This fresh tzatziki recipe will liven up any summer meal! Rich, creamy & full of fresh herbs, it's delicious on pita, grilled veggies, sandwiches, and more!
Break out the pita, it’s tzatziki time! On Monday, I posted my favorite Greek salad, and now I’m following it up with another Greek essential: this cool, refreshing cucumber tzatziki sauce.
One of the best parts of summer is that dinner suddenly becomes easy. My favorite ingredients – fresh fruits and veggies – are at their peak. Tomatoes are sweeter and juicier, berries are plumper, peppers are snappier, and our backyard herbs are at their most potent.
Sometimes, when I want to put these peak-season veggies front and center, making dinner just means prepping a sauce to dress them up. This tzatziki sauce is a great recipe for showcasing summer produce – it’s rich & creamy, bright, and packed with fresh herbs. So mix it up, serve it with a big platter of pita and your favorite summer veggies, and call it dinner!
What is tzatziki?
Tzatziki is a salted yogurt and cucumber dip that’s made of strained yogurt, shredded cucumber, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and herbs. Authentic Greek tzatziki is most often made with sheep or goat yogurt, but my tzatziki recipe calls for regular full-fat Greek yogurt. It’s easier to find in the store, and it still has the creamy, thick consistency you want in tzatziki sauce. Along with the other traditional ingredients, I stir in fresh mint and dill for a bright, summery finish.
How to Make Tzatziki Sauce
I first started eating tzatziki sauce at Greek restaurants, but I’ve since learned that it’s incredibly easy to whip up at home. Now, along with pesto, it’s one of my must-make summer sauces. Here’s how you do it:
- Start by grating the cucumber. I use the largest holes on a box grater to give my final sauce texture and plenty of green flecks.
- Next, squeeze the water out of the grated cucumber. This step is essential for making a creamy tzatziki – if you skip it, the water from the cucumber will cause your sauce to separate. Squeeze the cucumber directly over the sink, or press it lightly between kitchen or paper towels.
- Then, stir everything together! Mix the squeezed cucumber with the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and herbs, and chill until you’re ready to use.
That’s it!
How to Use Tzatziki Sauce
Once you’ve mixed your tzatziki sauce together, there are endless ways to use it. Most simply, I enjoy it as a snack with fresh veggies and pita or crackers. Try it this way, or add it to your next crudité platter. Your guests will love it!
You could also slather it onto sandwiches like these pita wraps, serve it alongside a Mediterranean salad like tabbouleh or couscous salad, or top it onto falafel, falafel burgers, or a flatbread.
And last but not least, serve it with pita and lots of grilled veggies for a delicious, easy summer dinner.
If you love this tzatziki recipe…
Try my hummus, tahini sauce, chipotle sauce, cilantro lime dressing, pico de gallo, tomatillo salsa, or guacamole next!
For more appetizer ideas, check out this post with 50 easy appetizers.
Tzatziki Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup finely grated cucumber
- 1 cup thick whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped dill
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint, optional
Instructions
- Place the cucumber on a towel and gently squeeze out a bit of the excess water.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, dill, and mint, if using. Chill until ready to use.
My first time making this. I followed the recipe to the letter, and it turned out fantastic!
Just made this. I used Siggi’s 0% fat Icelandic Skyr Yogurt (which is super-thick and has even more protein than Greek yogurt). I used fresh herbs from my garden, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and 1/2 an English cucumber with the seeds scooped out before I grated it.
This dip is WONDERFUL! So fresh and flavorful. I’m going to let it marinate overnight and eat it for lunch tomorrow with pita and tomatoes. Thanks for a great recipe!
I made this recipe, and finely diced the cucumber. I didn’t drain it but was completely fine because Greek yogurt is already so thi to didn’t make a difference. Frankly, it tasted better with water because Greek yogurt is kinda like peanut butter.
Really delicious and super easy. Big thumbs up!
Excellent Tzatziki Sauce recipe! Super delicious and exactly what I was hoping for! Thank you!!
This is the very best Tzatziki recipe I’ve tried. I personally like keeping the skin on and had never thought about just taking the cucumber to a fine grater… game changer. I did take out the seeds simply because I like a more sturdy dip. So simple, so delicious!
So simple and so delicious!!
Seriously my favorite Tzatziki Sauce recipe! I paired this sauce with Lamb Burgers and was delicious! It is just the right texture if you drain the cucumbers enough. Next time I will use as a dip. Thanks for the recipe!!
This was very good! This and a baked sweet potato . . . Muah!
I love making this for gyro wraps. My husband eats with it a spoon.
What’s the shelf life of this while in the fridge? I doubled it! So delicious.
Hi Anna, I’d say about 5 days.
Making it for the second straight day after the first batch was devoured by 8-year old boys and partner. So fresh, so authentic, so easy!
I’m so glad you all loved it!
This was heavenly!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Do you peel the cucumber first?
Hi Rachel, you could but I don’t bother.
Thanks, Jeanine.
Made a half recipe of this today and it was awesome! My ‘I don’t like tzatziki” husband and daughter really liked it! It’s the best I have ever made (or bought!). I used a very think Icelandic style yogurt. It was great.
I had this for dinner tonight and loved it- I guess you could use english cucumber as it has less seeds, but liked the recipe a lot. Seeds and all:)
De-seeded cucumber is better, and super easy: cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then use a regular (i.e. small, dinnerware) teaspoon to scrape the seeds out of the middle. They separate naturally this way. Then chop and use as directed.
Thank you! This is delicious, easy to make and did I say it was delicious? It has inspired me to grow dill for many more cooking dishes that call for it.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Hi! Can you make this with coconut yogurt or a nondairy yogurt?
I think some of the almond yogurts might work – they have to be completely unsweetened. I think Kite Hill’s almond yogurt is pretty good.
I know this was posted a long time ago but I’ve made tzatziki with plain kite hill almond yogurt and it came out amazing. You can drain your yogurt over cheesecloth and make sure you get all of the excess water out of your cucumber to avoid a runny dip.
Thanks for the tip, I’ll give kite hill a try!
I make it with dairy-free sour cream. which is much easier to find than non-dairy plain yogurt. And it’s thicker too!
I use a flour sack towel to squeeze the water out of the shredded cucumber. Put the shredded cucumber in the middle of the towel, gather up all sides, twist them together (kind of like a frosting bag for piping frosting?), and keep twisting and squeezing over the sink.
Top tip! Thank you.
What yogurt do you like best? I feel like I always choose the wrong yogurt. Also, I always choose non-fat and I think that might be why I don’t love it.
Hi Annette, definitely try full fat yogurt, it has a much richer taste (and it still doesn’t contain all that much fat). For this one, I used Fage yogurt because it’s pretty thick. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much! Running to the market in a bit. I am not a vegetarian but I am very conscience of the food I serve my family. I love your website and your recipes, their easy and delicious. Thanks for everything, I am sure I’ll be grabbing your cookbooks real soon.
I tried this with plain coconut yogurt tonight and it was delicious!!
Did you remove the seeds for this recipe?
nope, I don’t