Learn how to make tzatziki sauce in 10 minutes or less! This authentic tzatziki recipe, made with cucumber, yogurt, and garlic, comes straight from the Greek island of Paros, and a few tips make all the difference.
Tzatziki Recipe That Will Make Yiayia Smile!
Of all the Greek recipes on this site, including Greek salad and the ever-so-comforting moussaka, tzatziki sauce is the one I go to most often.
A few years ago, I came across a real-deal, authentic tzatziki sauce recipe from the Greek island of Paros where Stella Leonetti served it regularly in her restaurant called Rafeletti. My friend Cheryl Sternman Rule featured it in her book Yogurt Culture, and I stayed pretty close to the original recipe, except I’ve pared it down for a smaller crowd.
Tzatziki is easy to make and incredibly versatile. I serve it as a snack with pita chips and fresh veggies or use it as a sauce to spoon over gyros, kebabs, or to jazz up dinner bowls! Really, it goes with almost anything. If you have not tried this creamy Greek yogurt sauce before, you are in for a treat!
What is Tzatziki?
Tzatziki is a creamy cucumber yogurt sauce made from simple ingredients, including strained yogurt (or Greek yogurt), cucumbers, olive oil, garlic, and sometimes fresh herbs such as dill or mint. Traditionally, it is made from strained sheep or goat’s milk yogurt, but a full-fat Greek yogurt works just fine.
This recipe takes about 10 minutes or less to make, and it starts with grated cucumbers, which you need to drain very well, and mix with the yogurt, garlic, and herbs, if using. Tzatziki tastes slightly tangy, garlicky, and cool due to the use of cucumber and fresh herbs.
Once you learn how to make it, you’ll be using it in all sorts of ways to elevate your meals or to simply serve as part of a mezze spread!
Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients
- English cucumber: I like to use English cucumbers here because they are seedless and tend to be sweeter, plus the skin is thin, so you don’t have to fully peel them. If you end up using regular cucumbers with the waxy skin, be sure to peel them completely, and you’ll want to scoop out and discard the large seeds, which would make the dip runny.
- Kosher salt enhances the flavors of the other ingredients to make them pop.
- Garlic: I like a garlicky dip. So I use 4 to 5 minced garlic cloves. If you want a milder-tasting cucumber yogurt sauce, start with 1 or 2 minced garlic cloves.
- Distilled white vinegar: You only need about 1 teaspoon here. It brightens the dip and adds a slight sharpness to cut through the creamy flavor.
- Extra virgin olive oil adds a rich savory note.
- Plain Greek Yogurt: This is the foundation of tzatziki. Use 2 cups plain full-fat or reduced-fat Greek yogurt. Do not use regular plain yogurt as the dip will be too runny. The yogurt you need here must be strained yogurt. Need to avoid dairy? Try this Vegan Tzatziki recipe, which is made with cashews.
- Ground white or black pepper (optional)
- Chopped fresh dill or mint (optional)
How to Make Tzatziki
Here’s the step-by-step tutorial for how to make this tzatziki recipe.
- Grate the cucumbers. Grate the cucumbers using a box grater or a food processor (my favorite way) for a shortcut. Add the cucumbers with a pinch of kosher salt to the food processor and run the processor until the cucumbers are finely grated.
- Drain the grated cucumbers (VERY IMPORTANT). Once grated, transfer the cucumbers to a clean cheesecloth or a flour sack towel, and squeeze out all the liquid.
- Mix the sauce. In a large bowl, combine the grated or minced garlic with the white vinegar and a little olive oil and mix. Add the drained cucumber mixture to a large bowl, Greek yogurt, kosher salt, a pinch of white or black pepper, and chopped dill or mint (if using). Stir to combine.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 2 hours before serving or serve immediately, if you can’t wait! Enjoy it with fresh veggies and pita or pita chips! Drizzle a little olive oil on top.
What to Serve With Tzatziki
Creamy cucumber tzatziki is one of the most versatile dips you can make! At the very least, serve it with some carrots, bell peppers, and other fresh veggies of your choice, but you can use it in many more ways.
In Greece, it’s commonly served with gyros, pork souvlaki, and chicken souvlaki. But it’s a wonderful and adaptable sauce for almost any dish.
Try it on pan-seared salmon, lamb rack, all sorts of kebabs, including vegetable skewers, or even to top your baked potato! I love adding it to dinner bowls with keftedes (meatballs) and a salad! I even use it to drizzle onto Greek Meatloaf wrapped in Grape Leaves! It also works as a sandwich spread. It’s great to pair with spicy recipes where you want a cooling counterpoint.
Hungry for more? Check out my Greek Recipes Collection.
How to Store Leftover Tzatziki
It’s best to store tzatziki in the fridge in a tightly covered glass container. Use it within 2 to 4 days.
More Greek Recipes to Love
Ingredients
- 3/4 English cucumber, partially peeled (striped)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled, finely grated or minced (you start with 1 to 2 garlic cloves if you don't want it to be too strong)
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Early Harvest Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
- Handful of chopped fresh dill or mint (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- Warm pita bread for serving
- Sliced vegetables for serving
Instructions
- Prepare the cucumbers. Manually grate the cucumbers with a box grater or use a small food processor to finely grate the cucumbers as I do in this recipe. Toss the grated cucumbers with 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Spoon the grated cucumber into a cheesecloth or a double thickness napkin and squeeze dry. There will be a lot of liquid.
