Greek Recipes
Greek Tzatziki Sauce
Prep
10 minutes
Yield
1 Large Jar or Container, 8 servings
This easy Greek Tzatziki Sauce can be made either vegan or vegetarian, and is perfect to eat with pita, on sandwiches, or however you like your tzatziki!
This easy Greek Tzatziki Sauce is great to have in your back pocket. Whether you are making tzatziki to eat on your vegan gyros, with pita, on chicken souvlaki if you’re not plant-based, or even on sandwiches, this recipe is my go-to for whipping up this delicious dip.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Greek Tzatziki Sauce
- Versatile: Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, or none of the above, you can make this recipe to fit your dietary needs
- Quick: This tzatziki recipe can be made in 10 minutes or less, super quick & super delicious!
- Use it on Anything: You can use this tzatziki on anything. Use it as a dip, spread it on a sandwich, with protein like my vegan gyros, or whatever your heart desires
🍲 Ingredients
Olive Oil: Make sure you choose a good quality olive oil. Look for “extra virgin” on the label and avoid anything in a clear bottle since olive oil doesn’t like light!
Yogurt: You can use yogurt, vegan yogurt, or cream cheese here. Whatever you prefer. The consistency will slightly change based on what you choose but any option is delicious.
Dill: I love fresh dill in this recipe as fresh herbs just add a better flavor in my opinion, but this recipe will still be delicious with dry dill if you don’t have fresh on hand. Use one teaspoon of dried dill for every one tablespoon of fresh.
👩🍳 How to Make Greek Tzatziki Sauce
🗒 Tips and Tricks
- How to squeeze a cucumber: There are a few ways you can do this. Some people like to sprinkle salt on them and leave them in a strainer to allow for the water to drain. However, when you don’t have time for that, once you grate the cucumbers, squeeze out the moisture with your hands. Voila!
- Thick yogurt: Full-fat Greek yogurt is best. This is the foundation of a creamy tzatziki. Look for plain, full-fat Greek yogurt, ideally one that is naturally strained and doesn’t contain thickeners. The thicker the yogurt, the better. If you don’t have full-fat yogurt you can strain it yourself using a colander or fine-mesh sieve with cheesecloth.
- Fresh is key: Always use fresh garlic for the best flavor.
- Acid: Acid adds brightness to your creamy dip. I used lemon juice but you can also use red wine vinegar.
- Quality olive oil: Make sure you are using a high quality olive oil for your Tzatziki as it makes such a difference. Check out my guide to make sure you’re picking the best kind.
🗒 Substitutions
- Greek Yogurt: You can use a vegan yogurt or cream cheese substitute.
- Olive Oil: Substitute olive oil for avocado oil if you prefer it.
- Dill: To me the FRESH dill is a must in Tzatziki but you can also add in mint to your recipe as well.
- Lemon Juice: The acid in the recipe helps with brightness. If you don’t have fresh lemon juice you can use red wine vinegar instead.
🗒 Best served with
- Use this as a topper with plant-based jackfruit gyros
- If you aren’t plant-based this can be great on chicken souvlaki as well
- Make a spinach pie and use it as a dipper
- Create a delicious Greek-inspired charcuterie board
- Make this salad and use the tzatziki as a side with warm pita
👝 How to Store Leftovers
This sauce will last up to one week in the fridge in a properly sealed container or mason jar. I love making a big batch up and storing it in the fridge for an easy dip or sauce.
🤔 Common Questions
Also known as tarator or cacik, tzatziki is a dip found in cuisines of Southeast Europe and the Middle East. It’s made with salted, strained yogurt or diluted yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, and olive oil. You sometimes use vinegar or lemon juice, and herbs too. Everyone has their own way they like to make it!
Tzatziki is considered a healthier dip because it’s made with whole, healthy ingredients.
The cucumber is usually the problem here. If you didn’t sufficiently squeeze enough water out of the cucumber your sauce will be a bit more watery. A solution to this is after you grate your cucumber and try and squeeze as much moisture out, you can add salt to it and let it sit for 10-20 minutes, then squeeze out the moisture again.
If you’re using very thick, high-fat Greek yogurt then you should be good-to-go. If you’re using anything else, you may want to strain your yogurt first for that thicker and creamier tzatziki sauce.
English cucumber or mini Persian cucumbers are best for making your own homemade tzatziki sauce.
Fresh is best but if you have to use dried just remember you use about 1/3 of dried herbs to the amount of fresh herbs it calls for in the recipe.
Greek Tzatziki Sauce
Your Greek mommy that is. 😍 Step into my kitchen to learn how to make yummy Greek food. 🍽️💃
Ingredients
- 2 cups greek yogurt or vegan cream cheese or yogurt
- 1/4 cup fresh dill roughly chopped
- 3 cloves of grated garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (about 1 small lemon)
- 1 cucumber, peeled, grated and squeezed to remove any excess liquid
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Combine every ingredient in a large container and mix to combine.
- Store in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Enjoy with literally anything!
mediterranean flavours are seriously the best
genius recipe
this is what dreams are made of
this recipe was given two thumbs up by my very Greek coworker! She said its defintely authentic!!
your recipe has totally converted me from buying the tzaziki at costco. now I make it myself instead!
greek food is seriously the best food
the lemon juice really makes this dip so bright and tasty. i’ve never included an acid component in my tzatziki before finding your recipe… I had no idea what I was missing! consider me converted!!!
crackers dunked in tzaziki is my go-to snack while im studying
thanks for the conversion for dried dill instead of fresh! it was tasty even with the dried herbs but i’ll definitely make a trip to the store next time to buy fresh!
Best tzatziki EVER. you’ll never need to use another recipe again!
I completely agree!! Thanks for your love, Nikki!