The gyros flavour does not come from the meat alone. It comes from the spice blend that caramelises during frying, and from the dressing that pulls everything together. Our Gyros Pasta Salad with the Thermomix® makes the most of this: we blend the dressing from Greek yoghurt, soured cream, and garlic in the mixing bowl in 10 seconds at speed 4, and then the salad rests in the fridge. The longer, the better.
We have been making this pasta salad for barbecues for years. 8 servings, 10 euros, ready in 40 minutes, and then it just needs time in the fridge. At least three hours, but overnight is even better. The farfalle absorb the dressing, the garlic loses its sharpness, and the feta and pepperoncini release their salt and acidity. The next day it often tastes better than when freshly made.
Gyros Pasta Salad with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 20 ✓
- 400 g farfalle pasta
- 500 g pork strips, gyros-style
- 1 red pepper
- 200 g pointed cabbage
- 4 spring onions
- 10 pickled pepperoncini
- 200 g tomatoes
- 250 g feta
- 250 g tinned sweetcorn drained
- 150 g pitted olives in brine
- 2 garlic cloves
- 10 g rapeseed oil
- 300 g Greek yoghurt (10% fat)
- 200 g soured cream
- 20 g olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp mixed peppercorns freshly ground
Instructions 0 / 11
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1
Cook the pasta.
Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until al dente, drain, leave to cool, and transfer to a large bowl.
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2
Fry the meat.
Meanwhile, fry the gyros meat in a frying pan until crispy.
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3
Prepare the pepper.
Wash the pepper, remove the seeds and stalk, cut into pieces, and add to the mixing bowl.
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4
Prepare the pointed cabbage.
Wash the pointed cabbage, cut out the stalk, cut into pieces, and add to the mixing bowl.
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5
Prepare the spring onions.
Wash and trim the spring onions, cut into pieces, and add to the mixing bowl.
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6
Chop the pepperoncini.
Drain the pepperoncini, cut off the stalks, add to the mixing bowl, chop for 3 sec / speed 5 using the spatula, and add to the pasta.
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7
Dice the tomatoes.
Wash the tomatoes, dice, and add to the pasta.
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8
Add the remaining ingredients.
Dice the feta and add to the pasta along with the sweetcorn and olives.
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9
Chop the garlic.
Peel the garlic, add to the mixing bowl, chop for 3 sec / speed 8, and scrape down with the spatula.
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10
Sweat the garlic.
Add the rapeseed oil and cook for 3 min / Varoma / speed 1.
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11
Mix the dressing and serve.
Add the yoghurt, soured cream, olive oil, and spices, then mix for 10 sec / speed 4. Pour over the salad and stir well to combine.
Tip: The salad tastes best when it has been covered and left to rest in the fridge for at least three hours.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Why the meat goes in the frying pan
We let the Thermomix® handle the vegetables and the dressing, while the gyros meat goes in the frying pan. That is not a compromise but a deliberate choice. Pork strips gyros-style need direct heat and browning. In the mixing bowl they would steam rather than fry, and you would lose the crust. If you want the meat really crispy, fry it in the pan over high heat and leave it to cool slightly before adding it to the bowl. That way it does not go soft in the dressing straight away.
The dressing is the heart of this dish. We chop the garlic in the Thermomix® for 3 sec / speed 8, then sweat it with rapeseed oil for 3 min / Varoma / speed 1, and add the yoghurt, soured cream, olive oil, and spices afterwards. 10 sec / speed 4 is enough for a smooth emulsion. The result is closer to a tzatziki than a classic salad dressing: yoghurt-based, heavy on garlic, with cumin as the gyros signature.
What to keep in mind with the vegetables
We add the pepper, pointed cabbage, and spring onions together to the mixing bowl and chop for 3 sec / speed 5. That gives rough pieces which keep their bite in the salad. If you prefer smaller pieces, hold the lid down and pulse for another 2 seconds. Important: before starting, push everything down with the spatula so no vegetables are stuck at the sides.
The pepperoncini go into the mixing bowl separately, as they need to be chopped first. Pickled pepperoncini have a lot of natural acidity, which shapes the dressing. If you want less heat, use 5 to 6 instead of 10. If you want more, leave them briefly in the brine and add a spoonful of the pickling liquid to the dressing.
Tomatoes and feta do not go in the mixing bowl. Dice both by hand and fold them into the large bowl at the end, once everything else is already in. Tomatoes would turn to mush in the mixing bowl, and feta would crumble into the pasta so you could not tell them apart.
Marinate the meat or not?
Pork strips gyros-style come pre-seasoned. If we want to boost the spice intensity further, we place them in a marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, and a teaspoon of homemade gyros spice blend before frying. Two hours in the fridge is enough. The meat then fries with more flavour, because the fats have already absorbed the spices.
If you do not have time, it goes straight into the pan. The dressing takes care of the rest.
Storage and transporting
In the fridge the salad keeps for 2 to 3 days. After the first day the pasta and dressing are fully combined, and the heat from the pepperoncini has spread evenly. For a barbecue, we prepare it the evening before, leave it overnight, and take it straight along the next day.
Give it a good stir just before serving, as the dressing settles at the bottom. Freezing does not work with this salad. Tomatoes and pepper go soft when thawed, and the dressing separates.
If you love gyros as a main course, here are more recipes to try: oven-baked gyros with the Thermomix®, gyros soup with Metaxa, and homemade pitta bread.
How other recipes differ
Goes well with: tzatziki and flatbread.
Most Thermomix® recipes for gyros salad use ready-marinated pork gyros combined with pasta and a creamy yoghurt and soured cream dressing. We take a different approach: lighter, fresher, and closer to the Greek original. Instead of a ready-made marinade, we mix the gyros spice blend ourselves, so the heat stays controllable and the salad does not taste generic. While some recipes reach for carrots and kohlrabi, we stay close to the original with tomato, feta, and pepperoncini. A yoghurt-based tzatziki dressing instead of pure soured cream cuts the calories and suits the gyros flavour better. If you like, swap the pork for chicken or halloumi for a vegetarian version.