- Combine the garlic mixture. In one large mixing bowl, place the garlic with the remaining 1/2 tsp salt, white vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Mix to combine.
- Add the cucumber. Add the grated cucumber, yogurt, and a pinch of white or black pepper to the bowl with the garlic mixture, along with the fresh herbs, if using. Stir to combine. (I did not use fresh herbs in the video.)
- Refrigerate. Cover and refrigerate for a bit (anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours before serving). This will help thicken the sauce and give it the best texture, while allowing the flavors to meld.
- Serve. When ready to serve, stir the tzatziki sauce to refresh and transfer to a serving bowl, drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil, if you like. Serve with your favorite veggies, pita chips, or wedges.
Video
Notes
- This recipe makes a generous 2 cups of sauce (or up to 32 tablespoons). The serving size is based on 1 tablespoon.
- This recipe is adapted from Yogurt Culture. It is my quick version, and it’s been cut down to suit a smaller family.
- This is a very garlicky dip; if you prefer, start with a smaller amount of garlic and incorporate more as needed.
- To Store: It’s best to store tzatziki in the fridge in a tightly covered glass container. Use within 4 days.
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including the olive oil and spices used in this recipe.
Nutrition
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*This post first appeared on The Mediterranean Dish in 2016 and has been updated with new information and media for readers’ benefit.
..didn’t have the yogurt and substituted sour cream with all the other ingredients it was very good 👍..
Hi so the stuff that I get in Mediterranean restaurants is very watery. How would I send this down to make it with that texture?
Hi, Jeff. Not sure I understand the question. You’re looking for ways to make tzatziki more watery?
Jeff, simply add back some of the cucumber juice or don’t drain them as well. Then the sauce will be more watery without losing any of the delicious flavor.
This is the best recipe! I used lemon juice instead of vinegar and it was spot on.
Absolutely delicious and easy to make❤️❤️
I had purchased a whole gyro meal package and the tzatziki was horrible. Your tzatziki recipe rescued the entire meal! I cut it in 1/2 as a let’s-see-how-this-goes-first and now I’m just sorry I did. The only thing I did differently was to put my garlic through my garlic press – oh, and I used plenty of garlic. Delicious!
I have made so many of your recipes and started to feel guilty about it. So I recently bought your book!!!
Aww! you are so sweet, Ann Marie! Thank you!
the calories for this recipe are way off. 1 tablespoon of olive oil on its own has over 100 kcal but you list the total calories as 16.3 kcal which i find very misleading.
Hi, Maanik. I just went back an double checked, and the nutritional info listed here is correct based on the calculation program we use. As stated in the recipe notes, the serving size is here is 1 tablespoon, so the nutritional values are based on that.
Just like in a Greek restaurant, but so fresh. I used 4 garlic cloves and like garlic so I was very pleased. But for a crowd, I would it it to 2-3 cloves. I bought dill, but did not put it in. It was too good without it. Dill would turn it into a cucumber dip which while tasty would not be the classic Greek Sauce.
Excellent recipie. Love the simplicity. Quick tip. After grating or FP, drop the cuke into a salad spinner to remove the excess liquid.
That’s a great idea, John! Thanks for sharing!
Best tzatziki I ever had. Much better than store bought I’ll make it myself now! Thank you so much Suzy!
Wow! a recipe from Paros! I spent 4 months in Paros in 1971 (yes, 52 years ago) & never had any such thing as tzatziki, so “authenticity” seems weird to me. Plus, Stella Leonetti & her restaurant Rafeletti sound more Italian than Greek. But, so many things have changed since I was there, when there were no cars, one bus, one taxi, no gas stations, LOTS of mules, & no airport. So why not recipes now, brought from all over? (Tho’ I didn’t ever have tzatziki in Athens on the few occasions I had to go there (7-hour ferry ride.))
Suzy I’m a new subscriber and wanted to say how much I’m enjoying your recipes and menu suggestions! I’m thrilled to have the healthy and flavorful Mediterranean recipes. I haven’t tried this tzatziki recipe yet but I’m going to prepare it with the turkey meatball recipe this week. Thank you so much for your work and sharing it!
You are so sweet, Nancy! Thank you!
Hello I am just cooking for myself. Is this sauce freeze able. Love this site
Hi, Darren. We don’t recommend freezing tzatziki because it can tend to separate given that it’s basically dairy and water from the cucumbers.
I really enjoyed this recipe, but I had to add lemon and a little extra salt. Other than that, I made this with your Chicken Schwarma Salad bowl and it was a hit with the family! Thank you for giving me the courage to try something so out of my wheelhouse! Great recipes!
This was a great addition to our lamb kabobs! I usually buy tzatziki from a well known chain but this was so much better. The only addition I tried was a splash of lemon for a little brightness to the creamy sauce. Will be using this recipe from now on!
Hooray! We appreciate you taking the time to comment and review, Robin!
I made your tzatziki sauce recipe. It was good but mine was too thick to be used as a dressing. How should I thin it ?
Hi, Patsy. One thing you can try is not squeezing the liquid out of the grated cucumber. That may help thin it out without sacrificing any flavor.
Try drizzling ev light olive oil , lighter the better perhapse 1/2-3/4 cup very slow with an emulsifier , my personal pref i aub the viniger for lemon juice and double the amount either way recipe is great . Good luck 👍😉
Thanks for the tip, Michael!
I thought this was delicious! I added some fresh dill. It does make a generous amount. As always, thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Linda!