Homemade Tzatziki Sauce Recipe

Make a batch of delicious homemade Tzatziki Sauce to add that extra boost of flavor to homemade gyros, power bowls, and salads. It also makes a perfect dip for kebabs, Mediterranean meatballs, or vegetables.

 

What is Tzatziki Sauce?

Tzatziki is a yogurt-based sauce that’s flavored with fresh dill and vinegar. It often also includes lemon juice, cucumber, garlic, and other finely minced fresh herbs like mint. Yogurt-based sauces and condiments like Tzatziki are common in Greece and Middle Eastern countries and add a familiar tang to Mediterranean dishes. In Greece, Tzatziki is often served in a bowl along with pita bread, Greek salad, gyro meat, and other vegetables for a delicious and highly flavorful meal.

Whether you spell it Taziki, Tziki, Tzaziki, Tzatsiki, Tatsiki and Tatziki (the correct spelling is Tzatziki), this is one delicious sauce that you’ll want to master and use in so many recipes. Luckily, this Tzatziki sauce recipe is an easy one to add to your repertoire, with no cooking needed and a flavor boost from crisp fresh grated cucumbers, garlic, and fresh dill.

Ingredients for Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

• English cucumber – grate it and squeeze out the excess liquid 
• Plain Greek yogurt – plain non-Greek yogurt can work, too, but we like the thickness of Greek yogurt and we use 2% fat plain Greek yogurt most often
• Lemon juice – use fresh-squeezed from 1 lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh dill – or use 1 teaspoon dried dill
• Garlic cloves
• Fine salt
• Black pepper

How to make Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

1. Start by grating the cucumber and then pressing out the liquid (see notes directly below for how to do that).
2. Then combine the shredded cucumber, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, and seasoning in a mixing bowl. Fold everything together with a rubber spatula.
3. Use the Tzatziki Sauce immediately as a dipper or drizzling sauce, or cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. The sauce can be made up to three days ahead, then stirred before serving. 

Tips for grating cucumber and removing liquid

Wondering how to remove the liquid from grated cucumber? Here’s how:

• Grate the cucumber on a box grater. You can also use a vegetable shredding attachment on your mixer or food processor if you have one available!
• Place the grated cucumber between a double layer of kitchen towels or paper towels, pressing down firmly on the cucumber to absorb any liquid. The water doesn’t need to be completely absorbed, just enough so that the cucumber won’t water down your sauce.

How to store Tzatziki Sauce

You can make this Tzatziki Sauce up to 3 days ahead and store it in a covered container in the refrigerator. All you need to do is re-stir it before serving.

Having extra homemade Tzatziki Sauce on hand is a great way to add a flavor boost to lunches or dinners throughout the week. We’ve linked some of our favorite recipes to serve with this Tzatziki sauce at the bottom of this post!

Can Tzatziki Sauce be Vegan? How to make Dairy-Free Tzatiziki Sauce

If you are looking for a dairy-free Tzatziki Sauce, we have created one of those, too. Whether you need a non-dairy Tzatziki Sauce for dietary allergies, or because you’re following a dairy-free, Whole30, or paleo eating plan, our Whole30 Tzatziki Sauce is likely what you’ll need.

You can find the recipe for our Dairy-free Tzatziki Sauce here, which uses coconut milk and mayonnaise instead of yogurt.

If you also need a 100% plant-based and vegan Tzatziki sauce, we suggest replacing the mayonnaise in that recipe with a vegan mayonnaise OR using plant-based Greek yogurt, such as this one or this one, in the recipe that follows below.

Use Homemade Tzatziki Sauce in these delicious recipes:

Use this Tzatziki Recipe to add that extra flavor boost to so many recipes. You’ll find Tzatziki Sauce appears in many of our recipes here at The Real Food Dietitians because we love the tangy, savory notes it adds, plus it’s so easy to make.

Greek Chicken Kebabs with Tzatziki Sauce

Marinated in Greek flavors then grilled to perfection, these Greek Chicken Kebabs are an easy, flavorful, and healthy dinner! They’re especially great for serving a crowd! Here we use our easy homemade Tzatziki Sauce like a dip for the kebabs. We also like to drizzle even more on top for an authentic Mediterranean flavor.

Feta Spinach Grilled Turkey Burgers

These Feta Spinach Grilled Turkey Burgers aren’t just any ol’ turkey burger! We’re adding delicious flavor boosters, like garlic and feta, to the burger base. Top with fresh cucumber slices, quick pickled onions, and our delicious Tzatziki sauce for a new take on a classic burger night! These are especially great for summer!

Mediterranean Bowl with Salmon

This fully loaded quinoa bowl isn’t another typical boring salad! It consists of lemon-herb marinated salmon, garbanzo bean salad, crisp greens, feta cheese, kalamata olives, in addition to our homemade Tzatziki Sauce. It’s a balanced bowl including quality protein, healthy fats, and plenty of much-needed fiber.

Greek Quinoa Salad with Avocado

We love drizzling our Homemade Tzatziki Recipe over this updated take on Greek Salad. It’s the perfect finishing touch! This colorful and nutritious recipe is packed with artichokes, cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, feta, and fresh spinach. It’s sure to get everyone at your table excited to eat these healthy ingredients combined in such a beautiful and delicious way.

Other recipes that you can serve our Homemade Tzatziki Sauce with

Greek Hummus Dip

Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Sheet Pan Baked Salmon with Vegetables

Pin it Now, Make it Later!

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Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter.