Marinated Beef Souvlaki Wraps
Marinated Beef Souvlaki Wraps start with sliced beef marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, and lots of garlic! Cook up the steak souvlaki and serve it in warm pitas topped with french fries, tzatziki sauce, onions, and tomatoes!
It’s all sunshine and Mediterranean skies when you’ve got warm, pita-wrapped, beef souvlaki on deck!
I know when you look at the short ingredient list for these steak souvlaki wraps, you won’t believe that they’re as yummy as I’m describing them to be. But I have a theory, the shorter the list of ingredients for souvlaki, the more delicious they are! Check out my chicken souvlaki skewers, you’ll see what I mean.
For this recipe, we’ll start with your favorite cut of steak – feel free to use the economical cuts; they work just fine here! The key is to make sure the beef has an ample amount of time to marinate. I usually toss these in a skillet instead of the grill and then loaded them into pitas with french fries, sliced onions, tzatziki sauce, and sliced tomatoes. Also, when in doubt, dunk them in more homemade tzatziki sauce! The flavors of fresh dill, garlic, lemon juice, etc. work so well with the flavors of the beef souvlaki!
Honestly, the street food in Greece was one of my favorite things!
Ingredients for beef souvlaki wraps:
- Beef cuts: Feel free to use top sirloin, NY strip, or even a flank or skirt steak. The key is to remember that regardless of the cut of steak, it needs to be sliced against the grain here before we add it to the marinade. If you want to make beef skewers for kebabs, you can use top sirloin and just dice it into 1-inch cubes before you thread them onto wooden skewers. This marinade would work that way too! Make sure to grill the beef souvlaki skewers on an outdoor grill for the best flavor – perfect for BBQs!
- Lemons: You’ll want to use the juice of fresh lemons for this recipe
- Red Wine Vinegar: is another source of acid for this recipe.
- Paprika: Hot paprika the souvlaki a deep red color and works well with the other ingredients in the recipe.
- Olive Oil: is the base of the marinade.
- Garlic: you’ll need a handful of garlic cloves. Mince them or grate them into the dressing so that the flavors all mingle together quickly. If you’re making this within 1-3 hours of marinating, I highly recommend grating the garlic rather than mincing. It’ll flavor everything much quicker.
- Dried Oregano: You can also use fresh oregano for this recipe, I suggest doubling the quantity if that’s the case.
- Salt and Black Pepper: these are standards!
- Things to serve: prepared tzatziki sauce – this is ingredients like cucumbers, dill, Greek yogurt, some kind of acid like red wine vinegar, or lemon juice – you get the gist! You’ll also need warm Greek pitas, french fries, sliced tomatoes, and sliced red onions.
How to make Greek beef souvlaki wraps:
- Start with the marinade. In a bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, paprika, olive oil, garlic, and oregano. Sprinkle in the salt and black pepper. Add the steak pieces and let them marinade for at least 1 hour and ideally, overnight if you can.
- Sear off the steak (or you can make kebabs and grill them.) Remove the steak 30 minutes before you plan on cooking it. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add half of the marinated steak to the skillet and let it sear before giving the meat a flip. When it’s cooked through, remove the meat to a dish and repeat with the remaining meat.
- Warm up the sides. You’ll want to start heating the pitas in a skillet. I also like to make a light salad with onions, tomatoes, parsley, and salt and pepper in a small bowl. You can even toss in a little bit of lemon juice if you’d like, or make a Greek salad instead of this. I recommend my Marinated Feta Greek Salad!
- Assemble the wraps. Top your warm pita bread with the prepared steak, add in your vegetables, fries, and top with a tzatziki sauce. Serve with more french fries on the side, sweet potato fries, or even zucchini fries if you want to keep things light! If you have leftover meat, make sure to keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
How to make tzatziki sauce from scratch:
Okay, what are souvlaki wraps without tzatziki sauce? Grab some cucumbers, I like to use Persian cucumbers here. I prefer the flavor of those over English cucumbers. Peel half of the cucumber so that your tzatziki isn’t completely green. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice (or use red wine vinegar) and a big pinch of salt to the cucumbers and let them sit in a bowl. The salt and lemon juice will draw out the excess moisture. Add a clove of pressed garlic and a tablespoon of olive oil to a bowl and press it down with the back of a spoon. The olive oil will help mellow out the garlic and get rid of that harsh bite. Then, whisk in the Greek yogurt and dried dill. Squeeze all the liquid out of the cucumbers in a tea towel or paper napkins and add the cucumbers to the sauce. Stir to combine, taste and adjust with another big pinch of salt and more lemon juice as desired.
I also have an alternate feta and mint sauce you can use if you aren’t a fan of cucumbers! Check out my Harissa Chicken Bowls for that recipe.
What about gyros?
Now, if you’re looking for gyros, don’t worry, I have a couple of different versions of those two! You can check out my lamb and beef gyros here and my chicken gyros loaded with french fries, here!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Greek Meatballs (Keftedes)
- Cucumber Chickpea Salad with Feta
- The Easiest Greek Grilled Chicken
- One Pan Greek Chicken and Potatoes
- Greek Chicken Meatballs in Lemon Cream Sauce
Marinated Beef Souvlaki Wraps
Marinated Beef Souvlaki Wraps start with sliced beef marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, and lots of garlic! Cook up the steak souvlaki and serve it in warm pitas topped with french fries, tzatziki sauce, onions, and tomatoes!
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds NY strip, flank, skirt, sirloin, thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon hot paprika
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt + ½ teaspoon pepper
For serving:
- Prepared Tzatziki (see notes)
- Warm Greek pitas
- Prepared french fries
- Sliced tomatoes/red onions
Instructions
- MARINADE: In a bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, paprika, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Allow the steak to marinade for a minimum of 1 hour and ideally, overnight.
- SEAR: Remove the steak from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the marinaded steak and sear it off; about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the meat to a plate and continue searing the remaining steak the same way.
- PREP: Warm the pitas in a skillet. Then toss the onions, tomatoes, and some fresh parsley if desired with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- ASSEMBLE: Top warm pitas with the steak, french fries, tomato, and onion salad, and add a dollop of tzatziki on top, wrap up, and serve warm!
Notes
- Tzatziki Sauce: Add ½ cup grated cucumbers to bowl, season 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Let the cucumbers sit for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine 1 clove of minced garlic and 1 tablespoon of olive oil using the back of a spoon mash the garlic into the olive oil. Then add the yogurt and 1 teaspoon of dried dill and stir. Drain cucumbers in a tea towel and wring out excess moisture. Add to yogurt and stir. Taste and season with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt if desired as well as up to 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Keep sauce refrigerated until ready to serve.
