Easy Tzatziki Sauce
By Suzy Karadsheh
Category
Appetizer & Mezze
Cuisine
Greek
Servings
2 cups
Prep Time
10 minutes
Total Time
10 Minutes
Creamy Greek Tzatziki Sauce recipe with cucumber, yogurt, and garlic. Add a tablespoon or two of fresh dill or mint, if you like. Do not skip draining the cucumbers or your yogurt dip will be too watery. And for best texture, cover and refrigerate anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours before serving. This versatile cucumber yogurt sauce can be used in many ways, be sure to read my post for all the ideas!
Ingredients
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3/4 English cucumber, partially peeled (striped)
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1 tsp kosher salt, divided
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4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled, finely grated or minced (you start with 1 to 2 garlic cloves if you don't want it to be too strong)
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1 tsp white vinegar
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1 tbsp Early Harvest Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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2 cups plain Greek yogurt
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Handful of chopped fresh dill or mint (optional)
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1/4 tsp ground white pepper
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Warm pita bread for serving
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Sliced vegetables for serving
Directions
Use a box grater to manually grate the cucumbers or you can use a small food processor to finely chop the cucumbers as I do in this recipe. Toss the grated cucumbers with 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Spoon the grated cucumber into a cheese cloth or a double thickness napkin and squeeze dry. (There will be a lot of liquid).
In one large mixing bowl, place the garlic with remaining 1/2 tsp salt, white vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Mix to combine.
Add the grated cucumber to the bowl with the garlic mixture. Stir in the yogurt, and a pinch of white or black pepper, and the fresh herbs (if using. I did not use fresh herbs in the video). Stir to combine well.
Cover and refrigerate for a bit (anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours before serving). This will help thicken the sauce and give it the best texture, while allowing the flavors to meld.
When ready to serve, stir the tzatziki sauce to refresh and transfer to serving bowl, drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil, if you like. Serve with your favorite veggies, pita chips or wedges (be sure to read the post for more ideas on how to use this sauce)!
Recipe Note
- This recipe makes a generous 2 cups of sauce (or up to 32 tablespoons). The serving size is based on 1 tablespoon.
- This recipe is adapted from Yogurt Culture. It is my quick version, and it’s been cut down to suit a smaller family.T
- his is very garlicky dip, if you prefer, start with a smaller amount of garlic and incorporate more as needed.
- To Store: It’s best to store tzatziki in the fridge in a tightly-covered glass container. Use within 4 days.
Nutrition
Calories 16, Fat 0.7 grams, Monounsaturated Fat 300 milligrams, Potassium 11.9 milligrams, Vitamin A 0.4 milligrams, Iron 0.1 milligrams, Carbs 1 grams, Saturated Fat 0.2 grams, Cholesterol 0.8 milligrams, Fiber 0.1 grams, Vitamin C 0.3 milligrams, Protein 1.5 grams, Polyunsaturated Fat 100 milligrams, Sodium 78.7 milligrams, Sugar 0.7 grams, Calcium 18.4 milligrams