How To Make Tzatziki Sauce Easy

How Long Does Homemade Tzatziki Last

Homemade tzatziki sauce will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Because it includes fresh vegetables , they begin to lose a lot of moisture and make the Greek tzatziki sauce runny.

This easy tzatziki sauce recipe makes 1 1/2 cups, so you can always cut it in half if you wont eat it within a few daysbut I dont think that will be a problem!

What Kind Of Yogurt Should I Use For This Greek Cucumber Sauce

It may sound basic, but the type of yogurt you use for this Mediterranean sauce actually makes all the difference. Traditional tzatziki is actually made with sheep or goats milk yogurt that has been strained, but its hard to find those here.

I like a whole milk, plain Greek yogurt, such as Stonyfield Greek Yogurt The Greek yogurt sold here is already strained, which is why it is thicker and higher in protein than regular yogurt.

Tzatziki Nutrition & Yogurt Notes

Nutritionally speaking, tzatziki is a creamy but light sauce. You can dollop it generously on your food without adding a lot of calories . Its made mostly with Greek yogurt and cucumber, after all.

I havent found a noticeable difference in texture whether I use whole-milk yogurt, low-fat or non-fat, so any of those will work. Traditional Greek tzatziki is made with strained goat or sheeps yogurt, but its hard to find those here. The Greek yogurt sold here in the U.S. is strained yogurt , so I use that.

As always, please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! Im excited to hear how it turns out for you and how you serve it.

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How To Make It

This Greek sauce with yogurt and cucumbers can be mixed together in a few easy steps. Simply:

How To Make Tzatziki Sauce Recipe

Whether you use it as a salad dressing, spread for a quick pita sandwich, or dip for your cheese plate, Tzatziki sauce is one of the most loved condiments. So scroll down to watch a quick how to video on how to make tzatziki dip and read my answers to most FAQs.

If you have ever been to any country around the Mediterranean and Middle East Regions, you know that plain yogurt is a staple for every household. Growing up in Turkey with a mom cooking Turkish recipes all the time, we were no different. My mother would serve every dish with either plain whole milk yogurt, her go-to Yogurt Dressing or this easy to make tzatziki sauce recipe.

Well, the name was different , but the concept was the same. Its a beautiful green and white sauce for falafel, gyro, grilled meats or veggies. Its also kind of like the dip version of my Creamy Cucumber Salad.

In our last cookbook club gathering, one of the ladies said that she has never tried garlicky yogurt in her life and would love to know how to make it. Realizing that not everyone grew up eating this Mediterranean white yogurt sauce, I decided that I needed to go back to my roots and share more recipes made with this magical dressing/sauce.

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How To Make Tzatziki Sauce With Greek Yogurt

Here are the quick step-by-step instructions with visuals you can find the full instructions with the exact ingredients in the recipe card below.

Pro-tip: This is a quick and easy recipe so making it fresh is the best way to enjoy it. Get rid of excess cucumber juice so that your tzatziki sauce isnt watery the next day.

1. Prepare the Cucumber. Peel cucumber, if desired, then using the larger holes on a box shredder or grater, shred the cucumber. Place the shredded cucumber in a strainer placed over a bowl and sprinkle a pinch of salt. Stir the grated cucumber gently and set aside along them to release their juice while you prep the remaining ingredients.

2. Combine Ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine shredded cucumber and Greek yogurt then gently stir. Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, freshly chopped dill, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine.

3. Refrigerate and Serve: Cover and then refrigerate for an hour to allow all the flavors to meld together. Serve as a topping on your favorite Gyro or Wrap or as a dip for veggies and pita chips.

This Is The Best Tzatziki Recipe

If you are looking for an authentic greek tzatziki recipe, give this a try. It is gluten free and so tasty. Tzatziki sauce recipes are not hard at all. They sound fancy but really they are so very simple to make.

You dont have to wait until you go out to eat or to grab it from the grocery store when you can make it at home. Enjoy this any time you want thanks to this super simple recipe that tastes amazing.

I bet your family will be super impressed that you made this authentic sauce at home.

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How To Prepare The Cucumber

Did you know that cucumbers are 95% water? Thats why its so refreshing to eat them raw.

But you dont want all that liquid going into a keto tzatziki sauce. The key to this recipe is to remove as much of the moisture from the grated cucumber as possible.

To do this, I recommend taking a handful of grated cucumber at a time and squeezing it between your palms over the sink. Set it on a paper towel until youre ready to use.

Alternatively, you could add the grated cucumber to a fine mesh sieve and press with paper towels to squeeze out the liquid.

Finally, you could salt the cucumbers to draw out the water. Add the grated cucumber to a sieve over a bowl, toss with salt, then allow it to sit for about 15 minutes.

