Deconstructed Greek Meatball Gyro Bowls with Spiralized Carrots

Deconstructed Greek Meatball Gyro Bowls with Spiralized Carrots

YEER-oh. YEER-oh. YEER-oh. Watch this before continuing to read on. Were you surprised? My junior year of...

Deconstructed Greek Meatball Gyro Bowls with Spiralized Carrots

YEER-oh. YEER-oh. YEER-oh.

Watch this before continuing to read on.

Were you surprised? My junior year of college, a college boyfriend brought me to a Mediterranean-type restaurant where they served “gyros.” I immediately asked him, “What’s a gyro?” and of course, pronounced it naively, “jiy-ro.”

Deconstructed Greek Meatball Gyro Bowls with Spiralized Carrots

That guy made me feel so embarrassed about mispronouncing gyro (what a jerk he was anyway!), that I knew I’d never make the same mistake twice. The silver lining? The gyro was amazing!

So, guys. It’s YEER-o!

Now, don’t be intimidated by this recipe: it’s very simple and very, very rewarding.

Deconstructed Greek Meatball Gyro Bowls with Spiralized Carrots

And heck, if you want to save yourself some time, make the meatballs ahead of time and have them on hand to throw these deconstructed gyro bowls together at any time.

Anything with tzatziki sauce is something I want to get into. It’s such a refreshing, tangy dressing that lightens up meat dishes. If you’ve never had a tzatziki sauce before, now’s your chance!

If you can’t find carrots large enough to spiralize, you can swap in some spiralized cucumbers instead.

Deconstructed Greek Meatball Gyro Bowls with Spiralized Carrots

Watch our video to learn how to spiralize a carrot using the Inspiralizer and subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch more videos:

 

 

Nutritional Information & Recipe

Weight Watchers SmartPoints*: 11 points

*These points were calculated using the official Weight Watchers SmartPoints calculator. We are in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers, we are providing this information based on popular demand.

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Deconstructed Greek Meatball Gyro Bowls with Spiralized Carrots

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • For the meatballs :
  • 1 pound ground lamb lean
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped flat leaf Italian parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • salt and pepper about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • olive oil to brush with (about 1 tablespoon)
  • For the salad:
  • 2 large carrots peeled, Blade D, noodles trimmed
  • 1 large red onion peeled and diced
  • 5 medium vine tomatoes seeded and chopped
  • 6 packed cups spinach
  • 1 tablespoon chopped mint to garnish
  • For the tzatziki sauce:
  • 1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 large seedless English cucumber peeled and diced
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 heaping tablespoon freshly chopped dill
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the carrot noodles for just 2 minutes to lightly soften. If you’d like them softer, leave them for 3-5 minutes. Drain into a colander and set aside. Note: you can also serve the carrot noodles raw and skip the boiling step (it’s personal preference.)
  • While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the meatballs. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground lamb, parsley, oregano, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix well. Using your hands and about 2-3 tablespoons of meatball mixture at a time, form balls and set onto the parchment paper lined baking tray. Continue until 16-18 balls are formed. Brush each with the olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes or until no longer pink inside.
  • Meanwhile, divide the carrot noodles evenly into six bowls. Chop the spinach and divide evenly into the bowls. Place the onions and tomatoes in a bowl and toss together. Sprinkle the spinach with the chopped onions and tomatoes. Set all aside.
  • Prepare the tzatziki. Put all of the ingredients for the tzatziki into a food processor and pulse until creamy. Taste and adjust if necessary.
  • Once the meatballs are done, finish assembling the bowls. Add three meatballs per bowl and drizzle with the tzatziki sauce. Garnish with mint and serve.

Deconstructed Greek Meatball Gyro Bowls with Spiralized Carrots

with love, Ali

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comments

  • Looks delicious! I love a good gyro - this is definitely going to be dinner this week. My pet peeve is when I order one and pronounce it correctly, then the person working at the restaurant says it incorrectly!
    • As a side note, when I make tzatziki, I grate my cucumber then press out the excess water on a paper towel before blending with the other ingredients by hand. It saves me from pulling out the food processor!
  • HI Ali, Wow, learn something new every day. I didn't know how to pronounce Gyro either until now! I'm sure many people pronounce it the way it looks. The recipe looks awesome as always. Thanks!
  • I really enjoy your recipes... I do have one suggestion you might consider... when you list the recipe ingredients in your recipes... when you ID the ingredients for each section, i.e., "For the meatballs", "for the salad", "For the sauce" could you underline, highlight, type it in bold letters, or even in all caps, just to highlight it from the actual ingredient list? Thanks for your consideration of this... Also, thank you for including the nutrition information for your recipes.
  • Wow, this is amazing! I'm actually craving Mediterranean food as I write this comment, so it's hard not to be tempted by this recipe!
  • Made this for my husband last night. After 2weeks of vacation, it was good to get back to lighter eating. He loved it. Keeper
    • This is fabulous! Thank you for sharing, Dawn.
  • Cannot find ground lamb! Not a popular item where I live. I went to a "grass fed" meat guy at a local farmers market and he said the price would be prohibitive for him. Sounds wonderful but the ground lamb is an issue.
  • I had to make a few substitutions and it still turned out delicious. My husband really liked it. ground turkey for lamb orange sweet potato for carrots large avocado for yogurt This is a more involved recipe than most on Inspiralized, so give yourself enough time.