Souvlaki is one of those dishes that looks simple and rewards every bit of extra effort you put in. The pork marinates overnight in lemon, garlic, oregano and a handful of other things that aren't strictly traditional but make it better. The tzatziki needs the cucumber properly drained — skip that step and you get a watery sauce that ruins the flatbread. And the flatbread, if you make it yourself, is the difference between a good souvlaki and a great one.
None of it is difficult. Most of it happens the night before, which means the day of cooking is mostly assembly and a few minutes on the BBQ.
Ingredients
- Pork souvlaki
- 500 g Pork loin, cubed
- 50 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 30 g Fresh lemon juice
- 5 g Dijon mustard
- 0.5 White onion, grated or blended
- 3 cloves Garlic, finely minced
- 1 tsp Dried oregano
- 1 tsp Sweet smoked paprika
- 0.5 tsp Dried thyme
- 0.5 tsp Ground cumin
- 8 g Fine sea salt, 1.5% of the pork weight
- 0.5 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
- Tzatziki
- 0.25 Cucumber, grated, before draining
- 0.25 g Fine sea salt, plus extra for salting the cucumber
- 150 g Full-fat Greek yoghurt, thick — FAGE or similar
- 10 g Fresh lemon juice
- 10 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 4 leaves Fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1 cloves Garlic, finely minced
- Tomato salad
- 5 g Fresh lemon juice
- 10 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Salad tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 0.5 Red onion, thinly sliced, rinsed and soaked
- 0.5 tsp Dried oregano
- Flatbreads (optional — see notes)
- 250 g Strong white bread flour
- 2 g Instant yeast
- 8 g Granulated sugar
- 8 g Fine sea salt
- 150 g Water, lukewarm
- 15 g Extra virgin olive oil
Equipment
- Charcoal or gas BBQ
- Metal or wooden skewers
- Large frying pan
- Meat thermometer
- Fine sieve
Combine the extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, white onion, garlic, dried oregano, sweet paprika, dried thyme, ground cumin, fine sea salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Add the cubed pork and mix thoroughly until every piece is coated. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight.
Mix the strong white bread flour, instant yeast, sugar, and fine sea salt together in a bowl. Add the water and extra virgin olive oil and mix to roughly combine. Turn out onto a clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough comes together into a smooth, elastic ball.
Cover the dough with a clean towel and leave to rest on the work surface for 30 minutes. Divide into 220g portions and shape each into a tight ball — cup your hand loosely around the dough and drag it in small circles against the work surface. The friction pulls the underside of the dough beneath itself, building tension and forming a smooth, taut skin on top. Place the shaped balls on a tray, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Grate the cucumber and toss with a generous pinch of fine sea salt. Place in a sieve over a bowl and leave to drain for 30 minutes. While it drains, mix the full-fat Greek yoghurt, fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, fresh mint, fine sea salt, and garlic together in a bowl until smooth.
Once the cucumber has drained, squeeze out as much remaining moisture as possible — push it against the sieve or wrap it in cheesecloth and squeeze hard. Add the dry cucumber to the yoghurt mixture and stir until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the dough balls from the fridge 3 hours before cooking and leave covered at room temperature. Remove the pork from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
Thread the marinated pork cubes onto skewers. Cover and set aside until the BBQ is ready.
Light the BBQ and let it come up to a high, even heat before the pork goes on.
Place the skewers on the hot BBQ and turn every 2 minutes until charred on all sides. Pork loin cubes cook quickly and dry out easily — pull them from the heat once they reach 54°C (130°F) internal. See how to cook pork to temperature for more detail.
Heat your largest frying pan over high heat with no oil. Roll out each dough ball into a circle as large as the pan will fit. Place into the dry, hot pan and cook for 2 minutes per side until cooked through, puffed up, and lightly charred in places. Remove, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and cover with a towel to keep warm while the next one cooks.
Whisk the fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil together until emulsified. Toss the salad tomatoes and drained red onion with the dressing and dried oregano, plus a pinch of salt, just before serving. See how to season food properly if you’re unsure on quantities.
Slide the pork off the skewers onto the warm flatbreads. Top with the tomato salad and a generous spoonful of tzatziki. Serve immediately while the flatbread is still warm.
Notes & Substitutions
Shop-bought flatbread: If you don’t want to make your own, a good quality shop-bought flatbread or pitta works perfectly well — warm it through before serving. The homemade version is worth the effort if you have the time, but it isn’t essential to the dish.
Red onion: Rinsing and soaking sliced red onion in cold water for a few minutes removes some of its sharpness and mellows the flavour, leaving the crunch and colour without the harshness of raw onion straight from the board.
Tzatziki: Use proper strained Greek yoghurt — FAGE or similar. Standard yoghurt is thinner and will make a runny tzatziki even after draining the cucumber properly.
Marinade: The mustard and cumin aren’t traditional additions to a Greek marinade, but they round out the flavour and add a depth that a purely lemon-and-oregano marinade doesn’t have.
Planning: This recipe involves a lot of moving parts. Reading it through fully and doing the overnight steps in one sitting makes the day of cooking straightforward. See mise en place for more on planning multi-component dishes like this one.