Once the time is up, press with paper towels or the back of a spatula to release even more water.

If you use the salting method, you may want to reduce the amount of salt you add to the recipe.

How To Make Tzatziki Sauce:

This is the easiest recipe and only takes a few minutes to mix together.

• Measure out your spices and minced garlic.

• Get a serving bowl and place the Greek Yogurt and the shredded squeezed cucumber in the bowl.

• Add the Minced Garlic to the yogurt and cucumber.

• Sprinkle in the spices in the bowl.

• Make sure everything is mixed together really good. It is so easy to make this sauce!

• Store the tzatziki sauce in the fridge until ready to serve.

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Chef Tips For Making Tzatziki Sauce

• Grab Greek yogurt ~ The thicker the yogurt the better when making this tzatziki sauce recipe. Either full fat or low fat are good options. Skip regular yogurts as they are too thin and runny.
• Its an English cucumber for this recipe ~ These long and skinny cucumbers are ideal for this tzatziki recipe. They contain less water, and you dont need to peel them as they have thin skins.
• Squeeze out the cucumbers ~ Cucumbers contain A LOT of liquid. To ensure your tzatziki isnt to watery, squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can. Either do this with your hands or let drain in a mesh strainer for 10 minutes.
• Refrigerate before serving ~ For the best cucumber and herb flavor, allow the sauce/dip/dressing to mellow in the refrigerator for about 1 to2 hours. Give it a stir before serving.

If you make this cool, creamy and refreshing tzatziki sauce/dip/dressing, Id love hearing from you all. Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating ~ I do my best to reply to all your comments. And snap a photo to post to . Ill add the photos to my Insta stories as I love seeing all your creations.

Also check out my and pages for lots of fabulous foodie stories, videos, cooking tips, and recipes.

How To Make Tzatziki Sauce

Here’s the step-by-step tutorial for how to make this tzatziki recipe :

• Grate the cucumbers. You can use a box grater or do as I do and use a food processor for a shortcut. Add a pinch of salt with the sliced cucumbers in the food processor and run the processor until the cucumber is finely chopped.
• Drain the grated cucumbers . Once grated, transfer the cucumbers to a clean cheesecloth and squeeze out all the liquid.
• Mix the sauce. In a large bowl, combine the grated or minced garlic with the white vinegar and a little olive oil and mix. Add the drained cucumber mixture to a large bowl, greek yogurt, kosher salt, a pinch of white black pepper, and chopped dill or mint . Stir to combine.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to two hours before serving or serve immediately, if you can’t wait, with fresh veggies and pita or chips! Drizzle a little olive oil on top.

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Greek Tzatziki Sauce Recipe

Once you learn how to make this authentic Greek Tzatziki Sauce Recipe, then youll have the perfect topping for any and ALL Mediterranean dishes. Simply combine Greek yogurt, shredded cucumber, fresh dill, lemon juice, and garlic in a food processor for quick and easy flavor. Enjoy this homemade sauce on a gyro, kabob, or falafel.

Light, refreshing, creamy, and loaded with fresh dill flavor.

This homemade tzatziki sauce recipe is going to put any restaurant or store bought version to shame.

Dont believe me?

Recently both a popular store-bought brand and my homemade version were in the fridge at the same time.

They obviously had to be compared side by side, and hands down this homemade tzatziki sauce recipe was the best!!

Its made with finely shredded cucumbers, Greek yogurt, and just the right amount of minced garlic cloves and fresh dill.

Pop all of the ingredients into your food processor and its ready to enjoy in less than 15 minutes.

Because, after all, no Lamb Kofta, Turkey Meatball or Falafel recipe would be complete without a drizzle of some creamy Tzatziki sauce!

How To Make It Thicker

Although Greek yogurt is thicker than regular yogurt, you can strain it for an even thicker sauce or dip. To do so, simply place a few layers of cheesecloth in a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl, add the Greek yogurt, cover with the ends of the cheesecloth and set in your fridge. Allow it to strain for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Note that the longer you allow the Greek yogurt to strain, the thicker it will become.

Straining the cucumber prior to mixing into the yogurt sauce also produces a thicker tzatziki.

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Expert Tips And Tricks

• Go seedless. Cucumbers with seeds can be used but the seeds will need to be scooped out before making the recipe.
• Full-fat is best. Non-fat, 2%, or even a dairy-free yogurt may also be used. But, full-fat will give you a different taste and texture.
• Pull out that processor. Running the cucumbers through a food processor is way easier than grating them by hand.
• Wring it out. A cheese cloth is the easiest to use to ensure you remove all of the liquid from the grated cucumbers.
• Take it easy. Do not overmix as its nice to have a few chunks of cucumber throughout the sauce.

