Tzatziki (Greek Yogurt Sauce)
I have a whole menu of Mediterranean food planned for this week so I decided to start with the Tzatziki, since it goes with just about everything. This cool, creamy sauce is great for dipping vegetables, bread, and dolmas or as a spread for sandwiches. This tzatziki was so easy to make and so good that I couldn’t stop eating it right off the spoon!
What is Tzatziki?
Tzatziki is a delicious sauce made with a Greek Yogurt base, seasoned with garlic, cucumber and dill. It’s light, fresh, cool, and there’s absolutely nothing like it! Once you taste tzatziki you’ll want to slather it on everything. While the recipe below has been adapted for my kitchen, you can find some authentic tzatziki recipes here:
- Authentic Tzatziki from Olive Tomato
- Authentic Greek Tzatziki Sauce from My Greek Dish
- Tzatziki from Souvlaki for the Soul
How Long Does it Stay Good?
The sauce should stay good in your refrigerator for 5-7 days and the flavor will intensify as it refrigerates. For that reason, I used minced garlic from a jar rather than fresh. I find that fresh garlic leaves me with the most unbearable breath for a good 24 hrs… no matter how many times I brush and gargle with mouthwash. Garlic from a jar is a little more subtle.
Tzatziki (Greek Yogurt Sauce)
Ingredients
- 12 oz 1 1/2 cups greek style yogurt ($1.80)
- 1/2 medium cucumber ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic ($0.25)
- 1/4 tsp dill ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.05)
Instructions
- Peel and remove the seeds from half a cucumber (use a spoon to scrape out the seedy center). Using a cheese grater, grate the cucumber into the yogurt. Also add the dill, salt and garlic to the yogurt. Stir well.
- Refrigerate the yogurt sauce for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve cold. If liquid separates out from the sauce during refrigeration, simply stir to reincorporate before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
The equipment section above contains affiliate links to products we use and love. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I was pleasantly surprised to find cucumbers on sale 7 for $1 (or $0.20 ea) at our produce market today so that really brought the price of this sauce down. Unfortunately, they are only this cheap for a short time during the summer.
Don’t let the rest of the cucumber go to waste. Slice it up for dipping into the Tzatziki, layering on sandwiches and salads or as a garnish!
I just got my first CSA box and it came with a bundle of dill! I’ve never used dill before, but I also had a cucumber in my fridge and some whole fat yogurt…so I made greek yogurt for the first time, and followed your recipe (adjusting for the fresh dill) for the tzatziki sauce! It’s so delicious. I had no idea I could make something that tasted as good as what I had in restaurants.
I’m excited to read the other comments substituting mint for dill – I have mint growing in my herb garden and would love to give that a try as well.
Made this yesterday to bring to a party today. I made two batches: one with dill and the other with mint, both half garlic and half garlic powder. I also added a splash or two of olive oil and vinegar to both. They were both a big hit. Boyfriend’s mother wanted the recipe.
Happy to hear it!
Would love to try this. Is it fresh dill or dried? Thanks!
Dried dill in this recipe.
The Lebanese version of this is substitute mint for the dill. My siti
( grandmother) taught me that way as well.
Made this to go along with your homemade naan recipe (in an attempt to recreate the pillowy, soft pita I had at a Greek restaurant + their delicious tzatziki), and I was actually pretty good! I think this is closer to the thinner sauce I get on gyros rather than the variety I had tasted at that restaurant, but I think they added feta to theirs, so I’ll probably try adding some crumbled feta to this next time. I used dried dill and garlic powder and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors meld, and I put the cucumber in a paper towel and squeezed the water out of it before adding to the yogurt, but otherwise I followed the recipe as written.
I’ve had better luck with the texture of the sauce when I salt the cucumber and let it drain, pressing out the liquid, Â before adding it to the yogurt. A coffee filter works great if you don’t have cheesecloth and it keeps the finished sauce nice and thick.
Beth I would love the recipe for baba knoush if You can give it to me I would love it. thanks
.
y
As always – no fancy ingredients and perfectly delicious.
We love gyros but I’ve never tried my own cucumber sauce before this week. Super easy and tasted great. We put it on our Easy Oven Fajitas. Score another two good recipes for Budget Bytes! You would be amazed how many of your recipes are now weekly staples here. Thank you so much, Beth!