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I am happy to announce that I have perfected my tzatziki sauce recipe! Finally!
I have been making tzatziki sauce for years but it was always just a little too thick…and kind of missing something. This tzatziki sauce you see before you is perfection.
It’s the ideal consistency for dipping pita chips, pita bread, or veggies into while still being not too thick to spread onto sandwiches or dollop onto salads.
Someone bring me a gyro STAT, please!
If only I could get my hands on some gyro meat I would totally make a gyro with tons of this tzatziki sauce on it! The more the better when it comes to a gyro!
Any good tzatziki sauce (OMG that’s a hard word to spell haha), anyways….any good tzatziki sauce starts with grated cucumber.
As in you peel said cucumber and grate it on your box grater. This is so the cucumber infuses the Greek yogurt and kind of melts in your mouth rather than being chunky. We’re not making a salad here!
Then, we drain the shredded cucumber for 15 or so minutes. Salt it and let it hang out in a fine mesh siv over a bowl – detox time!!! You’ll see that you’ll get a lot of cucumber water, that’s a good thing – throw it away! Because we don’t want that cucumber water watering down our tzatziki sauce.
Got it?
From there we add the fat free, plain Greek yogurt, finely chopped red onion, fresh squeezed lemon juice, minced garlic, black pepper, dill, and olive oil! Mix together and DONE!
See? So easy!
The secrets to making tzatziki sauce the perfect flavor and consistency is the red onion, and the olive oil. The red onion adds a hint of onion-y crunch that I didn’t even know I was missing. The olive oil adds a hint of richness and thins out the sauce just enough so that it’s the perfect consistency for sandwiches!
You guys are gonna love it!!!
It’s creamy, tangy, slightly cooling from the cucumber, garlicky, herb-y, fresh…there is just nothing like a good tzatziki sauce! The Greeks know what they’re doing with their food!
And yes, if you haven’t noticed, I am kind of obsessed with using Greek yogurt in sauces lately. My 3 healthy ranch dressing recipes and my creamy horseradish dressing for my loaded steak salad all feature Greek yogurt.
Can’t stop, won’t stop with the creamy and healthy goodness that is Greek yogurt!
What do you do with this tzatziki sauce?
Well, I have a recipe coming Friday that makes use of this lovely tzatziki sauce, but until then you can either use it as an easy dip for veggies or pita chips or pita bread. Or you can spread it on sandwiches, burgers, anything you would like to have a little tangy Greek flavor!
Stay tuned for Friday’s post. You’re not gonna wanna miss how I use this delicious tzatziki sauce.
Happy dipping!
Hey, did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a comment below along with a star rating – it helps others to find my recipes easier. AND it makes me really happy! Thanks!
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Greek Tzatziki Sauce (Traditional Greek Sauce)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: about 2 cups 1x
- Category: dip, sauce, easy, appetizer, side, snack
- Method: chopping
- Cuisine: gluten free, vegetarian, healthy
Description
Easy to make Greek Tzatziki sauce that’s perfect for dipping veggies, pita chips, or spreading on sandwiches, burgers and gyros. Delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 large seedless cucumber (AKA English cucumber)
- salt
- 1 1/2 cups plain fat free Greek yogurt (can use a Greek yogurt with a higher fat content for a richer taste)
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 tablespoons dried dill (or 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- options for serving
- pita chips or bread
- mild tasting veggies, such as cucumbers, celery, or carrots
Instructions
- Grate the cucumber: Peel the cucumber and use a box grater to grate it – it should measure about 3/4 cup of grated cucumber. – you may not need to use the entire cucumber.
- Drain the cucumber: Place the grated cucumber in a fine mesh siv that’s fitted over a bowl, sprinkle it with a good amount of salt and stir. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Once it has sat for 15 minutes it will have released a lot of cucumber water, use a spoon to press out any remaining water from the cucumbers and discard the cucumber water.
- Finish: Add all of the ingredients to a medium mixing bowl, the Greek yogurt, garlic clove, red onion, dill, lemon juice, drained grated cucumber, olive oil and salt and pepper. Stir until everything is well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Serve/store: Serve with pita chips, pita bread, or fresh cut veggies such as cucumber, carrots, and celery – my fave is pita bread or pita chips. Or serve on gyros, sandwiches, burgers, on salads, anywhere you want a little Greek flare. The sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Notes
If you can’t find a seedless cucumber you can use a regular one just let it drain for an extra 5 minutes or so because they have a higher water content than the seedless cucumbers.
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