Tzatziki Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the main ingredients in tzatziki? ›

What is tzatziki? Tzatziki is a salted yogurt and cucumber dip that's made of strained yogurt, shredded cucumber, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and herbs. Authentic Greek tzatziki is most often made with sheep or goat yogurt, but my tzatziki recipe calls for regular full-fat Greek yogurt.

Remove Water from Cucumber

The biggest contributor to watery tzatziki is the cucumber, which is why it's important to try to remove as much water out of the cucumber as possible. To release the water from the cucumber, de-seed the cucumber then grate it.

Add coconut yogurt to a large mixing bowl and add strained cucumber, garlic, dill, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil (optional). Stir to combine. Taste and adjust flavor as needed, adding more salt for overall flavor, garlic for zing, lemon for acidity, or dill for herbiness.

Yes, tzatziki is considered a healthier dip than hummus and sour cream. It contains several vitamins, a good amount of protein, and fewer carbohydrates and calories. The fat content of tzatziki is low too, which is not the case with other dips. Thus, you can opt for tzatziki dips over other dips.

Tzatziki sauce should be kept in a sealed container and stored in the refrigerator when you're not using it. As long as it's stored properly, you can expect homemade tzatziki to last about three to four days. This will depend on how fresh the yogurt was when you made the sauce.

Tzatziki is made of strained yogurt (usually from sheep or goat milk) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and dill or mint or parsley.

You can thicken it by placing a piece of cheesecloth over the top of a wide mouthed jar and holding it in place with some rubber bands. Fill the cheesecloth with your sauce, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The excess water will drain out and the sauce will be thicker.

Your main ingredient – the cucumber – is often the culprit. To avoid this, make sure that you choose the right variety: English and Persian cucumbers have very little, or no, bitterness. Also sample a slice before grating and avoid using the ends as this is where the bitter compounds will be most concentrated.

Tzatziki is a creamy cucumber yogurt dip (or sauce) made from simple ingredients including strained yogurt (or Greek yogurt), cucumbers, garlic, and sometimes fresh herbs such as dill or mint.

Tzatziki is good friends with grilled and roasted meats, especially juicy lamb chops. Serve it up with a crunchy fattoush salad – a combination of torn pitta, cooling cucumber, ripe tomatoes, sweet lettuce and refreshing mint – for a bonus hit of fresh, summer flavour.

Is hummus or tzatziki better for you? ›

Which to Pick? If you make your determination based on health concerns, then hummus is clearly the less healthy dip, with high sodium being a particular concern. Health-wise, tzatziki contains only 54 calories per a 45 gram serving; it also comes with only 8 grams of carbohydrates and a negligible amount of sodium.

Mix together cucumber, yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise, and garlic in a serving bowl; season with salt and pepper.

Its blend of yogurt, cucumber, olive oil, garlic, lemon, and herbs delivers key nutrients, which are proposed to support heart health, gut health, and may even lower diabetes risk. If you add tzatziki to your meals, you can boost everyday dishes while savouring the many potential health benefits tzatziki brings.

We make our tzatziki sauce with garlic grown in our raised garden beds, which brings its own health benefits into the mix. Garlic helps with conditions such as high or low blood pressure, high cholesterol, inherited high cholesterol, and coronary heart disease.

Tzatziki will last about four days in the fridge before it starts to go bad. While you can freeze it, it will change a bit in regards to texture and consistency when it comes time to thawing it out.

Greek yogurt is made from cow's milk that is strained to remove the whey, this results in a thicker consistency compared to natural yogurt. It also has a tangier flavour and can often be used as a healthier substitute to mayonnaise, sour cream or crème fraîche.

I grew up eating Greek tzatziki, and I ended up loving and eating hummus (Middle Eastern dip made of chickpeas) and baba ganoush (Middle Eastern dip made of eggplant) too. Tzatziki is usually not vegan due of it consisting of greek yoghurt, I however have made it vegan.

Tzatziki is a real powerhouse in terms of health benefits. Probiotics, which can aid promote gut health, vitamins A and C, calcium, and phosphorus are all included in this classic Greek meal. Together, these nutrients strengthen your immune system and maintain the health of your bones.