Learn the secret to making the BEST Tzatziki – a traditional Greek yogurt and cucumber sauce with fresh herbs. This easy, authentic recipe can be made in just 20 minutes! Includes a video!
Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon. ~C. Day Lewis
Tzatziki is a creamy yogurt-cucumber sauce or dip that hails from Greece and is made of yogurt, shredded cucumber, olive oil, garlic, lemon, fresh herbs and salt. It’s simple and easy can easily be made vegan.
During the summer months, when cucumbers are aplenty, we make the Tzatziki recipe often and serve it like we do hummus, or baba ganoush as a quick snack or dip, along with cherry tomatoes, olives, and homemade pita bread, or slathered it into wraps, or add to buddha bowls.
At dinner, Tzatziki becomes a cooling topping for grilled salmon or kabobs. I love how versatile it is! Plus it is just yummy.
Tzatziki Video
Tzatziki Ingredients:
- English Cucumber (or 3-4 Turkish cucumbers)
- Salt
- Thick Greek yogurt or strained yogurt ( Goat or sheep’s milk yogurt is especially nice here)
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Fresh dill and fresh mint (a combo of both is nice). You can use dry dill in a pinch.
- a squeeze of lemon to taste
Some people prefer dill, some people prefer mint. I like both! Depending on your tastes, all of these options are just fine. No rules here, it is all about preference. Do what makes your taste buds happy. 😉
How to make Tzatziki
Step one: Prep the cucumber
Grate the cucumber: If using thin-skinned cucumbers, like English Cucumbers, Persian or Turkish Cucumbers, feel free to leave the skin on. ( I find these the easiest to use). If using a waxy, thick-skinned cucumber, make sure to peel, and you may also need to seed it if it is very large.
You’ll need two cups of grated cucumber which translates to about one medium English cucumber, or 3-4 Turkish cucumbers.
Grate by hand, which is really quick and easy, or use a food processor with the grater attachment, which I find is more trouble than it is worth unless you are making large quantities like we used to while catering.
Step two: salt the cucumber
Mix the cucumber with salt to help it release its liquid, and then place it in a strainer. It will drain off its liquid.
Let this stand 10-15 minutes, while you whip up the remaining ingredients.
Step three: Combine
In a medium bowl, add 1 cup thick yogurt. Here I’m using full fat, extra-thick Greek yogurt. I really love using sheep or goat milk yogurt ( very authentic) here. If you don’t have thick yogurt, options are to strain the yogurt through a thin kitchen towel to thicken, or use part labneh, sour cream or creme fraiche.
Thick vegan yogurt will work well here too.
Stir in fresh chopped dill or fresh mint, or a combination of both.
Add one fat garlic clove, that has been finely minced or grated. You can always add more to taste, but start with one.
By now the grated cucumber will have released its beautiful liquid. Two cups will have reduced to one cup. Press down on the cucumber to further release its liquid through the strainer. Then add the cucumber to the bowl and give a good stir.
Step five: Season
At this point taste and season with salt and pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.
*Because yogurt has such varying degrees of tang and sourness, I don’t like to dictate how much lemon juice to use. Sometimes I’ll use just a little squeeze, like a teaspoon or two, sometimes more, sometimes none at all. So taste and determine.
Give this delicious, cooling Tzatziki Sauce a try this week and be sure to let us know what you think! It brings me back to some of my favorite Greek restaurants in the beautiful islands of Greece.
For a colorful twist, try this Beet Tzatziki!
How to use Tzatziki:
Tzatziki pairs well with so many dishes you’re already making. Serve tzatziki with:
- Zucchini Fritters
- Classic Greek Salad
- Homemade Pita Bread!
- Falafel Bowls
- Grilled Salmon Tzatziki Bowls
- Falafel Pitas
- Greek Lamb Tacos
- Hummus
- Tabouli
- Baba Ganoush
Hope you love this Tzatziki recipe as much as we do!
xoxo
Tzatziki Sauce Recipe!
- Prep Time: 20
- Total Time: 20
- Yield: 2 cups
- Category: appetizers, sauces
- Method: Stirred
- Cuisine: Greek
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
How to make the BEST Tzatziki Sauce! An easy, healthy, Greek cucumber-yogurt sauce to use in mezze platters, wraps, gyros, or as a simple dip for pita, or as a delightful side to Mediterranean dishes. This SIMPLE recipe can be made in 15 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 English Cucumber ( or 3–4 Turkish cucumbers) grated- two cups! ( see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ————
- 1 cup greek yogurt ( thick whole milk, full fat)
- 1 fat garlic clove, finely minced ( use a garlic press)
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or mint (or a combo of both)
- a squeeze of lemon to taste
- drizzle of olive oil
Instructions
Grate cucumbers and place in a bowl with the salt and toss well, place in a strainer ( over a bowl). Let sit 10-15 minutes while you prep the remaining ingredients.
In a medium bowl, whisk yogurt, garlic and fresh herbs.
Pressing down with your fingers, remove any more liquid from the cucumber that you can. You will end up with one cup of cucumber. Fold the strained cucumber into the yogurt mixture.
Taste, adding lemon juice ( if you like) to taste. Season with pepper and more salt if needed. If you want more richness, stir in a drizzle of olive oil. You can also drizzle olive oil over the top in a circular motion.
Garnish with fresh herbs and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Notes
This will keep 4 days in the fridge.
If using thick-skinned, waxy cucumbers, make sure to peel. Sometimes waxy cucumbers also have large seeds, feel free to remove.
If using thin-skinned cucumbers like English, Persian or Turkish, feel free to leave the skin on. I like the skin for texture. You can also peel off the skin in “stripes”, to only use part of the skin.
If using non-fat or low-fat yogurt stir in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. I really don’t recommend non-fat yogurt here.
***This works with vegan yogurt.
In a pinch, dry dill or dry mint will work- not quite as good, but better than nothing!
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This is the best tzatziki recipe ever!!! It is seriously sooooo delicious! It tastes great on so many different kinds of vegetables, bowls, chicken, fish. I probably shouldn’t admit that sometimes I just eat it out of a bowl all by itself. It’s that good!
★★★★★
Thanks Joanna!
So delicious and easy to prepare!!! I probably used extra garlic as we are Italian and lots of garlic goes on everything!!
★★★★★
Love it Lisa!
All your Vegan/ Vegi recipies are excellent tasty and look very colorful.I was glad to get your suggestions . Will try them over the Summer. Thanks. Have a very Sunny Sumer and keep up the good work
Thanks so much- have a great summer Rajnikant!
Love this! I made my own vegan yogurt with coconut cream- turned out great!
★★★★★
Love that Donna!
I made this last night using Silk brand plain almond yogurt and dill. It is yummy! Thank you Sylvia!
★★★★★
I use pickle juice and Nancy’s plain oat milk yogurt in sauce.
love it!
So good! I used Alpro vegan greek style yogurt (plain). It worked great!
Im in Ireland, I’m not sure where else they have it.
★★★★★
This is so easy and so very good! I may have to keep a fresh batch going at all times.
★★★★★
I made a vegan version with English cuke, and Forager organic cashew milk yogurt (doesn’t strain well so used it straight – which was great because I prefer a looser tzatziki). Served it with your Moroccan roasted eggplant dish, to which I added some potato and zucchini because my produce market ran out of aubergines!)
★★★★★
I made a vegan version with English cuke, and Forager organic cashew milk yogurt (doesn’t strain well so used it straight – which was great because I prefer a looser tzatziki). Secured it with your Moroccan roasted eggplant dish, to which I added some potato and zucchini because my produce market ran out of aubergines!)
★★★★★
Perfect Lanita! Thanks!
Can this be frozen?
Made more than I had planned for. Really like to use again instead of throwing out.
★★★★★
I’m not sure how well Tzatziki would freeze? I guess you could give it a try?
I have made this with both plain cashew yogurt and almond yogurt. It’s delicious!
★★★★★
Awesome and great to hear! Glad you liked this. 🙌
I used kite hill plain unsweetened almond milk Greek style yogurt and-wow- it was amazing! It was a rush of happy emotion finding a good recipe for a food that’s been off-limits to my dairy intolerance. Thank you so much for publishing!
★★★★★
Great to hear- thanks for the tip Erin!
I veganized this recipe with Tofutti sour cream instead of yogurt and it was perfect! I attempted plain vegan yogurt at first but it was too sweet.
★★★★★
Great to hear, thanks!
Instead of yogurt, I use the vegan substitute of tofutti sour cream doctored up with vinegar, salt and lemon juice. I can’t find a nondairy yogurt without a sweetener.
★★★★★
Love it, thanks for the tip!
Made a vegan version using Forager’s Plain cashew milk yogurt. Turned out great!
★★★★★
Great to hear!
Me, too!
Awesome!
I haven’t made this because I find I always hate Tzatziki, despite desperately wanting to love it. I feel like I am missing something and I love your recipes and trust your insights. Why does this sauce taste like thrush every time?
Maybe you dont like yogurt? You could try sour cream?
This is the best tzatziki recipe out there. Nice ratio of herbs/cukes to yogurt. Like that you suggest reuse of the drained-off cucumber juice; it always kills me to discard it. I, like another reviewer, added a splash of ww vinegar but otherwise made as written. Love love. Thank you.
★★★★★
Thanks and happy you enjoyed it!
I have made several homemade tzatziki recipes and although the ingredients are all somewhat similar give or take, this one is hands down the best. I originally made it on a night that I made a Greek dish and everyone raved about it. The next night night I made a chicken dish and my son asked me to put a big scoop on his plate to dip his chicken in.
I didn’t know whether to use the larger or smaller side of my box grater, but I used the large side. I didn’t use the salt method. I just let the cucumbers sit and then replaced the paper towels that I was letting them drain in a couple of times – and squeezed and squeezed to get as much liquid out as I could. I didn’t think my English cucumber yielded quite 2 cups so I added probably 3/4 cup of yogurt (a mix between 2% and 0% Fage Greek yogurt, which is very thick). Used the same amount of dill, salt and pepper that the recipe calls for. Increased the garlic to at least 3-4 cloves and squeezed more than a “splash” of lemon juice into it. The only thing that I added that wasn’t in the ingredients was a splash of white wine vinegar.
Thank you for helping me to finally find the perfect Tzatziki recipe!!
★★★★★
Yay!!!! Glad you liked this~!
My favorite Tzatziki Recipe!
★★★★★
This was really wonderful but we watch salt so I just squeezed the liquid out before adding the other ingredients! Put it on pita and go crazy with the stuffing! We did Israeli meatballs !
This is the BEST tzatziki sauce we have ever made. The whole family loved it. I never tried grating the cucumber…so much better! thanks so much Sylvia
★★★★★
Best Tzatziki I’ve ever made. Salting the cucumber was something I’ve not tried before. Thanks, even my husband liked it.
★★★★★