Tzatziki Sauce

There’s nothing better than a light, refreshing tzatziki sauce, bursting with flavor with cucumber, mint dill, and fresh lemon juice; it has to be one of our favorite sauces! It’s been many years since we first tried Greek tzatziki sauce in Athens, served with freshly made warm pita bread, we knew that we had to make it when we got back home, and our recipe tastes just like authentic Greek tzatziki.

Why you’ll love this easy Greek sauce recipe

• If you love Greek food, then you must try the best tzatziki sauce recipe!
• It’s a real crowd-pleaser, and the kids love it.
• It’s 100% vegetarian.

What does tzatziki mean?

Tzatziki is the name given to a dip that originates from the Middle East and Southeast Europe.

It’s made with strained yogurt, grated cucumber, fresh garlic, salt, and extra virgin olive oil.

In some variations (like ours), you’ll find fresh mint and fresh dill; others include fresh thyme and fresh parsley.

You’ll also find some variations with freshly squeezed lemon juice (like ours) or vinegar.

We love adding plenty of tzatziki to pita sandwiches or on grilled veggies, we’ve learned over the years to double the amount we think we need as it always gets polished off in minutes!

What yogurt do you use for tzatziki sauce?

You use Greek yogurt to make tzatziki sauce.

We don’t notice a lot of difference in the taste between using whole milk Greek yogurt and fat-free Greek yogurt, so choose the yogurt you prefer.

What to serve tzatziki with

Traditionally tzatziki is served with doner kebabs, lamb, and chicken gyros, but there are plenty of vegetarian foods that tzatziki is perfect for.

Serve simply with warm pita bread or roasted vegetables, a mushroom gyro, a seitan burger, falafel pita sandwich, or a Greek salad.

Try this Lebanese falafel recipe; it’s perfect with tzatziki.

How long will homemade tzatziki sauce last?

Our tzatziki sauce recipe keeps covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.

What are the best cucumbers to use?

If you want to use seedless cucumbers, if possible, English cucumbers are great to use.

If you have seeds, then remove them before grating.

Some people peel the cucumber, and some don’t; we chose not to ensure this was a super speedy recipe.

The one thing that you MUST do is to squeeze your cucumber!

If you skip this step, then the tzatziki sauce will be watery and runny; you want creamy tzatziki, you must only add squeezed cucumber into the yogurt.

Let’s talk about garlic

We know that garlic isn’t to everyone’s taste, so we recommend that you start adding just a little to your cucumber sauce, taste it, then continue to add more.

In our tzatziki sauce recipe, we’ve used one medium-sized garlic clove, which we think is perfect, but we recommend that you adjust it, either more or less, to suit your own taste.

Greek tzatziki sauce tips

• Don’t have fresh dill?
• You can either simply leave it out or use dried dill, your tzatziki sauce won’t have the same flavor of fresh herbs, but it’ll still be delicious.
• Add your garlic slowly
• Adding garlic a little at a time and tasting ensures that you don’t have an overpowering taste.
• Don’t have any Greek yogurt?
• You could always try it with fromage frais or sour cream, this will change the flavor, but they are a good substitute.
• Not a fan of grating cucumber?
• You could always do it in a food processor; we didn’t think it was worth the extra washing up!
• Don’t have fresh lemon?
• Use bottled lemon juice instead, but we always recommend fresh for a far better flavor.
• Making it ahead of time?
• This tzatziki recipe will keep stored in the fridge for up to 4 days when covered.

How to make tzatziki sauce with step-by-step instructions

Making our tzatziki sauce recipe is easy if you follow our simple instructions.

A full printable recipe and the US customary and metric measurements are available in the recipe card below.

First, grate your cucumber; once grated, squeeze it in your hands to remove the excess moisture.

Place the grated cucumber in a serving bowl and add plain Greek yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, fresh mint, and fresh dill.

Next, add freshly squeezed lemon juice, garlic, and salt.

Stir the ingredients to evenly combine, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with fresh mint or dill.

Give your tzatziki sauce a minimum of 30 minutes to allow all the flavors to combine, serve and enjoy!

We hope you enjoy making and eating our tzatziki recipe and would love to hear how you got on with making it.

Please leave a comment below or ask any questions you have.

Other easy sauce recipes for you to try

• Sriracha sauce 
• Chipotle aioli 
• Arrabiata sauce 
• Marinara sauce

Learn how to make tzatziki with step-by-step photos to help you.

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