Greece · Main · Easy
Souvlaki
Rome's most famous pasta. Silky egg and Pecorino sauce clinging to every strand, studded with crisp guanciale. No cream, ever.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Souvlaki, in 5 ideas
- Marinate at least 2 hours. The lemon needs time to work into the meat. Thirty minutes does almost nothing.
- Leave space on the skewer. Cubes packed tight steam each other. A finger-width gap lets the heat char all sides.
- Soak wooden skewers. Thirty minutes in water keeps them from catching fire on the grill.
- High heat is the whole dish. Souvlaki wants char. If your grill is not ripping hot, the pork just grays.
- Warm the pita on the grill. Thirty seconds a side makes it pliable and picks up a little smoke. Cold pita cracks.
What you need
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 large pita breads
- 1 cup tzatziki
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- Wooden skewers, soaked in water
How to make it
Directions
- Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Toss with the pork, cover, and marinate at least 2 hours in the fridge, or overnight.
- Thread the pork onto the soaked skewers, leaving a little space between pieces so the heat circulates.
- Prepare a hot grill for direct high heat. Oil the grates well so the pork does not stick.
- Grill the skewers, turning every 3 minutes, until charred at the edges and cooked through, about 12 minutes total.
- Rest the skewers 5 minutes so the juices settle. Warm the pitas directly on the grill for 30 seconds per side.
- Slide the pork off the skewers into the pitas. Top with tzatziki, tomato, and onion. Wrap and eat immediately.
- Serve any extra tzatziki and lemon wedges on the side for squeezing over.
Pork shoulder, not tenderloin. Shoulder has the fat to stay juicy over high heat. Tenderloin dries out before it chars.