This homemade garlic yogurt sauce is creamy, tangy, and SO easy to make! Stir it together in minutes to jazz up wraps, roasted vegetables, and more.
This garlic yogurt sauce is the simplest sauce you’ll ever make. In fact, it’s so simple that I wondered if I should even share it. Does a 5-ingredient, 5-minute recipe really deserve its own blog post?
But here’s the thing: I’ve been making this garlic yogurt sauce for years. It’s the perfect “emergency sauce.” When you’re putting together a meal—tacos, wraps, quinoa bowls—and you realize you need something creamy and tangy to drizzle on top, this garlic yogurt sauce is there for you. You always have the ingredients in your pantry. You can make it in minutes (no food processor or blender required!).
So I hope you enjoy this recipe—a creamy sauce that you can stir together in a snap. It’s super simple, and that’s a good thing.
Garlic Yogurt Sauce Recipe Ingredients
You need 5 ingredients to make this recipe:
- Plain Greek yogurt – Full-fat yogurt gives this recipe the best creamy texture and richest flavor. I recommend using it, but feel free to sub nonfat or low-fat Greek plain yogurt if you prefer!
- Extra-virgin olive oil – It thins the yogurt and adds fruity depth of flavor.
- Fresh lemon juice – It makes the sauce bright and tangy.
- Garlic – It adds savory bite.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Add these ingredients to a medium bowl, and stir to combine. I generally add 1 tablespoon water to thin the sauce slightly, but you may need to add more (or none at all) depending on the consistency of your yogurt. Season to taste, and enjoy!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
VARIATIONS
- Add fresh herbs. Stir 2 tablespoons of chopped leafy herbs into this sauce for a refreshing kick. Fresh dill, cilantro, parsley, basil, and mint would all be lovely here.
- Use roasted garlic. For a mellower garlic flavor, swap out the fresh garlic for mashed roasted garlic. Start with 1 clove and add more to taste!
- Give it a stronger garlic flavor by adding 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.
- Switch the citrus. Use lime juice instead of lemon for a different flavor profile. I love this variation on tacos. If you like, add a little lime zest for a stronger lime flavor.
How to Use Garlic Yogurt Sauce
This garlic yogurt sauce goes well on almost any dish! It pairs especially nicely with Middle Eastern-inspired fare like this falafel or these chickpea shawarma wraps, as it’s reminiscent of many of the yogurt sauces in that cuisine.
Here are a few other ways to use it:
- Drizzle it over a rice bowl or quinoa bowl.
- Use it to dress up grilled vegetable kebabs.
- Serve it as a dipping sauce with air fryer French fries or air fryer cauliflower.
- Dollop it into a baked potato or baked sweet potato.
- Spoon it over roasted veggies like roasted broccoli, roasted cauliflower, or roasted butternut squash. A sprinkle of za’atar or dukkah will take this combo over the top!
Store leftover sauce in an airtight container in the fridge. It keeps well for up to 5 days. I like to make it on the weekend so that I have it on hand to jazz up meals all week!
More Favorite Sauce Recipes
If you love this yogurt garlic sauce, try one of these easy sauce recipes next:
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Homemade Caesar Dressing
- Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Greek Salad Dressing
- Creamy Dill Sauce
- Tartar Sauce
- Tahini Sauce
- Green Goddess Dressing
Garlic Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon water, plus more as needed
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt.
- Stir in the water. If the sauce is too thick, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to thin it to your desired consistency. Season to taste.
- Store the sauce for up to 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Love this, super simple and delicious. Had all the ingredients on hand which was perfect.
I’m so glad you loved it!
I just made a batch and have been dreaming about it since i gobbled up the last batch.. it’s addictive. I think its very best to let the flavours mingle overnight and longer.. but if you are in a rush, its quick dip and still excellent..yummm..its gotta be healthy..
What is the nutritional info for this recipe?
Thanks for the recipe, this looks delicious! I’m kinda stuck on the Greek yogurt part though. If we’re adding lemon to increase the acidity, and water to make it runnier, then wouldn’t it make more sense to start with regular yogurt? As you probably know, the whey, which gives regular yogurt it’s tangy and watery consistency, is removed to make it Greek yogurt.
Hi Erin, I keep Greek yogurt on hand so that’s what we developed the recipe with. I’m sure plain yogurt would be fine too.