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Pork Souvlaki with Tzatziki and Flatbread
COOKED
PROPERLY
Ingredients
- 500 g Pork loin (cubed)
- 50 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 30 g Fresh lemon juice
- 5 g Dijon mustard
- 0.5 White onion (grated or blended)
- 3 cloves Garlic (finely minced)
- 1 tsp Dried oregano
- 1 tsp Sweet smoked paprika
- 0.5 tsp Dried thyme
- 0.5 tsp Ground cumin
- 8 g Fine sea salt (1.5% of the pork weight)
- 0.5 tsp Black pepper (freshly ground)
- 0.25 Cucumber (grated, before draining)
- 0.25 g Fine sea salt (plus extra for salting the cucumber)
- 150 g Full-fat Greek yoghurt (thick — FAGE or similar)
- 10 g Fresh lemon juice
- 10 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 4 leaves Fresh mint (finely chopped)
- 1 cloves Garlic (finely minced)
- 5 g Fresh lemon juice
- 10 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Salad tomatoes (cut into wedges)
- 0.5 Red onion (thinly sliced, rinsed and soaked)
- 0.5 tsp Dried oregano
- 250 g Strong white bread flour
- 2 g Instant yeast
- 8 g Granulated sugar
- 8 g Fine sea salt
- 150 g Water (lukewarm)
- 15 g Extra virgin olive oil
Equipment
- Charcoal or gas BBQ
- Metal or wooden skewers
- Large frying pan
- Meat thermometer
- Fine sieve
Method
Marinate the pork (night before)
500 g Pork loin · 50 g Extra virgin olive oil · 30 g Fresh lemon juice · 5 g Dijon mustard · 0.5 White onion · 3 cloves Garlic · 1 tsp Dried oregano · 1 tsp Sweet smoked paprika · 0.5 tsp Dried thyme · 0.5 tsp Ground cumin · 8 g Fine sea salt · 0.5 tsp Black pepper
Combine the extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, white onion, garlic, dried oregano, sweet paprika, dried thyme, ground cumin, fine sea salt, and black pepper in a bowl. Add the cubed pork and mix thoroughly until every piece is coated. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight.
You can either blend the onion or grate it — blending is kinder on your eyes and produces a smoother marinade that coats the pork more evenly.
Make the flatbread dough (night before)
250 g Strong white bread flour · 2 g Instant yeast · 8 g Granulated sugar · 8 g Fine sea salt · 150 g Water · 15 g Extra virgin olive oil
Mix the strong white bread flour, instant yeast, sugar, and fine sea salt together in a bowl. Add the water and extra virgin olive oil and mix to roughly combine. Turn out onto a clean work surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough comes together into a smooth, elastic ball.
Rest, divide and shape (night before)
Cover the dough with a clean towel and leave to rest on the work surface for 30 minutes. Divide into 220g portions and shape each into a tight ball — cup your hand loosely around the dough and drag it in small circles against the work surface. The friction pulls the underside of the dough beneath itself, building tension and forming a smooth, taut skin on top. Place the shaped balls on a tray, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
This shaping technique is genuinely easier to watch than to read. Search “shaping dough balls” on YouTube before you try it the first time — a 30-second video will make it click in a way that text can’t.
Drain the cucumber and make the tzatziki base (night before)
0.25 Cucumber · 0.25 g Fine sea salt · 150 g Full-fat Greek yoghurt · 10 g Fresh lemon juice · 10 g Extra virgin olive oil · 4 leaves Fresh mint · 1 cloves Garlic
Grate the cucumber and toss with a generous pinch of fine sea salt. Place in a sieve over a bowl and leave to drain for 30 minutes. While it drains, mix the full-fat Greek yoghurt, fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, fresh mint, fine sea salt, and garlic together in a bowl until smooth.
Finish the tzatziki (night before)
Once the cucumber has drained, squeeze out as much remaining moisture as possible — push it against the sieve or wrap it in cheesecloth and squeeze hard. Add the dry cucumber to the yoghurt mixture and stir until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Bring everything to room temperature
Remove the dough balls from the fridge 3 hours before cooking and leave covered at room temperature. Remove the pork from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
Skewer the pork
Thread the marinated pork cubes onto skewers. Cover and set aside until the BBQ is ready.
Light the BBQ
Light the BBQ and let it come up to a high, even heat before the pork goes on.
Grill the pork
Place the skewers on the hot BBQ and turn every 2 minutes until charred on all sides. Pork loin cubes cook quickly and dry out easily — pull them from the heat once they reach 54°C (130°F) internal. See how to cook pork to temperature for more detail.
These skewers cook faster than they look like they should. Have the thermometer ready before the pork goes on the grill, not after — checking late often means checking too late.
Cook the flatbreads
Heat your largest frying pan over high heat with no oil. Roll out each dough ball into a circle as large as the pan will fit. Place into the dry, hot pan and cook for 2 minutes per side until cooked through, puffed up, and lightly charred in places. Remove, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and cover with a towel to keep warm while the next one cooks.
Prep and dress the salad
5 g Fresh lemon juice · 10 g Extra virgin olive oil · 2 Salad tomatoes · 0.5 Red onion · 0.5 tsp Dried oregano
Whisk the fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil together until emulsified. Toss the salad tomatoes and drained red onion with the dressing and dried oregano, plus a pinch of salt, just before serving. See how to season food properly if you’re unsure on quantities.
Dress the salad right before serving, not earlier. Salted tomatoes release water quickly, and a salad left to sit becomes watery and dilutes the dressing within 10–15 minutes.
Assemble and serve
Slide the pork off the skewers onto the warm flatbreads. Top with the tomato salad and a generous spoonful of tzatziki. Serve immediately while the flatbread is still warm.
SCAN TO OPEN
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The wok costs £25. The heat underneath it is what you're really paying for.
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The wok costs £25. The heat underneath it is what you're really paying for.
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