Tzatziki Sauce is hands down the easiest, most delicious of all the Greek dips. Although it’s readily available at most supermarkets, once you make your own, you’ll never look back! If you’ve never eaten tzatziki, you’re in for a treat.
Tzatziki Sauce is made with thick Greek yoghurt, strained cucumber, fresh dill, lots of garlic and a splash of olive oil. The most time consuming part of the recipe is waiting for the cucumber to drain. When Ralph and I are in Greece, we order it every day at least once. In Greece, tzatziki is traditionally served with gyros, souvlaki and roasted potatoes but I eat it on everything from pita bread, fresh vegetables, french fries to grilled meat, poultry and fish. 
A couple of posts ago I shared my daughter, Meaghan’s Greek Yoghurt Chicken recipe. I neglected to include her recipe for tzatziki which a number of you pointed out. The recipe is crazy simple but power packs flavour. The most important thing to remember is to give yourself the proper amount of time to allow the cucumber to fully drain, if you don’t your sauce will be insipid and watery. To make sure you can get rid of as much moisture as possible, wrap the grated cucumber in cheesecloth so that you can give it a final squeeze at the end of the draining time. Giving the sauce ingredients time to ripen after they’re mixed together deepens the flavour.
I’ve tried using low-fat and non-fat yoghurt with dismal results. Definitely better to use the best quality full-fat Greek yoghurt that you can find. If you luck out and find goat or sheep’s milk Greek yoghurt, so much the better! When fresh dill is not available, use dried but reduce the quantity as dried herbs are more intense than fresh. The amount of garlic is personal preference. I’d start with my recommendation and go from there.
I’d really like to know how you like my recipes in the comments. I’m excited to hear how you decide to serve it.
Thanks for reading.
Ingredients
1 cup plain full-fat Greek yoghurt, goat or sheep's milk, if possible
1 cup grated unpeeled English cucumber
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
- Place the grated English cucumber in the middle of a cheesecloth lined colander and sprinkle with the fine sea salt
- Let the cucumber drain for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium sized mixing bowl combine yoghurt, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, minced dill and garlic.
- Once the cucumber has sat for 45 minutes, tie up the cheesecloth and squeeze as much liquid from it as you can then add the cucumber to the yoghurt mixture.
- Place in fridge for at least 15 minutes or until ready to serve.
Notes
THE LOVE:The most important thing to remember is to give yourself the proper amount of time to allow the cucumber to fully drain, if you don't your sauce will be insipid and watery. To make sure you can get rid of as much moisture as possible, wrap the grated cucumber in cheesecloth so that you can give it a final squeeze at the end of the draining time. Giving the sauce ingredients time to ripen after they're mixed together deepens the flavour.
