Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

My Homemade Tzatziki Sauce is insanely simple and delicious! Fresh cucumber, Greek yogurt, fresh dill & mint, with a touch of fresh lemon juice makes this a perfect sauce for your Greek and Mediterranean food. Use this on wraps, salads, pita chips, or even fresh veggies.

What Is Tzatziki Sauce?

Tzatziki Sauce is a yogurt based sauce that is used in Mediterranean cuisine. It’s often used with Gyros, Lamb Kabobs, and many other foods. In addition to the yogurt, it has fresh cucumbers, lemon juice, and herbs like dill, mint, parsley, and others. It also uses olive oil, garlic, and salt.

Traditionally, Tzatziki Sauce uses strained yogurt that has been put in cheese cloth to remove a lot of the excess liquid. However, many use Greek yogurt because of it’s thick consistency, ot a combination of Greek yogurt and sour cream.

My Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

My Homemade Tzatziki Sauce is the first thing I taught my daughter how to make when she was 5 -years-old. She absolutely loves this! I learned to make this when I was in my early 20’s. Where I lived in North Jersey, there was no shortage of mall food court Greek restaurants with that spinning vertical rotisserie roasting that awesome Gyro meat. There were also tons of Greek owned diners and places down the shore to get Greek food with tzatziki sauce.

What makes mine different? For starters, most recipes don’t have mint. However, some of those aforementioned Greek places made theirs with mint.

Next, many people use a cheese grater to grate the cucumber for this sauce. However, that leaves long pieces of cucumber. I prefer to use my mini processor to blend it down into course bits that will spread evenly throughout the sauce.

What Ingredients Are in Homemade Tzatziki Sauce?

• Greek Yogurt
• Cucumber
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Fresh Mint
• Fresh Dill
• Lemon juice

Ingredient Notes

Greek Yogurt – If you find the taste of Greek yogurt too strong or just want a change of pace, substitute ½ Cup of Plain Yogurt and ½ Cup Sour Cream.

Fresh Mint and Dill – I always use fresh mint. Fresh dill is difficult to store, so I often use dried dill weed. But I much prefer the fresh. Try to get both fresh mint and fresh dill if you can.

How to Prepare the Tzatziki Sauce

1. After peeling the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with a spoon. Slice it and add to a small processor. Pulse until it is small bits.
2. Pour the cucumber onto paper towels or cheese cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
3. Add all ingredients to a blender or small processor and blend till smooth.
4. Serve immediately or, for best results, refrigerate for an hour.

What Can I Serve with This?

Here are just a few of the items you can serve this with:

• Gyros
• Lamb Kabobs – Kofta
• Pita wedges or chips
• Chopped Vegetables

Can This Homemade Tzatziki Sauce Be Frozen?

Yes, you can freeze Tzatziki Sauce. It won’t have the same consistency. Once it’s thawed, put it in a blender or mini processor to thicken it up. If it’s still too loose, add about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and blend about 10-15 seconds more.

Pro Recommendations

Here is my mini food processor of choice. It’s easy to use and affordable. It’s not the one I currently have, but I like this little Cuisinart one better. Check it out! They are not a sponsor, but I absolutely love this mini processor!

Other Amazing Recipes That You’ll Love!

Simple Chicken Gyro and Souvlaki

Mediterranean Fish

Spanakopita – Greek Spinach Pies

Greek Salad with Chicken and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Avocado Cucumber Mediterranean Salad

Print

Tzatziki Sauce

Cuisine Mediterranean

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 1 Cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup Greek Yogurt see Variation/Substitution
• 1/2 cup Cucumber
• 1 clove Garlic, smashed
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Mint
• 2 teaspoons Dill (or 1 ½ tsp dried)
• 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. After peeling the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with a spoon. Slice it and add to a small processor. Pulse until it is small bits.

2. Pour the cucumber onto paper towels or cheese cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

3. Add all ingredients to a blender or small processor and blend till smooth.

4. Serve immediately or, for best results, refrigerate for an hour.

Recipe Notes

Variation/Substitution: If you find the taste of Greek yogurt too strong or just want a change of pace, substitute ½ Cup of Plain Yogurt and ½ Cup Sour Cream.