Tzatziki Recipe

Tzatziki is a fresh cucumber yogurt sauce you can serve with chicken, grilled veggies, pita chips, gyros, or as a raw veggie dip.

Prep time: PT15M

Total time: PT15M

Rating

4.84 stars (125 reviews)

Keywords

Tzatziki, Tzatziki recipe, Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 English cucumber
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
16 oz plain Greek yogurt (cold, (either full fat or fat-free will work))
1 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (Juice of 1/2 lemon; please squeeze a real lemon)
3 to 4 garlic cloves (peeled and grated)
1/3 cup chopped dill
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus more to drizzle)
1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/8 tsp black pepper (or to taste)

Cuisine

Greek

Steps

Prep the Cucumber:
- Peel and finely dice the cucumber, or you can grate on the large holes of a box grater if preferred. Transfer to a bowl lined with a cheesecloth* and sprinkle cucumbers with 1/2 tsp salt and give them a light stir. Set aside for the cucumbers to release their juice while you prep the remaining ingredients.
How to Make Tzatziki Sauce:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine plain Greek yogurt, lemon juice, grated garlic cloves, chopped dill, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, or season to taste.
- Use the cheesecloth to squeeze out as much juice as you can from your chopped cucumber. You'll be surprised how much juice comes out. Discard the juice and add squeezed cucumber to your mixing bowl.
- Stir everything to combine and season to taste with more salt and pepper if desired. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until ready to serve. I love serving drizzled with a little more extra virgin olive oil.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 57 kcal
Carbohydrates: 2 g
Protein: 4 g
Fat: 4 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 2 mg
Sodium: 160 mg
Sugar: 1 g
Unsaturated Fat: 4 g

Reviews

Don on 2026-03-29 (4 stars):
I have been making tzatziki for year now (Greek ex-wife). My daughter and I enjoy making it together. I've always used traditional cucumbers and 3 of them at a time. I will try English cucs to see how it goes. It is important to get the cucumber water OUT as best as possible. You can either toss it, drink it or give it to your dog (my dogs LOVE cucumber juice in their water). I like mine "hot" so I usually put in up to 7 garlic cloves. The main thing is to mix whenever adding in a new ingredient to let the flavors dance with one another. Goes well on a beef/gound lamb burger with feta as well.
Melanie on 2026-01-07 (5 stars):
Delicious!
Mary Kyriannis on 2025-08-01 (5 stars):
Hi Natasha. Your recipes are always foolproof. You are terrific! We make tzatziki sauce all the time. I use a coffee filter to strain the cucumbers. I grate it onto the filter and squeeze and squeeze. Sometimes more than one if I am making a large batch. Like you, we prefer very finely chopped as opposed to grated. Best of luck to you. Keep up the good work.
Renee F on 2025-07-19 (5 stars):
Absolutely delicious. Although I used persian cucumbers (small), I followed all other steps. This version is my favorite by far. Thank you.
Melissa on 2025-06-29 (5 stars):
This tzatziki is absolutely delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’ve been so disappointed with store bought tzatziki, so I’m thrilled I can make it at home now!
Roxanne on 2025-06-05 (5 stars):
how long will this sauce keep in fridge ? tk
M on 2025-06-04 (5 stars):
The store didn't have the sauce so I quickly looked up a recipe. Can always trust a recipe from you and was surprised to find it was very simple. I was able to make it quickly and it came out beautifully. Everyone loved it. Thank you!
Sora O'Doherty on 2025-05-08 (5 stars):
Hi Natasha, I have been following you for some time, and I enjoy your recipes. I often save them, and I share my recipes with friends and family. I always include the URL in the recipe so that they know the original source and can check for videos, comments etc. I notice that your URLs are very long, while others, such as Sally's Baking Addiction are short. It seems that you can use a service for creating shorter URLs. There appear to be several free services. I found them by searching for "create short URLs" Otherwise, keep up the good work!