Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
Homemade Tzatziki Sauce made with Greek yogurt mixed with cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, and fresh herbs, ready in under 5 minutes!
This easy tzatziki sauce is really simple to make and perfect in the summertime, made with fresh ingredients like cucumber, olive oil, lemon juice, fresh mint, and fresh dill in a yogurt sauce. This recipe is perfect for Mediterranean food lovers!
You can serve this with cucumber slices, gluten free pita chips, or gluten free pita bread. This also works great over chicken, grilled vegetables, or with a salad. Plus it takes less than 5 minutes to make with almost no prep time. If you love Greek food as much as my family does, you’re going to love this!
If you liked this recipe, you may also like my Greek Salad Dressing, or my Whipped Feta Dip!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Fresh Flavors – This Greek tzatziki sauce has a ton of bright, fresh flavor from the fresh herbs, lemon juice, cucumber, and garlic. You won’t get this flavor from store-bought!
Quick and Easy – This recipe uses minimal ingredients with minimal prep time. Just grate the cucumber, drain, and whisk everything together! It’s the homemade version of what you’d get at a Greek restaurant.
Tzatziki Ingredients You’ll Need
Greek Yogurt. You’ll get the best flavor from full-fat Greek yogurt, but nonfat greek yogurt will also work.
I recommend using Greek yogurt because it is thicker and you’ll get a better texture in the sauce. If you don’t have it, you can also use strained yogurt.
Cucumber. This adds a nice fresh flavor. Look for either English or Persian cucumbers, because they’re considered seedless cucumbers (the seeds are small and soft), and you don’t have to peel them.
Garlic Cloves. I like using fresh garlic cloves with a garlic press, which crushes them a bit and helps give more flavor to the dip. You can also use grated garlic for the same concept, using a small handheld grater.
If you don’t have fresh, use garlic powder.
Lemon Juice. The acidity from the lemon juice helps balance out some of the creamy notes.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I add a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to the dip to help give it a creamy texture. You can also drizzle some on top for presentation.
Fresh Herbs. I like a mixture of fresh dill and fresh mint. You can use one or the other, depending on your preference. If you don’t have fresh, use 1 teaspoon of dried dill instead.
Salt & Pepper. Add kosher salt (or sea salt) and black pepper to taste, adjusting as-needed.
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Kitchen Tools
For this tzatziki recipe, you’ll need a medium mixing bowl, a whisk, and a grater.
How to Make Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
In a medium mixing bowl, grate the cucumber into small pieces. Wrap the cucumber in a paper towel and carefully drain excess water, squeezing out as much as possible.
Return the cucumber to the bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients.
Whisk together until everything is combined. Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate, or serve immediately.
Recipe Variations
- If you don’t like mint, you can leave it out and just use fresh dill instead.
- Give this tzatziki recipe a little kick with some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.
- You can substitute the Greek yogurt with sour cream, but it will change the flavor a bit. Mix in some feta cheese if you want a different twist.
- If you want more veggies, add some sliced cherry tomatoes, diced bell pepper, or red onion.
- Try leaving the salt out of this and add some chopped dill pickles (just use a paper towel to remove some of the liquid first).
- Instead of lemon juice, you can use white vinegar.
Recipe Tip! Don’t forget to squeeze the water out of the grated cucumber, or it will result in runny tzatziki!
Frequently Asked Questions
I don’t strain greek yogurt, because it’s already on the thicker side, which is great for tzatziki. If you have regular yogurt, then you should strain it (in the refrigerator) before using it for this recipe.
Recipe Tip! This tastes best when it has a chance to rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (but sometimes it doesn’t make it that long before we dig in)!
More Mediterranean Recipes
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
- Marinated Greek Chicken Thighs
- Greek Pasta Salad
- One Pot Greek Lemon Chicken and Rice
Storage
Refrigerate homemade tzatziki sauce for 2-3 days in an airtight container. The cucumbers might release some more water while it’s in the refrigerator, just give it a good stir.
I don’t recommend freezing this recipe, because the texture will change too much.
Cooking Tips
- The most important part is to grate the cucumber, then wrap it in a paper towel or clean kitchen towel, and squeeze as much of the water out as possible. This will prevent the tzatziki sauce from becoming too thin.
- Sometimes the cucumber can clump together after it has been drained. Just use the whisk to break up the cucumber a bit before adding the other ingredients.
- If you want your garlic to be less intense, after mincing the garlic let it rest in the lemon juice for a few minutes before mixing it in.
- If you don’t want to shred the cucumber manually, you can also do it with a food processor. You’ll still have to drain the cucumber before adding it to the sauce.
Tried this recipe? ⭐ Leave a review and share what worked best for you—your tips help other home cooks get the same delicious results!
Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup English cucumber, grated, drained
- 1 cup Greek yogurt, plain, full fat
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
Equipment
- 1 medium mixing bowl
- 1 paper towel (to drain the cucumber)
- 1 grater (for the cucumber and garlic)
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, grate the cucumber into small pieces. Wrap the cucumber in a paper towel and carefully drain excess water, squeezing out as much as possible.
- Return the cucumber to the bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients. Whisk together until everything is combined.
- Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate, or serve immediately.
Notes
- Grate the cucumber, then wrap it in a paper towel or clean kitchen towel, and squeeze as much of the water out as possible.
- If you want your garlic to be less intense, after mincing the garlic let it rest in the lemon juice for a few minutes before mixing it in.
- If you don’t want to shred the cucumber manually, you can also do it with a food processor. You’ll still have to drain the cucumber before adding it to the sauce.
- This tastes best when it has a chance to rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and served cold.
Nutrition
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