My vegan gyros are packed with flavor and so easy to make! Tender garlicky sautéed eggplant, fresh herbs, crisp veggies, and creamy dairy-free tzatziki all get wrapped up in warm pita bread for a mouthwatering plant-based twist on the Greek classic.
One of the things I love most about vegan cooking is the endless ways to reinvent traditional dishes. Sure, seitan is always a reliable meat substitute — it’s hearty, meaty, and works beautifully in recipes like my beefy vegan burritos and vegan butter chicken. But you can also turn to mushrooms, like in my vegan mushroom paprikash, or even veggies, like my cauliflower walnut “meat” sauce. Today, we’re using eggplant to create the most DELICIOUS vegan gyros.
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Eggplant is perfect here. It’s already a staple in Greek cooking, and when you sear it in olive oil it turns melt-in-your-mouth tender with irresistible crispy edges — exactly the texture we want in a gyro! Plus, it soaks up flavors like a sponge, making for an incredibly bold and savory filling.
I’ll admit: I’ve never had a traditional gyro. But my husband has, and he swears these vegan gyros are even better!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Lemon juice. This is a key flavor in this recipe, so be sure to use freshly squeezed juice (not bottled!).
- Soy sauce. Tamari or liquid aminos can be substituted, if needed.
- Garlic.
- Spices. You're going to need dried thyme, oregano, cumin, paprika, and black pepper.
- Olive oil.
- Eggplant. Pretty much any variety of eggplant will do. I used basic Italian globe eggplant.
- Onion.
- Pita bread.
- Vegan tzatziki. I prefer my homemade vegan Tzatziki, but I'm a little partial! There are plenty of store-bought vegan tzatziki options you can get at places like Whole Foods.
- Cherry tomatoes. You could also slice up a large tomato.
- Cucumber.
- Scallions.
- Fresh mint. Optional, but it adds a nice touch!
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Make the sauce. Stir your soy sauce, lemon juice, minced garlic, and spices together in a small bowl. Set it aside for a moment.
Step 2: Cook the eggplant. Heat your olive oil in a skillet, then add sliced eggplant. Let it sit for a few minutes, flip it, and let it sit a few minutes more. It'll start to soften up and brown.
Tip: It may seem like too much eggplant when you first add it to the skillet. Don't worry! It will cook down.
Step 3: Add the onion. Cook the onion with the eggplant for a few minutes, until it softens up a bit.
Step 4: Add the sauce. Stir it in and let everything cook for a few minutes longer, until most of the moisture dries up.
Step 5: Assemble the gyros. Stuff your pitas with the eggplant filling, vegan tzatziki, tomatoes, cucumber slices, scallions, and mint. Enjoy them while they're hot!
Variations
- Eggplant gyro sandwiches. Not into pita? Stuff your fillings into sub rolls, or wrap them in tortillas!
- Gyro bowls. Serve the fillings over rice or your favorite grain.
- Vegan gyro salads. Skip the bread and pile your toppings over greens. Tofu feta cheese would make a nice addition!
Frequently Asked Questions
Only if it's been hanging around for a few days and/or shows browning when you cut it open. In this case, salting will remove any bitterness that may have developed. If you do find that you need to salt your eggplant, just place the strips in a colander and sprinkle them liberally with salt. Let them sit for about 30 minutes, then rinse them very well and pat them dry.
Eggplant soaks up oil like crazy when it cooks! You may try to cut back on it, but your eggplant might stick to the pan, and it may not cook up as tender.
It can, if you can find gluten-free pita bread and use gluten-free tamari in place of soy sauce.
Store your eggplant gyro filling by itself, if possible. It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days. The best way to reheat it is in the microwave.
More Vegan Sandwich Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Gyros (Made with Eggplant!)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium eggplant, (about 1 pound), cut into ¼ inch thick strips, about 1 inch wide and 3-4 inches long
- 1 medium onion, sliced into half rings
For Serving
- 3 pita breads (or 4 depending on how big you like your gyros)
- Vegan tzatziki
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ½ large cucumber, cut in half, lengthwise, then sliced
- 2 scallions, chopped
- Fresh mint leaves, optional
Instructions
- Stir the lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, thyme, oregano, cumin, paprika, and black pepper together in a small bowl. Set this aside for now. This is your sauce.
- Coat the bottom of a large nonstick skillet with the oil and place it over medium-high heat. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the eggplant. Let it cook for about 4 minutes, undisturbed, then flip the pieces and let them cook for another 4 minutes or so, until they're starting to soften and brown.
- Add the onion to the skillet. Cook the eggplant and onion for about 4 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to soften and brown in a few spots.
- Pour the sauce over the eggplant and onion, and flip everything a few times to coat the eggplant and onion in the sauce. Continue cooking the mixture for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the liquid dries up and the eggplant begins to crisp in spots. Remove the skillet from heat.
- Slather the pitas vegan tzatziki, then stuff them with the eggplant mixture, tomatoes, cucumber, scallions, and mint. Serve.
Notes
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Hi, Just made this recipe, it 's just great! I used home made chapati instead; and smokey paprika (a mistake that turned out quite tasty finally) I will do it again but next time I won't forget the mint. Thank you :) !!
Barbara
I concur with others...simply AMAZING!
I roasted my lightly oiled eggplant strips in the toaster oven (my preference over frying) and added them to the sautéed onions, and a few crimini mushrooms in the skillet. Excellent gyro! Can hardly wait for leftover night!!
Thank you for the excellent recipe that produces delicious results.
We have just devoured these (3rd time I made them), and I thought I had to write and tell you how awesome these gyros are. Even the 4-year-old loves them! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing the recipe.
These were AMAZING!!!!! I only made one change - I used tahini instead of cashews because I forgot to soak the cashews. Just bursting with flavor, so hearty - absolutely loved them! And didn't take long at all to make. Thank you for this delicious recipe!!!
Awesome! I'm so glad you enjoyed them! And I'd imagine tahini would be wonderful in this recipe. Thanks Erin!
These are AMAZING!! Thank you for the recipe! I cut the tzatziki recipe in half and was plenty to go with the amount of filling generated from one medium to large sized eggplant. It was finger licking, juicy deliciousness.
I'm so glad you enjoyed them!!
This was so outstanding that I was licking my fingers! I took a picture but don't know how to post it here in the comments. Incredibly delicious!!!!
That is awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much Erin!!
Thanks for this easy and delicious recipe Alissa. Some recipes over power the flavor of the eggplant but not this one, the eggplant really bursts thru. A local vendor was sampling tzatziki that she makes and I ended up buying that since I'm not vegan. I will try your cashew version another time.
Thanks so much Marry! I'm glad you enjoyed these!!
hmmm... hadn't even thought about eggplant as the meat substitute for a gyro! brilliant. And your Tzatziki sauce looks super interesting as well. With my wife pushing for more vegan meals AND our CSA delivering eggplant, I might have to try this.
Thank you! Eggplant is one of my favorite swaps for meat these days. :) I hope you enjoy them!!
I love eggplant! This looks delicious! I've never had lamb and I never plan on eating it either! I had a friend tell me lamb tastes like blood, No thank you!!
Thanks Heather! We're in total agreement there - I'll take eggplant any day! :)
Congrats on your marriage! Your husband is a lucky man, getting to taste test all this good stuff. I've never had a gyro either, so I'll try yours and just call it authentic. I think that's the best thing to do!
I totally agree with you. I have no problem with my gyro experience being limited to the eggplant variety!
This sounds pretty tasty! I will have to give this one a try soon.
Congrats on your marriage!
Thank you and thank you!! I hope you enjoy it! :)