How Long Does It Keep

This homemade tzatziki sauce will keep well in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep it covered to keep it as fresh as long as possible. Some water from the cucumbers may separate as it sits, so just give everything a good stir before serving. Its best not to freeze this as the texture of the yogurt will change considerably when it is thawed.

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How To Make Tzatziki With Sour Cream

The creamy low-carb sauce comes together in just a few simple steps:

Enjoy immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator. The sauce will be even better after its had time to chill.

Tips For Tzatziki Sauce Recipe:

• We prefer to use an English cucumber in this recipe. The yogurt and cucumber blend together for a finer consistency if you use an English cucumber. The seeds are smaller and we just prefer the taste. But use what you prefer!
• You can put the cucumbers on a paper towel to drain some of the water so that the sauce will be thicker. Again, this is optional but only takes a minute.
• We used regular yogurt but you can swap it out for low fat yogurt to modify the tzatziki sauce nutrition. The Greek yogurt is good either way
• You can even top with some fresh mint.

It comes together so easily that you really dont need a food processor. You can mix this together in minutes.

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How To Make Roasted Garlic

When making authentic tzatziki sauce, going the extra mile for roasted garlic is a delicious way to really bring out the flavors.

Because this is an extra step from purchasing pre-made garlic, you may want to complete this step, plus the next step on prepping and straining yogurt, the day before you actually need the dip. This breaks the recipe down into two days, with prep able to be done the night before if you want and combination the day of.

What Kind Of Yogurt Should I Use

I love plain full fat or 2% Greek yogurt for tzatziki. That said, most plain thick yogurts will work. Greek yogurt is nice and thick, but if you have a regular plain yogurt, you can still use it. We simply recommend that you place the yogurt in a fine mesh strainer that has been lined with cheesecloth or paper towels and rest it over a bowl. Place into the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours so the yogurt can drain. Then, discard the liquid.

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Tzatziki Sauce Made With Greek Yogurt

Melissa Tzatziki SauceJump to RecipePin Recipe

We will admit that for far too long we bought pre-made tzatziki sauce. It was relatively inexpensive and we found a brand that we loved. In reality, we just didnt want to take a little amount of time to make it fresh. And the brand we thought was delicious is nothing in comparison to our own homemade tzatziki sauce. Tzatziki sauce made with Greek yogurt is light, refreshing, and is the perfect topping or dip for so many things. It is the perfect addition to your recipe box.

This recipe is easy, only requires 7 ingredients, and takes less than 15 minutes to prepare.

The full ingredient list and measurements are listed in the printable recipe below.

Note on substitutions: Substituting dried dill for fresh dill and garlic powder for fresh garlic will alter the overall freshness. If you do substitute dried dill for fresh dill, approximately 1 teaspoon of dried dill is equivalent to 1 tablespoon of fresh dill. About 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder is equivalent to 2 cloves of pressed or minced garlic.

What Is Greek Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki is a traditional Greek garlic, yogurt and cucumber sauce, that is known and loved around the world. It is also known as gyro sauce, because it is commonly used in stuffed pita bread with gyro meat .

Tzatziki is cool and refreshing with creamy and light texture. It is a very versatile dip and of course the ideal match for that super tasty chicken souvlaki, lamb souvlaki, pork souvlaki, beef souvlaki, grilled meats and of course a traditional greek salad!

It is also served as part of a meze platter together with some hummus, taramasalata, talatouri, melitzanosalata , tirokafteri , fava and some delicious beef meatballs and lamb meatballs. Of course also by itself, with warm crusted bread or pita bread.

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Greek Style Tzatziki How To Make It

Tzatziki sauce in Greece is used and offered on various occasions. It is in fact an extremely simple and fast type of preparation.

The ingredients used are all always available in any Greek pantry. They are all ingredients available throughout the year and therefore not a seasonal dish.

For example, tzatziki is present in the tables set for Easter lunch as a side dish to the main courses based on lamb and kokoretsi. This exquisite cream marries in an exceptional way with the strong flavor of lamb, forming an unmistakable mix of flavors.

But it is also a summer dish thanks to its refreshing power. Yogurt, cucumbers and garlic come together to form a tasty and unique dish of the Greek culinary tradition.

The ingredients used are so common and widespread that its presence is now extended to the cooking tradition of the whole Middle East. Another particularly interesting combination is in fact the tzatziki with the typical kebab of the regions bordering Europe.

The raw materials of tzatziki therefore contain a worthy representation of the production of the whole Mediterranean basin. Yogurt, cucumbers, extra virgin olive oil and garlic … all in a gluten-free mix!

There is hardly anyone that can resist its charm. But are there any tricks in making it at home?

Your cucumber will need to be grated or cubed before going into the tzatziki dip, but do not forget to treat it to some salt. This will remove any excess moisture and will allow for smooth texture.