Homemade Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
Published August 18, 2021. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This creamy and tangy homemade tzatziki sauce recipe is the perfect condiment for all of your tasty Greek recipes.
We are bigtime sauce fans in our house as it so often has the opportunity to greatly enhance the flavor of a dish. Up your sauce recipe game by trying out my BBQ sauce, tahini sauce, or beurre blanc.
Tzatziki
Tzatziki, pronounced tuh-zee-kee, is a classic Greek yogurt-based condiment served up with grilled proteins or vegetables, especially souvlaki. It’s very common to serve it up in gyro sandwiches as well. The word tzatziki is actually Turkish deriving from the word cacik and the recipe has been slightly altered over time.
Here are the basic ingredients you will find in the present era:
- Yogurt – Full fat strained Greek yogurt is used.
- Cucumbers – Peeled, shredded, salted, and drained cucumbers for this recipe.
- Garlic – Finely minced garlic clove is to be used, not powder.
- Olive Oil – A good extra virgin olive oil is preferred.
- Lemon – In addition to lemon juice, you can also add red wine vinegar.
- Herbs – It is common to use fresh dill or mint, or a combination of both.
How to Make Tzatziki Sauce from Scratch
Use these easy-to-follow instructions for making this delicious tzatziki sauce from scratch:
Peeled, seed, and shred a cucumber.
Place the shredded cucumbers into a colander in a bowl and salt to help drain off some of the moisture, which takes about 10 minutes.
Squeeze the cucumber shreds with your hands getting off as much excess water as possible and add it to the bowl with the other ingredients.
Mix until completely with yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, dill, salt, and pepper to a medium-size mixing bowl
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 1 day ahead of time.
How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This will not freeze well.
chef notes + tips
- If you are using a non-Greek yogurt, make sure to strain it to get as much moisture out as possible.
- You can also add finely chopped parsley to the sauce to help add flavor and color to the tzatziki.
- It is preferable to use fresh herbs over dry in this recipe.
More Sauce Recipes
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Homemade Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ peeled, seeded, and shredded cucumber
- 1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 finely minced garlic clove
- juice of ½ lemon
- 1 ½ teaspoons finely minced fresh dill
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the cucumber shreds in a colander in a bowl and season with about a ½ teaspoon of salt and mix it until combined.
- Let the moisture from the cumbers drain into the bowl for about 10 minutes.
- Squeeze the cucumber shreds to get off as much extra moisture as possible and then add it to a separate medium-size bowl along with the remaining recipe ingredients.
- Whisk until it is well combined, cover, and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
The best!
appreciate you trying it
i’m making the greek chicken skewers tonight for dinner. The chicken is marinating. This is going to be my fault because I did not read the beginning of the directions. I just went down to the recipe so I did not drain the cucumber or squeeze it out. I had all the fresh herbs in my garden and I’m just hoping it’s going turn out OK.
all in all I’m looking forward to dinner tonight. Complete with the pita bread. And if the sauce is just OK, and not amazing that is totally my fault. Bon appétit.
This tzatziki recipe is deliciously spot on. Having grown up in Detroit, where Greek Town is chock full of authentic Greek restaurants, I have high expectations. This recipe is so flavorful and delicious! It pairs well with the chicken souvlaki and pita bread recipes also! I make this often enough that I am using the other half of the cucumber to make a second batch a few days after!
I made chicken shawarma and served it on pita bread with this sauce. My husband loved it!!! But I did add a tsp of white vinegar and alot more garlic (like 4 cloves grated). Good stuff!
Thank you so much Billy
I truly enjoy your wonderful recipes. It has helped me so much to understand how we can make food taste jussi amazing. I truly enjoy your way of teaching us all to learn from.
Chef Billy,
I appreciate your site and the amazing way you teach and encourage us, your commis, to cook delicious food in new and traditional ways. I’m wondering if you would have any tips for me when it comes to finding great EV olive oil. What should I look for if I want to find the tastiest kinds. Thanks!
Tim
Thank you so much 💓.
Love Chef Billy Parisi show! Amazing recipes and adore his teaching style! Thank You! 💕