How to Make Tzatziki
Learn how to make tzatziki, a traditional Greek yogurt and cucumber sauce with fresh herbs. Tzatziki is a refreshing sauce or dip, and it's so easy to make!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 28, 2024
Tzatziki! Tsaht-ZEE-kee! Otherwise known as that yogurt and cucumber sauce you love at Greek restaurants but worry about mispronouncing (hear the correct pronunciation here).
Tzatziki is made simply with yogurt, drained cucumber, olive oil, fresh herbs (usually mint or dill), garlic, lemon juice and salt. Itโs a refreshing chilled sauce, dip or spread.
I traveled to Greece last fall and ordered tzatziki at every restaurant. Iโm serious. I enjoyed tzatziki with every single meal, even breakfast. This recipe tastes just like authentic tzatziki.
I tend to associate tzatziki with Greek food, but youโll find it served across the Mediterranean and Middle East, sometimes under different names or in slightly different forms.
Tzatziki is often served with grilled meats and gyros, but I canโt think of a grilled or roasted vegetable it wouldnโt play nicely with. You can also serve up some tzatziki with your next appetizer spread. Letโs make some already!
Uses for Tzatziki
Grilled Vegetables
- Bell peppers
- Mushrooms
- Carrots
- Asparagus
- Green beans
- Corn on the cob
Appetizer Spreads
- Toasted pita wedges
- Crisp raw vegetables
- Olives
- Cheese and crackers
- Hummus
- Zhoug or Shatta (Middle-Eastern hot sauces)
Falafel, Sandwiches and Salads
- Falafel
- Pita sandwiches (you could use it instead of the avocado in that recipe)
- Tabbouleh
- Lentil salad
- Chickpea salad
My Tzatziki Technique
Fortunately, tzatziki is super easy to whip together. The only trick is to properly drain the cucumber before mixing it into the yogurt. Otherwise, cucumber waters down the sauce too much. Salting the grated cucumber and letting the excess moisture drip out takes a while.
The easiest and most efficient way to get rid of the excess moisture is to lightly squeeze the grated cucumber over the sink. The only wait required in my recipe is to let the tzatziki rest for five minutes after you mix it all together, to let the flavors meld. At that point, you can serve it right away or chill it for later.
Tzatziki Nutrition & Yogurt Notes
Nutritionally speaking, tzatziki is a creamy but light sauce. You can dollop it generously on your food without adding a lot of calories (unlike, say, mayonnaise or ranch dressing). Itโs made mostly with Greek yogurt and cucumber, after all.
I havenโt found a noticeable difference in texture whether I use whole-milk yogurt, low-fat or non-fat, so any of those will work. Traditional Greek tzatziki is made with strained goat or sheepโs yogurt, but itโs hard to find those here. The Greek yogurt sold here in the U.S. is strained yogurt (thatโs why itโs thicker and higher in protein than regular yogurt), so I use that.
As always, please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! Iโm excited to hear how it turns out for you and how you serve it.
Watch How to Make Tzatziki Sauce
Best Tzatziki
Learn how to make tzatziki, a traditional Greek yogurt and cucumber sauce with fresh herbs. Tzatziki is a refreshing sauce or dip, and itโs so easy to make! This basic recipe yields about 2 ยฝ cups; multiply if necessary.
Ingredients
- 2 cups grated cucumber (from about 1 medium 10-ounce cucumber, no need to peel or seed the cucumber first, grate on the large holes of your box grater)
- 1 ยฝ cups plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint and/or dill
- 1 tablespoonย lemon juice
- 1 medium clove garlic, pressed or minced
- ยฝ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Working with one big handful at a time, lightly squeeze the grated cucumber between your palms over the sink to remove excess moisture. Transfer the squeezed cucumber to a serving bowl, and repeat with the remaining cucumber.
- Add the yogurt, olive oil, herbs, lemon juice, garlic, and salt to the bowl, and stir to blend. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Taste and add additional chopped fresh herbs, lemon juice, and/or salt, if necessary (I thought this batch was just right as-is).
- Serve tzatziki immediately or chill for later. Leftover tzatziki keeps well, chilled, for about 4 days.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my cookbook, Love Real Food.ย
Make it dairy free/vegan: Substitute an equal amount of cashew sour cream for the yogurt, and thin the tzatziki with a small splash of water if necessary.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Excellent recipe I like it so much I eat it daily .The best tzatziki sauce ever.
I eat it with roasted pita bread it is good . excellent recipe I recommend to anybody.
Better than the restaurants. Was great with my falafels!
Iโd never thought of making my own tzatziki! Youโre recipes are always delicious so I started grating. Very cukey โ โ went nuts โ which I love. Saved juices for smoothie. Only addition was sumac.
My husbandโs Greek. Restaurants are stingy w/tzatziki. Heโs very impressed. The Greek Army is coming tomorrow to help polish it off.
Much appreciated!!
Iโm glad it has his stamp of approval! Thank you for sharing, Kate.
Boy that looks delicious, now off to the store for the cukes, say hi to Cookie,
D B
I hope you love it, Douglas! I appreciate your review.
My husbandโs grandfather was Greek, and this recipe made him feel like a kid again having dinner with his grandparents! Absolutely delicious!
Dill weed or dill seed?
Hi, you will want to use fresh dill. Or you could use mint instead.
I have made this several times and it is absolutely delicious very simple to put together and forgiving in terms of playing around with herbs and garlic.
I am on vacation at the moment and could not find mint or dill so subbed with chives and it still worked. Had it with spinach and feta filo pie, with some of the local fresh cheese thrown in for good measure.
I have also used baked garlic, smoked garlic and garlic granules. They all work, although the flavour profile will not be exactly the same.
Great to hear, Liz! Thank you for sharing.
Just loved your tsatsiki ! It is the best Iโve ever had, and Iโve eaten a lot . Never use any other recipe since I found yours so thank you very much . I always used to remove the cucumber seeds but it isnโt necessary as long as itโs well squeezed . I find putting the grated cucumber in muslin makes it easy to squeeze thoroughly . Making it again tomorrow for grandsons birthday as he loves it too and requested it .
After draining the water out of the cucumber, I only ended up with about a cup; I donโt know if the 2 cups are before or after draining.
Please answer.
Thanks!
George
This is my go-to tzatziki! It is the best, though I feel like this last batch I may have used a bit smaller garlic clove, needed just a hint more! Thank you for sharing this scrumptious recipe; it is my husbandโs favorite dip..we could eat by the spoonful love all your recipes, in fact! My go-to food blog โค๏ธ
We are vegan and I substitute the he yogurt with unsweetened almond milk yogurt. It is not as thick as it would be with Greek style yogurt. Canโt seem to find a healthy nut base Greek style unsweetened plain yogurt. I do put in a lot more dill and cucumbers (I use the long seedless cucumbers. I still scrape out the the center and put it in my Tabouli) which gives it a little more thickness. But every time I make recipe, everyone loves it. Like any good cook, play with your food!
Iโm delighted it worked well with your changes!
We are vegan and I substitute the he yogurt with unsweetened almond milk yogurt. It is not as thick as it would be with Greek style yogurt. Canโt seem to find a healthy nut base Greek style unsweetened plain yogurt. I do put in a lot more dill and cucumbers (I use the long seedless cucumbers. I still scrape out the the center and put it in my Tabouli) which gives it a little more thickness. But every time I make recipe, everyone loves it. Like any good cook, play with your food!
My family loves this sauce! I make it at least once a week and we eat it with falafel/salad/pita etc, it always pleases and we almost never have leftovers.
Good recipe. I find that roasting the garlic in the olive oil first gives it the best results. Just takes a little extra time but worth it.
Excited to try this as Iโm sitting here eating my $7 tiny bowl of taziki dip from a local restaurant. I could live on the stuff, so here I am, looking for the best recipe so I donโt go broke ordering it as often as I do. Iโll be back to give my review but Iโm almost positive that it will be amazing.
Iโm glad you love it, Casey! Thank you for your review.
Came back from Greece to the UK a month ago and weโve been having withdrawal symptoms โ my wife was feeling a bit rough today said she fancied something greek โ I rustled up some mint and lamb burgers but knew I couldnt rely on shop tzatziki after recently being to Greece so looked up a recipe โ yours was absolutely spot on and better than a few places we had in Athens 5/5 perfect blend โ I halved the recipe and kept the garlic amount virtually the same (feel sorry for the vampire/person who doesnโt know the difference between a bulb and a clove who commented earlier). For the other UK commenter we used English cucumbers and I squeezed them out and lay them on some kitchen roll with some salt to draw out the remaining moisture -as we could only get yeo valley natural yoghurt which was a bit thinner than the greek stuff.
Thank you for sharing! Iโm glad this was able to help. Thank you for your review, Alasdair!
Tzatziki Sauce was Quick, Easy and had Very Good Flavor
I used mint. Next time Iโll try dill.
Hi!
Made this recipe yesterday and it was delicious!!
Thanks for sharing!
Thatโs great to hear, Dimitry!
This is the first time Iโve made Tzatziki and all Iโve got to say is WOW! Iโm not even going to try other recipes, this one is fabulous!
Iโm glad you enjoyed it, Nancy! Thank you for taking the time.
This recipe was really good and I love that all the ingredients are fresh! I will definitely make this my go-to Tzatziki recipe! We can use it in so many ways! I used thick whole-milk Greek yogurt and it was wonderful! Thanks!
Hell to the yes. Loved this!
Great to hear, Nora!
This is my go to tzatziki recipe! Simple, delicious, all around yummy. Love it with falafel and salad. Great work Cookie, and you to Kate.
