Easy Tzatziki Sauce – Greek Yogurt Dip Recipe

Tzatziki is a Greek-style fresh cucumber and garlic yogurt sauce, which is ideal as a dipping sauce, as well as a regular sauce on top of and on the side of various foods. The sauce contains only the most classic ingredients and is super easy to whip up in ~5 minutes for any situation.

Ingredients for Tzatziki Yogurt Sauce

• Greek yogurt – Any Greek yogurt can be used. Personally, I prefer to go with a low-fat, higher-protein option. However, if calories are not a problem, you can also choose an option with a higher fat content, which leaves a slightly creamier end result. Also, any plant-based alternative can be used instead of Greek yogurt.
• Cucumber – I recommend choosing locally grown cucumbers, which generally have a lot more flavor than imported cucumbers.
• Garlic – I definitely recommend using fresh garlic, but in case of trouble, dried garlic will also do the trick.
• Dill – the classic recipe usually uses fresh dill, but if you don’t like dill for some reason, you can replace it with fresh parsley and/or mint. In case of need, dried dill can be used instead of fresh dill.
• Lemon – we use a bit of squeezed lemon juice in the sauce to give it a little sourness and freshness.
• Olive oil – the best is extra virgin olive oil, which gives the sauce a nice extra flavor, makes the sauce richer and creamier, and helps it preserve better. In this recipe, we have used quite a low quantity of oil, which you can definitely add more if you wish.
• Salt – although you only need salt to season the sauce, you can also add pepper if you wish.

Optional:

White wine vinegar – most Greek dishes use a variety of vinegars, and although it is optional in tzatziki, I definitely recommend trying to add a little white wine vinegar to it for extra flavor.

How to Make The Best Tzatziki Sauce?

1. Grate the cucumber and squeeze out the juice from the grated cucumber – You can also peel the cucumber before grating if you wish, but you don’t have to. Grate the cucumber and squeeze out the juice from the grated cucumber through a clean cheesecloth, kitchen towel, etc. We squeeze out the juice so that the sauce wouldn’t remain too watery.
2. Mix the sauce – Mix together Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, chopped fresh dill, lemon juice, pressed or chopped fresh garlic, olive oil and season with salt. Mix the sauce evenly. Initially, add a little less lemon juice rather than more, so that it does not dominate the taste of the sauce too much. Be sure to taste the sauce and add more salt or other ingredients if needed/desired.
3. Let the flavors infuse in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes, preferably 1 hour, and serve for example with chopped fresh vegetables and pan-browned pita or other crispy bread.

Ingredients (2 servings)

200 ml / 0.9 cup of Greek yogurt
Half of a long cucumber (~150g / 5 oz)
1 tbsp fresh dill
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp of olive oil
0.5 tsp of salt

Optional:

• 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar

Nutritional Value of Tzatziki Sauce (1 Serving)

128 calories / 10.5 g protein / 5 g carbohydrates / 7 g fat / 0.5 g fiber / 4 g sugars