Best Tzatziki Recipe (Greek Cucumber Sauce)

What is tzatziki?

Tzatziki (Tsaht-zee-kee) is a Greek sauce found throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East. This yogurt sauce is known as cacik in Turkish cuisine and has similarities to Iranian mast-o-khiar. It's common to serve it as a dip or spread. Tzatziki is usually made with strained goat or sheep's yogurt, cucumber, salt, herbs such as dill and mint, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice or vinegar.

Tzatziki sauce is often served in Greek or Mediterranean restaurants as a side dish or mezze alongside main dishes and adds a refreshing note to the flavor profile of the dishes it accompanies, thanks to its blend of cucumber and yogurt. This sauce is usually served cold.

Is it good for you?

Nutritionally speaking, this yogurt cucumber sauce is a light addition to meals relative to popular condiments like mayonnaise or ranch. Similar to our no-mayo cucumber salad, since it's made with yogurt, tzatziki is also a good source of protein.

The ingredients

This is truly the best Greek tzatziki recipe because it's delicious, easy and simple. It has just a few ingredients:

• Cucumbers: It's best to make this recipe with seedless cucumbers such as English cucumbers or Persian cucumbers. If the cucumber you're using is too seedy, scoop out the seeds using a small spoon. You don't need to peel the cucumbers to make tzatziki at home.
• Yogurt: I love using Greek yogurt because it's thick and has the perfect consistency for this Mediterranean sauce, but we can use regular yogurt or whole milk yogurt too.
• Garlic: I like the flavor of garlic to shine in this recipe so I use a few cloves. If you like it more subtle, you can use less garlic. I suggest you avoid using garlic powder.
• Fresh dill: You can also use dried dill if fresh is not available.
• Olive oil: I love finishing this recipe with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. It gives such a nice flavor.
• Lemon: Just a hint of lemon adds so much brightness to this Greek sauce.

The secret to the best tzatziki

To make tzatziki, you need to grate the cucumbers. As you know, cucumbers have a lot of water in them and they start releasing it once they're grated.

To prevent your tzatziki from becoming too watery, it's best to squeeze grated cucumber and discard the liquid. By squeezing the grated cucumber, you'll make sure that the Greek tzatziki will have a thick and spreadable consistency.

How to make tzatziki

• Grate the cucumbers and squeeze them very well. Discard the liquid and put the cucumber in a bowl.
• To the grated cucumber, add yogurt, minced garlic, fresh dill, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.
• Mix well until all the ingredients are combined.
• Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Serving suggestions

This tzatziki recipe is very simple and you can whip it up in no time. It goes well with with many dishes. Here are some of my serving suggestions:

• As a part of a mezze platter with hummus, dolmas, vegetables and pita chips.
• With grilled meat dishes such as lamb burger, garlic chicken, beef shish kabob, keftedes or kofta kebabs.
• Spread on pita bread to make a gyro or chicken souvlaki wrap.

Frequently asked questions

Notes and tips

• You can add mint in addition to or instead of fresh dill. Herbs make this yogurt and cucumber sauce very tasty.
• Tzatziki sauce is best served fresh and cold. You can store the leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for about 3 days. Stir the sauce well before using it.
• When using fresh garlic, you may find that the taste is too strong. If so, please let it sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving. The longer it sits, the less of a bite the garlic will have.
• This recipe calls for minced garlic cloves. I don't recommend taking any shortcuts such as using garlic powder, mashed garlic or store-bought minced garlic since they lack some of the flavor of freshly minced garlic.