How To Yield The Best Results With Costco's Famous Gyro Meal Kits

Costco is at it again, introducing new soon-to-be cult classics. In the company's January shareholders meeting (what, you don't peruse the Costco shareholders meeting slide decks?), Costco announced the dawn of its gyro meal kits, available for $6.49 per pound. 

The meal kits feature six pitas, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, diced cucumber, tomato, and red onion, along with crumbled feta, and a generous amount of precooked beef and lamb gyro meat. All in all, it's enough food to feed up to six people for about $20. Or just you, meal prepping for a week's worth of lunches. Or midnight snacks when you're coming home from a night out and your favorite gyro shop has the audacity to be closed.

The pita is easy: you absolutely have to heat it, either in the microwave or a pan. You'll want to avoid getting it toasted, because the name of the game here is soft, fluffy, and pliable. When it comes to the meat, though, you want it hot and a little crispy. There's a technique to getting it just right, and it involves time in the oven.

Think about stepping into a good gyro shop. There's a spit of meat spinning next to a heating element, sizzling, getting all the angles from the most recent shave crispy again. For the best gyro, you'll need to recreate those little bits of crispiness on your gyro meat without drying it out. This is where we take notes from restaurant chefs and use the broiler.

First, heat the meat through. The best way to do this is in a pan with just a little bit of oil to keep your meat from getting too greasy. Sauté over medium heat until the meat is hot all the way through, about 5 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your broiler and prep a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Spread the gyro meat out onto the pan and place it below the broiler. Watch carefully so as not to burn it and then let the edges crisp to your desired crispiness. Remove from the oven and immediately start building your sandwich.

There are two kinds of people in the world: sauce as a topping and sauce as a base. We'd never tell you the right way to sauce your sandwich, but there must be sauce to make the best gyro. The kit comes with tzatziki, but if you're feeling fancy, you can make a roasted pepper and feta spread, too. Evenly distribute the meat among the six pitas, top with veggies, and enjoy.

If your Costco gyro is a little overstuffed, you're probably doing it right. The portion sizes are generous, though, and you may find yourself with extras of this or that if you don't want to have to unhinge your jaw to eat your sandwich.

In that case, grab some greens, make a vinaigrette, and throw anything you have leftover onto it with some feta, olives, and/or pepperoncini peppers to make a delicious Greek salad. For a more exciting (but less healthy) option, grab some frozen french fries (bonus points for sweet potato waffle fries) and use the gyro kit leftovers to make loaded street cart-style fries. For breakfast, you could make a Greek omelet or replace the corned beef in a corned beef hash recipe with gyro meat for a delicious Greek hash.

Then again, if you have leftovers, you're probably not stuffing your pitas with the expert confidence of your local gyro spot and need practice — go get another kit and try again. And if you managed to run out of meat before you finish up the fixings, Costco has you covered on that, too. Look for Daphne's beef and lamb gyro slices in the warehouse's deli section.