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ztatziki sauce served with olive oil
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5 from 1 vote

Tzatziki (Yogurt Cucumber Sauce)

Tzatziki sauce is a creamy Greek yogurt sauce or dip with grated cucumbers, garlic and mint. Vegetarian, gluten free and ready in 15 minutes. This super creamy and rich sauce is a very versatile one and you can use it many ways. Along with serving as dip with crackers, crudites, this sauce is also very good as sandwich spread or for using as mayo replacement in wraps.
Prep Time15 mins
Total Time15 mins
Course: condiment, sauce
Cuisine: greek, Middle Eastern
Keyword: tzatziki
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 45kcal
Author: Harini

Ingredients

  • 1 large cucumber around 1.5 cups grated
  • 1.5 cups fresh plain greek yogurt Use dairy free for vegan variation
  • 2 tablespoons mint leaves minced
  • 3 garlic cloves peeled and minced
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black peppercorns
  • salt to taste
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • toasted sesame seeds optional

Instructions

  • Rinse, peel and grate the cucumber. Place over a strainer and squeeze the excess water with the back of a ladle or just squeeze with your hands.
  • Whisk the yogurt well and set aside.
  • Add rinsed mint leaves and peeled garlic cloves to a food processor and process for a minute. Alternately you can mince the garlic and finely chop the mint leaves.
  • Now combine whisked yogurt, drained cucumber, minced mint and garlic, salt, freshly cracked pepper olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl.
  • Mix gently. Cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes before serving.
  • While serving add more grated cucumbers, toasted sesame seeds and a swirl of olive oil.

Notes

Drain the grated cucumber really well– One pro tip for making lush, thick and creamy tzatziki sauce is to drain the grated cucumber well.
Grated cucumber leaves out a lot of water and if you mix it as such with yogurt, your tzatziki will become very watery. To avoid this we have to drain away the excess from grated cucumber.
After grating the cucumber simply place it over a strainer and squeeze of excess water with the back of a ladle. This is the easiest method to remove excess water from the cucumber.
Use chilled yogurt for best results– though we are going to chill this yogurt and cucumber sauce for an hour before serving, if possible use chilled yogurt to make this tzatziki recipe.
Chilled yogurt yields very creamy and thick sauce, please try it out to know what I mean.
Allow some time for flavors to steep– This is an important tip to get the real taste of this cucumber and yogurt sauce. Once prepared, cover the bowl and refrigerate for an hour before serving.
Refrigerating the sauce also helps in making it thicker.
Notes on yogurt- Even with full fat yogurt, this dip is lighter compared to mayo or any other cream laden dip. However you can make it more light by using low fat yogurt.
To make vegan tzatziki just use your favorite vegan yogurt.
Make ahead and storage instructions- You can make this dip well ahead of time and refrigerate. This taztziki sauce keeps well for 3-4 days in refrigerator. Keep it well covered.
Also note that the flavor of garlic really develops in refrigerator, so if you are not a fan of strong garlic flavor, make the required quantity and finish off the same day.
Uses of tzatziki- Serve as dip with grilled vegetables like bell pepper, corn on cob, roasted cauliflower, carrots and more.
This goes an an excellent dip for snacks or appetizers like pita chips, falafel, crackers.

Nutrition

Serving: 8servings | Calories: 45kcal