Tzatziki Sauce
Homemade tzatziki is so easy to make and can be used in so many ways. The cool and creamy cucumber-yogurt sauce can be served as a dip, spread, or dressing and takes only ten minutes to make.
Tzatziki—a creamy, cool cucumber-yogurt sauce flavored with dill, mint, or both—can be bought premade at the store, but it’s so easy to make with just a few ingredients that there’s no reason to buy it. Plus, when you make it yourself, you can adjust the ingredients so it’s just how you like it.
I did just that with a few recipes I’ve tried until I landed on this version, which I lightly adapted from Bon Appétit. I mostly followed the original, but with one big change, which I’ll explain, but first, the ingredients.
Ingredients
- Cucumber: I like to use English hothouse cucumbers. They’re less bitter than the regular ones.
- Garlic
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Fresh dill
- Fresh mint
- Olive oil
- Salt
How to Make Tzatziki
☑️ Prep the Cucumber
Cucumber is a main ingredient in tzatziki, and if you’ve ever added cucumber to salads or other dishes, you may have experienced its annoying tendency to release water as it sits.
The first time I tried the inspiration recipe, I followed it exactly—finely chop the cucumber and mix it with the other ingredients. Unfortunately, after a few hours, I ended up with very watery tzatziki.
So, here’s how you avoid watery tzatziki:
- If you use a hothouse cucumber, you don’t need to peel it, but you do need to slice the cucumber in half and scoop out the seeds.
- Grate the cucumber using a food processor or a hand grater.
- Wrap the grated cucumber in a clean dish towel, and holding it over the sink, squeeze it to release the moisture.
I like this grate and squeeze method because it’s faster than sweating the cucumber. Sweating a cucumber requires salting it and leaving it to sit for several hours, during which the water is slowly released.
☑️ Mix
Place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix them up.
☑️ Chill
Allow the tzatziki to chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving it. The flavors will mix and meld, so it’s even more delicious than when you made it. Homemade tzatziki will keep well in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Different Ways to Serve It
- Serve it as a dip with veggies and pita wedges
- Use it in gyros or spread it on a burger.
- Spoon it over baked or grilled salmon
- Thin it with some more olive oil and use it as a salad dressing
- Serve it with roasted vegetables like red bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and mushrooms.
More Recipes with Tzatziki Sauce
Tzatziki Sauce
Tzatziki is a quick and easy spread or dip that takes just minutes to make. It’s a good idea to plan ahead so the sauce has time to chill in the fridge so all of the flavors develop. It’s garlicky and flavored with fresh dill and just a hint of mint. Serve it as a dip with pita and veggies for an easy appetizer or spoon it over baked fish or roasted vegetables.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients
- 1/2 English hothouse cucumber (approximately 6 ounces), seeded
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 1/4 of a teaspoon fresh mint (see note)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 teaspoon for drizzling
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
Instructions
- Grate the cucumber using a box grater or food processor. Wrap the grated cucumber in a clean dish towel and squeeze it over the sink to remove the excess moisture.
- Combine the cucumber, garlic, yogurt, dill, mint, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and salt in a bowl. Refridgerate for at least two hours to allow the flavors to develop.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
Nutrition
- Calories: 72
- Sugar: 2.4g
- Sodium: 115.2mg
- Fat: 4.8g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 3.4g
- Fiber: 0.2g
- Protein: 4.6g
- Cholesterol: 6.2mg
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
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Happy cooking,
