Homemade Tzatziki Sauce

Name: Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 3 h 10 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 3 cups plain full-fat Greek yogurt; juice of half a lemon; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1 large English cucumber; 1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped; salt and pepper to taste

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This homemade Tzatziki Sauce recipe is easy to make with just a few ingredients. Cucumbers, garlic, lemon juice, and herbs add the perfect flavor to creamy Greek yogurt for a sauce that is perfect for dipping, topping, or spreading on all your favorite dishes!

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Greek food has my heart, it really is my favorite!

And of all the Greek food I’ve made at home over the years, this recipe for homemade Tzatziki Sauce is the recipe I use the most. If you aren’t familiar with this sauce, it’s a creamy yogurt cucumber sauce that is usually served in gyros.

What is Tzatziki Sauce Made With?

There are only a few simple ingredients in authentic Greek tzaziki and nothing hard to find, you might even already have them in your kitchen!

You’ll need:

plain Greek yogurt
cucumber
garlic
lemon juice
dill
salt and pepper

Don’t fall for Tzatziki sauce recipes made with sour cream, authentic Tzatziki is made with full-fat Greek yogurt! Sour Cream will not have the same final flavor as full-fat Greek yogurt.

Step by step

This is a very easy recipe!

Grate the cucumber.
Use cheesecloth or paper towels to squeeze the excess water from the shredded cucumber. This helps you get the cucumber flavor without ending up with a runny sauce.
Combine the cucumber with garlic and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until combined.
Stir in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper to taste.

This dip is best if it can sit in the refrigerator a few hours before serving. Try to refrigerate at least 3 hours to let the flavors combine.

Tips for Making Tzatziki

Do not skip draining the cucumbers of excess water or you will have a watery tzatziki, that is a very important step!
Depending on how much you love dill (I’m not the biggest fan) you can reduce the amount and/or add it just before serving to temper the flavor a bit.
Do not use regular yogurt, Greek yogurt is thicker so it will not provide the same consistency.
Feel free to use regular cucumbers if you cannot find English cucumbers however, this will not dramatically affect the final taste.

FAQs

Can you freeze tzatziki sauce?

It is possible to freeze this sauce but I don’t recommend it if there is an option not to. The texture of the cucumber bits will change when frozen and thawed. Make it fresh for the best results.

How long does it last?

This dip will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days but there will be liquid on the top you can either drain off or stir into the dip before serving.

Do I have to peel the cucumber?

This is a personal preference, you can leave the peel on or remove it before pulsing in the food processor. I do recommend removing any larger seeds if your cucumber has them.

Serving suggestions

For some reason the combination of yogurt and cucumbers makes almost everything taste better! I like Greek Tzatziki for putting on gyro meat in pita bread at home.

It is also wonderful for other uses like dipping veggies or pita chips, topping burgers, almost anything is better with Tzatziki on it! I even duip fries in it! Try serving it with kabobs or add a dollop to your Baked Chicken to add flavor.

If you like this recipe, you’ll like these other Greek-inspired recipes:

If you’ve tried this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!