Onion
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Lettuce
- Feta Cheese
Recipe Tips
- Swap equal amounts of thinly sliced chicken breasts to make chicken Gyros.
- Wrap your pitas in a wet paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds to help them fold better, without cracking or breaking.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over quinoa or lettuce to make gyro bowls.
- Pickling your vegetables before adds a nice flavor profile. You can quickly do this by soaking them in a couple teaspoons of apple cider vinegar.
- I like to top my gyros with 0 Smartpoint veggies like cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion and lettuce.
Time needed: 19 minutes.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Season, Slice & Mince
Season your flank steak with dried parsley and black pepper. Thinly slice your red onion and steak. I recommend no thicker than 1/4″, and cut against the grain of the steak. Mince your garlic.
- Saute
Set your Instant Pot to sauté and lightly spray with cooking spray. Once hot, add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Then add your sliced steak, beef broth and lemon juice.
- Pressure Cook
Close and lock the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Select Pressure cook (high pressure) and set the cook time for 9 minutes.
- Make your Tzatziki Sauce
While your meat cooks, mix together the Greek yogurt, shredded cucumbers, garlic, and dill in a small bowl. Store in the fridge until it’s time to serve.
- Quick Release
Once the cook time is complete, quick release the pressure and remove the lid. Serve immediately.
Stovetop Instructions
- Season your flank steak with dried parsley and black pepper. Thinly slice your red onion and steak. I recommend no thicker than 1/4″, and cut against the grain of the steak. Finely chop your garlic.
- Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium/high.
- Add meat, onions and garlic to the pan and saute until onions begin to soften.
- Add lemon juice and broth and bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Weight Watchers Points
Using Joseph’s brand whole wheat pita and fat free Greek yogurt these gyros are:
5 Blue Plan Points | 6 Green Plan Points | 5 Purple Plan Points.
You can keep this gyro’s smart points lower by using chicken, or omitting the pita and serving as a Greek salad over lettuce. Don’t forget to count any additional toppings that you use.
Want more? Here’s a list of the best Weight Watchers recipes.
- Chicken Gyro Bowl with Homemade Tzatziki
- Weight Watchers Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Weight Watchers Lasagna Recipe
- Homemade Hamburger Helper with Green Chiles
- Weight Watchers Swedish Meatballs
Weight Watchers Beef Gyros In The Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
Gyros
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 lbs flank steak thinly sliced, I've also used loin flap meat and it's so easy to slice and cook!
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp parsley dried
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup beef broth low sodium
- 6 pitas
Tzatziki Sauce:
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cucumber peeled, seeded, shredded
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tbsp dill fresh
Optional toppings: cucumbers, carrots, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, and feta cheese
Instructions
Instant Pot Directions
- Season your flank steak with dried parsley and black pepper. Thinly slice your red onion and steak. I recommend no thicker than 1/4″, and cut against the grain of the steak. Mince your garlic.
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté and lightly spray with cooking spray. Once hot, add the onions and garlic and sauté until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Then add your sliced steak, beef broth and lemon juice.
- Close and lock the lid and turn the pressure valve to sealing. Select Pressure cook (high pressure) and set the cook time for 9 minutes.
- While your meat cooks, mix together the Greek yogurt, shredded cucumbers, garlic, and dill in a small bowl. Store in the fridge until it’s time to serve.
- Once the cook time is complete, quick release the pressure and remove the lid. Serve immediately.
Stovetop Directions
- Season your flank steak with dried parsley and black pepper. Thinly slice your red onion and steak. I recommend no thicker than 1/4″, and cut against the grain of the steak. Mince your garlic.
- Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium/high.
- Add meat, onions, and garlic to the pan and sauté until onions begin to soften.
- Add lemon juice and broth and bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve on top of a pita bread or naan and add toppings as desired.
Video
Notes
- Swap equal amounts of thinly sliced chicken to make Chicken Gyros.
- Wrap your pitas in a wet paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds to help them fold better, without cracking or breaking.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over quinoa or lettuce to make gyro bowls.
- Pickling your vegetables before adds a nice flavor profile. You can quickly do this by soaking them in a couple teaspoons of apple cider vinegar.
- I like to top my gyros with 0 smartpoint veggies like cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion and lettuce.
Thanks for the recipe, I will try it out soon.
are there instructions for making this if one does not have an instant pot?? looks delicious!
Yes! At the bottom of the post before the printable recipe :)
Gah!! Yes now I see. Thx!
Wow! Will def make again!!!
I am going to use shaved steak i have 15 oz how long should I cook in the pressure cooker?
If it’s shaved I wouldn’t cook it for long at all, maybe even 0 minutes. I can’t give you a definite time because I haven’t used shaved steak before.