You are one of my top favorite sites to go to for recipes and inspiration when Iโm in the kitchen. Keep doing what youโre doing you two!
I love to hear it! Thank you for your review.
This was delish. I didnโt have fresh dill so I used dried and it was still amazing. Thanks!
I canโt stop making this! Itโs a fantastic recipe and so simple. I make it with 0% fat greek yogurt and itโs really delicious. Thank you!
This recipe was great!! It was sooo good.I love tzatziki as well. Made this to go along with a Kafta recipe that my daughter made. She wanted to use a store bought tzatziki, but I wanted to make it fresh. It made our day. It is the first recipe of yours we have tried. Canโt wait to try more . Keep up the good work. My best to you and your family, especially including your fur babies. I am a vet tech and it is absolutely adorable that you included Cookie in the name. I hope she is well. Take care.
Thank you, Terri! Iโm glad this sauce made your day. She is my sidekick!
Easy, fresh, but does not last long. since it is so quick to whip up I suggest making smaller quantities for each time you need it. Divine with the baked falafel.
Iโd love to try this! What fat percentage of yogurt should I use? We typically buy Fage 5% but will that be too thick? Thanks!
That can work too! I hope you love it.
Absolutely delicious and authentic! Thank you so much, Uwe
Youโre welcome, Uwe!
I grew up in Bulgaria, where this recipe is a staple. The cucumber is always cut into very small pieces โ English cucumber is preferable and it adds more flavor and crunchiness without adding water. I personally like to add some crushed walnuts as well and , yes, more garlic (also cut in very tiny pieces).
Thank you for sharing, Kate!
Thank you for sharing how you make this as well, Lana! I appreciate your review.
Hi! Do you have a dairy free greek style yogurt that you like to use and could sub here?
I donโt, sorry!
Brilliant
Making this recipe right now. Decided to read some of the comments before continuing and must admit I got a bit of a chuckle about the garlic. We love garlic and 2 cloves should work perfectly.
I am enjoying this so much! Thank you for the recipe.
Youโre welcome, Sharon! Thank you for your review.
Great recipe, added more garlic. I canโt believe no one said it was perfect on
Fried eggplant rounds.
Great to hear, Beau!
I cook for myself most days so I halved the recipe. This recipe is the bees kneesโฆalmost ate all of it before dinner.
Love it but would add a lot more garlic!
Hi. How long can you store this in the refridgerator? Thank you.
Hi Desley, See the final step. Leftover tzatziki keeps well, chilled, for about 4 days.
Great and much better than store bought. However I agree with some of the garlic comments. Tried this with one medium clove of garlic fresh from the store and I minced with a knife. Day 1 the raw garlic flavor was too strong for my family and we like garlic. We ate it and put it on burgers but people kept commenting on the raw garlic. It got better day 2, but I think I would try a modification next time. I would definitely make this again and try either garlic powder or cooking the garlic a bit in the oil before hand to reduce that raw garlic pungency.
Hey Kate! Just made huge batches of this with my homegrown cucumbers. What do you think about freezing it? Will it work and Howell? Thank you so much.
Rachel
I donโt think this is the best option to freeze, sorry!
Hi there! I was looking for a way to use up some fresh garden cucumbers tonight and came across your recipe. We topped burgers with it, added tomato and spinach and it was SO GOOD!! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Youโre welcome, Missy! Thank you for your review.
The taste is really good! I โdrainedโ the cucumbers through cheese cloth. My attempt didnโt come out thick but the family still loves it! I made homemade pita with it and chicken and beef sauvlaki. No one complained!
Have made this a couple of times now, cucumbers are in season here in Cyprusโฆ it works really well as written with mint, I donโt have fresh dill in the herb garden, although I did add a smidge more garlic. Juice of a whole lemon from the tree and some local olive oil. It is a keeper, thank you for sharing the recipe!
Youโre welcome, James! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Definitely grate your cucumber over a shallow bowl. Using the juice press you probably already have out for the lemons, squeeze your cucumber gratings over your cocktail shaker and make your favorite cucumber-based cocktail. Food should NEVER go to waste in any form.
Just made fresh Tzatziki (and Tabbouleh) following your recipe(s)โฆ tasted GREAT and refreshing for a lunch during a summer storm here in Yokohama, Japan! Thank you so much!
I made this as an extra topping for the black bean and cilantro rice bowl and had extra cilantro, so I threw that in as the herb and it was delish!
Great recipe. Made for the second time today. First time uses garlic powder. Today Used a big Clove of garlic total game changer. Dipped my fried chicken breast cutlets in it. Awesome.
Instead of draining the cucumber water into the sink, drain it into a bowl and use the wat on your plants. They will be very happy
so good!
Iโm glad you loved it, Jessica!
Replace row garlic or row onion withโlow fodmap garlic or onion replacer โ, it works for my sensitive family members.