Souvlaki

"This is the way I do souvlaki or shish kebab - and I mean the sandwich with pita bread you can find on nearly every street corner in Greece, not just the skewered meat. This is the best! Prep time does not include marinating time. OAMC instructions provided."
 
Download
photo by -Sylvie- photo by -Sylvie-
photo by -Sylvie-
photo by Brenda D. photo by Brenda D.
photo by Brenda D. photo by Brenda D.
photo by Brenda D. photo by Brenda D.
photo by threeovens photo by threeovens
Ready In:
1hr
Ingredients:
12
Yields:
8 souvlaki
Serves:
4
Advertisement

ingredients

  • Meat and Marinade

  • 1 12 lbs pork tenderloin, cut up into 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch cubes (or the meat of your choice)
  • 12 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (not traditional, but I like the flavour it adds)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 14 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (I use a whole dried one, crumbled)
  • 1 12 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 1 lemon, juice of
  • Fixings

  • 1 (8 count) package greek pita bread
  • 1 medium onion, sliced thin
  • 1 large tomatoes, sliced thin
  • 1 cup tzatziki (Tzatziki)
  • 12 cup chopped parsley
Advertisement

directions

  • To marinate meat: Cut tenderloin into bite-size chunks and put into a Tupperware with remaining marinade ingredients.
  • Swish everything around to distribute, put in fridge and forget for a day (this long marination is not absolutely necessary- but longer means more flavour. If you haven't the time, just do what you can).
  • When ready to BBQ, skewer meat onto metal or wooden skewers (remember to soak the wooden skewers in water for at least 1/2 an hour first) and bbq until the meat is nicely brown all over, and you know you can't possibly wait any longer to eat.
  • To prepare the fixings: As you are barbecuing the meat, brush as many pita breads as there are souvlaki generously with olive oil and put on the bbq to crisp slightly or alternatively, into a hot frying pan, and cook about 30-45 seconds per side or until starting to brown and give off a yummy,'toasty' smell.
  • Here is the 'technique' part.
  • Have cut some squares of foil a bit larger than the pita breads.
  • Put a square in the palm of your hand and lay a pita in the centre sitting in your flat palm.
  • Take a skewer of meat and place in center of pita.
  • Squeeze palm shut around meat to get a grip with the pita and pull out skewer, leaving meat inside the bread.
  • Open up your palm slightly, making the pita gape open and throw in some onion, slices of tomato, a good dollop of tzatziki, some parsley, along with a healthy shake of salt.
  • Roll sandwich up by squeezing palm again (gently this time as the salad stuff is inside) and enclosing neatly with the foil, giving a twist on the bottom so no yummy juices drip out onto your clothes as you are eating this!
  • Enjoy our contribution to fast-food!
  • You will never settle for a Big Mac again!
  • To freeze: Place meat and marinade in a freezer bag or rigid freezer container.
  • To serve: Thaw in fridge overnight and proceed with cooking directions.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. Works great on our indoor grill as well!
     
  2. Just made this today, and, as expected, I didn't like the addition of Worcestershire sauce. It doesn't taste authentic to me. Two weeks ago a Greek colleague of my hubby's came over with a plate of pork souvlaki for grilling. She had told me what she used to make this in general terms--the same basic ingredients as in this recipe, but no Worcestershire sauce. I personally liked the taste much better. I'd make this again, but would omit the W sauce. Thanks!
     
  3. Great sandwich! I loved the flavor of the meat. I used pork cut into bite size chunks. I think next time (and yes, there will definitely be a next time) I think I will cut it into thin strips rather then into chunks simply because I think it will be easier to eat without the meat falling out of the end. I allowed for the long overnight marinade time and I used the Worcestershire sauce. I don't care for raw onions so I sliced a cucumber into thin slices and garnished the sandwich with them and some torn Romaine as well as the tomatoes the recipe calls for. I served it with your Recipe #59336 recipe. I made some French fries to go with it. It was a meal that I will enjoy again often. Thank you for posting this delightful recipe.
     
  4. These where wonderful, I been trying to find a good Souvlaki recipe for a long time and I found some good ones but had a hard time matching what I thought was authentic Souvlaki but these where great. I used chicken and I used my oven's broiler (can't bbq on the 15th floor :( ) I will be making these fairly often. Can't wait to try them on the bbq in the spring (I go the park each weekend and cook on a little portable charcoal grill) Thanks for the recipe.
     
  5. If you love garlic and fresh food you'll love this. The flavours all blend really well together and the marinade is so quick to make as well. Unfortunately we didn't have bbq weather, but I just used the grill on my oven and the meat still came out wonderful. I used your recipe for tzatziki and added some curly lettuce and feta cheese to the pita pockets as well. Thanks for sharing!
     
Advertisement

Tweaks

  1. I didn't leave stars because I made two major changes. One I used chicken breast cut into chunks and second, I used greek yogurt in place of the olive oil. It was so moist and flavorful, I'd highly recommend it for a variation!
     
  2. My husband loved it! He said it tasted better then the one he eats at the restaurant. I am so glad. I just substituted Worcester sauce for Hot sauce and it was excellent. Thank you.
     
  3. We had these tonight as part of a "Greek Feast" dinner. I used chicken (without the worcestershire)and pork (with the worcestershire) - both meats marinated all day before being barbecued. Served with all the extra bits (except with hummus instead of tzatziki). Definitely a big hit here!! Lots of flavour and quick to cook as well (bonus!). Thanks evelyn/athens for a yummy meal.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<style>body { background: url("http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3512121819_f2f1aaf050.jpg?v=0"); background-repeat: repeat-y; }</style> OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages! I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure. So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call. What did I do wrong? Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths. I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time. That's all for now.
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes