Light and fresh, easy tzatziki sauce is a creamy yogurt cucumber dip packed with fresh cucumbers, garlic, dill, lemon juice and olive oil. It's a super simple and quick dip or sauce that can be served with all your favourite Mediterranean dishes.
What is Tzatziki Sauce?
Tzatziki sauce is the essential part of any Greek dish. Pour it over your souvlaki chicken and Greek potatoes, dip your pita bread in it, or spread it onto a sandwich, pita wrap, or Greek gyro. I also use it for dipping raw veggies or as a salad dressing. It's so delicious!
Tzatziki is made with a few simple ingredients:
- plain Greek yogurt
- cucumber - I like to keep the skin on for the most authentic texture. You can peel the skin, based on your personal preference.
- garlic - fresh garlic is best. I would not skip this. If you are out, you can substitute with garlic powder, but the flavour will not be as intense.
- extra virgin olive oil
- lemon juice - freshly squeezed lemon juice gives the best flavour. You can substitute with store-bought lemon juice if that's all you have on hand.
- dill - fresh dill is best. You can substitute for dried dill, if that is all you have on hand. For dried herbs, I would add half the amount, then taste the dip, and add more to taste, as needed.
- salt and pepper
How to Make the Best Authentic Tzatziki Sauce
- Prep your ingredients. Grate the cucumber and drain through a cheesecloth, fine mesh sieve or using your hands.
- Combine ingredients. Transfer drained cucumber to a medium bowl. Add the yogurt, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Refrigerate. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving to let the flavours infuse into the yogurt.
- Serve. Garnish with some olives, a sprig of fresh dill, and a swirl of olive oil.
Tips for Making Tzatziki Sauce
- Chill the tzatziki. Tzatziki sauce tastes best when chilled for at least one hour, up to overnight. This lets the flavours of the garlic and dill really infuse to the yogurt. You could skip this step, but you will immediately notice the difference once chilled.
- How to serve. Pour it over souvlaki chicken and Greek potatoes, dip pita bread in it, spread it onto a sandwich, pita wrap, or Greek gyro, or use it for dipping raw veggies into.
- How to store tzatziki. Store this dip for up to one week in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It would not recommend storing it in the freezer.
More Greek-Inspired Recipes
- Easy Greek Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki
- The Perfect Greek Salad
- Quick and Easy Pita Bread
- Easy Greek Chicken Souvlaki Skewers
- Souvlaki Beef Shish Kebabs
- Greek Lamb Souvlaki Skewers
- Juicy Baked Chicken Breast with Greek Souvlaki Marinade
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Recipe
Easy Tzatziki Sauce (Cucumber Yogurt Dip)
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Light and fresh, easy tzatziki sauce is a creamy yogurt cucumber dip packed with fresh cucumbers, garlic, dill, lemon juice and olive oil. So easy to make.
Ingredients
- ½ large cucumber, unpeeled
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
- ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (juice of ¼ lemon)
- 1 + ½ tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- pinch of ground black pepper
- kalamata olives (for garnish)
Instructions
- Grate the cucumber and drain through a cheesecloth, fine mesh sieve or using your hands.
- Transfer drained cucumber to a medium bowl. Add the yogurt, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving to let the flavours infuse into the yogurt.
- Garnish with some olives, a sprig of fresh dill and a swirl of olive oil.
Notes
Chill the tzatziki. Tzatziki sauce tastes best when chilled for at least one hour, up to overnight. This lets the flavours of the garlic and dill really infuse to the yogurt. You could skip this step, but you will immediately notice the difference once chilled.
How to serve. Pour it over souvlaki chicken and Greek potatoes, dip pita bread in it, spread it onto a sandwich, pita wrap, or Greek gyro, or use it for dipping raw veggies into.
How to store tzatziki. Store this dip for up to one week in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It would not recommend storing it in the freezer.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes (+1 hour chill time)
- Category: Dip
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: Greek
This post was first published in May 2017. It has been completely updated in June 2020 with new photos, written content including helpful tips.
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Sandy M says
Absolutely delicious. Had this at a friends house and she shared the recipe. I just made it last night with your baked greek chicken and it was just as easy as my friend said.
Chelsea says
Why I haven't made my own tzatziki sauce before causes me such great pain! This was such a super simple recipe and SO delicious!!! This will become our new tzatziki sauce from here on out.
Sue says
Hi ... I'm a huge fan of this recipe, thank you!!! And your Greek Salad recipe ... both are amazing! One small note, when printing from the Print button, for some reason it prints over 4 pages - with 2 pages showing 2 lines only. Cheers.
Sam | Ahead of Thyme says
Thank you so much, Sue! I am happy that you are liking the recipes. And thank you for letting me know about the print issue. I will look into it. Thanks!
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
It does look like the perfect tzatziki! We love Greek food as well, and it is so nice when you can reproduce it at home. With all the fresh dill coming up now, we'll make sure to make a batch! Thank you!
Elaine @ Dishes Delish says
I'm obsessed with Tzatziki sauce. Mmmm. I could put it on just about anything! Great recipe!