I have been looking for easy dinner recipes lately, and slow cooker recipes are some of the easiest. Most only involve chopping a few vegetables before adding them to the slow cooker with some meat and seasonings. Then I get on with my day and return to a cooked dinner a few hours later. But cooking the same recipes over and over can get boring, so it’s always nice to find something hubby and I love to add to my menu rotation. This Slow Cooker Greek Gyro Bowls recipe sounds like something that will check all my easy dinner boxes: tasty, easy-to-find ingredients, minimal prep work, and enough leftovers for another dinner or a few lunches.
Slow Cooker Greek Gyro Bowls is an easy, delicious cooked in the slow cooker. Made with only four ingredients – boneless beef roast, oregano, garlic, and beef stock. Slowly cooked for a few hours and then topped with an assortment of toppings.
The Ingredients
My usual pre-shopping ingredient check found a couple of items on hand. Just basics like salt, pepper, dried oregano, and a yellow onion. I even had half of a leftover red onion and an English cucumber to slice for toppings.
The ingredients I needed to buy were all available at my usual grocery store. The chuck roast was 2.95 pounds and $27.08. It’s pricey, but it goes a long way. We get several meals out of the same size/cut when I make pot roast.
There was BOGO on crumbled feta, hummus, and pita, which thrilled me. I can always use them! My shopping trip finished up with a pint of grape tomatoes and a container of tzatziki.
Easy is the whole point of this recipe, so I bought ready-made tzatziki for the first time ever. I also took a chance on some Boar’s Head tzatziki, and I’m happy to say it was delish with plenty of creamy dill flavor.
The Process
This recipe was as easy as I thought it would be! I simply chopped a yellow onion, then added the chuck roast to my slow cooker and topped it with the seasonings. My garlic press made mincing the garlic quick, but peeling it added a minute or two to my prep time. There just isn’t as much garlic when I press unpeeled cloves, and I never want to miss out on any garlic!
Actually, the prep was very similar to how I make my pot roast with one exception. This recipe had me add enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. It calls for three cups, but I only needed two.
All that was left was to set the timer, prep the toppings, and wait. I used the high setting for four hours. The result was a nicely seasoned roast that had some oregano flavor. I was worried the amount of oregano (2 tablespoons) would make it bitter, but it was just right.
Shredding the roast took more work than I expected, though. It seemed like the connective tissue didn’t break down enough during cooking. I will have to try cooking it longer on low to see how it compares. I might also try not adding as much broth to see how that affects it too. And I will post updates, of course.
Timing
This recipe listed 10 minutes to prep, 4 hours to cook, and a total time of 4 hours 10 minutes. Here’s how my time was spent:
- 7 minutes to prep
- 4 hours to cook
- 9 minutes to shred the meat and assemble 2 bowls
- 4 hours 16 minutes total
As I mentioned above, the slowdown was probably during shredding the meat. Still, I came very close to the times listed, and I’m calling this one a win.
