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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!
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
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.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups greek yogurt or vegan cream cheese or yogurt
- ¼ cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves of grated garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ 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
Start Cooking- 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!
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thank you
When you say 1 cucumber – do mean a whole english cucumber? Can you suggest length ot weight? Thank you!
Yes, I would aim to get around 2/3-1 cup of grated and squeezed cucumber.
awesome and easy. making lavash and believe the tzatziki will be an awesome healthy snack
yay! thank you so much, Brian!
When you say combine do you mean blitz in a blender?
Hi hun! just in a bowl!
Greek restaurant quality tzatziki here! We added a little extra garlic as a preference but definitely did not need it.
Love that!!! Thank you Chris!!
Made this to go with her chicken gyros abs shawarma for a Christmas party. So good and fresh. Oriole were asking for the recipe. Today with my leftover gyro chicken meat I made chicken salads .. mixed some of this tzatziki with homemade ranch and it was sooooo good. Maria is my go to for Greek recipes. I’ve never tried one yet that hasn’t been just amazing. And I’ve tried a lot of them!
You are so sweet!! Thank you!!!!!
This Tzatziki sauce is one of the best things I have ever made, thank you for the recipe! Perfect for a party or a snack throughout the week.
Thank you so much sweet Sarah!
another brilliant recipe by Maria, served this with the chicken gyros cooked in my new oven rotisserie pan. perfect
thank you so much, simon!!!
We have enjoyed everything I’ve made from your recipes.
Have fun going back home and cooking with grandma. I would like to learn to make tiropita. I believe that’s the correct name. We had this when we went on vacation in FL visiting a Greek town south of St Petersburg. It was DEVINE!
YES! You absolutely should try my recipe, it’s fantastic! Thank you so much for the love, hun!
This is sooooo yummy and very refreshing. I served it alongside her hummus (which is phenomenal) and it was a hit! I did mix Greek yogurt and sour cream only because I thought I had more yogurt than I did and it was delish. Next time I’ll make it exactly as she suggests. Every recipe I’ve tried of hers is stellar! If you haven’t already, check out her Instagram. But be warned.. it will make you drool and immediately sit down to make a grocery list lol.
you are the sweetest, thank you so much!