This is the BEST Tzatziki Sauce Recipe you are going to find. This authentic Tzatziki Sauce Recipe is perfect for using with any recipe that calls for Tzatziki Sauce. Made with cucumber, sour cream, greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and dill it makes the most amazing cucumber yogurt sauce ever. This sauce is also called Cucumber Yogurt Sauce.
Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
One of my favorite things in the world to enjoy when I go to New York City is a Falafel sandwich, Falafel bowl or Gyro. However going into the city whenever I want falafel is not an option and I have not found a place locally that makes it good enough for me to get as take out. It was a MUST for me to figure out recipes that I can make at home that give me the same flavors as my New York City food cart favorites.
My long time friend Jaime introduced this sauce to me long before I had a NYC sandwich. In fact she spent months telling me about how I needed to make Falafel with Tzatziki. Her family loved it and made it all the time for dinner. The first time I made it for dinner everyone ate it all up and there were not any left overs.
The first time I had a Falafel in NYC, I realized that her Tzatziki sauce and her Falafel taste JUST like it.
One of the most important parts of Gyros and Falafel sandwiches is the Tzatziki Sauce. I LOVE the sauce! It s seriously my all time favorite sauce of all the sauces there are in the world of food.
Looking for more Dip Recipes? Check these out!
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- French Onion Dip
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- Layered Taco Dip
- 7 layer Dip
- S’Mores Dip
What is Tzatziki sauce?
Tzatziki Sauce is a creamy sauce made with cucumber, sour cream, greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, dill, salt, pepper.
While there is a little bit of work needed to make this sauce compared to the other recipes we have shared, and it is a bit more time consuming this sauce is so worth the extra work. You will want to put this amazing greek Tzatziki Sauce all over everything! Seriously it tastes amazing paired with so many things!
What is Tzatziki sauce used for?
One of the other great things about this sauce is that it is naturally low carb and so it fits perfectly with my current low carb eating and it tastes delicious!
One of our favorite snacks is sliced cucumbers dipped in Tzatziki Sauce. It is one of the best snacks ever!! You can also dip slices of pita bread into the sauce for one of my kids favorite snacks.
In our house we use this sauce when making falafel (it is perfect for dipping!), Falafel bowls (if you are making falafel bowls also make this amazing Turmeric Rice), Falafel Sandwiches and dipping cucumbers in. But there are also lots of things this sauce can be used for and it tastes amazing!
- Gyros
- Grilled Beef
- Veggie dip
- Grilled Veggies
- Falafel dipped in sauce as an appetizer
- Chip dip
- Grilled Chicken
- Falafel Bowls
- Falafel wraps
How long does homemade Tzatziki Sauce last?
This homemade Tzatziki Sauce will keep for 3 days in the fridge as long as it is stored in an airtight container. As the sauce is stored in the fridge it can become a bit runny, if it becomes runny just drain off the liquid.
Tzatziki Sauce Recipe Ingredients
- Cucumber. Fresh cucumbers are a must. It is important to make sure that your cucumber is not soggy and wrinkly before making this sauce.
- sour cream. Be sure you are using full fat sour cream so that you get the creaminess that is wanted in this sauce recipe.
- Greek yogurt. Plain, full fat greek yogurt is a must with this recipe. It is important that you have the full fat version so you get the full creaminess. Greek yogurt is also referred to at times as strained yogurt.
- Fresh Garlic. You will need 1 clove of garlic for this recipe, it is best to peel the garlic clove right before using this recipe. I also find that I am not a fan of using prepeeled garlic when making this sauce.
- Fresh dill. If you don’t have access to fresh dill, you can use dried however I find the sauce more flavorful when using fresh.
- kosher salt. You will use salt when draining the water from the cucumber and for making the sauce. I start with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and work my way up from there and end up with 1/2 teaspoon to 3 teaspoons of salt depending on how things are blending when I am making it. As you are adding salt, know that every sprinkle makes a big difference in how the sauce tastes.
- Black Pepper.
- lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice is best, however if you only have bottled lemon juice that will work too.
How to Drain water from cucumbers
You want to get out as much water from the cucumber as you can with salt and letting the cucumber sit out on paper towels.
I usually wait about an hour however if you are in a rush, I find that 15 minutes is enough time of them sitting out for me to then squeeze enough of the water out of them to get the results I want. But I much prefer the hour time for sitting out as there is less for me to squeeze out. You want as much moisture out of the cucumbers as possible.
How to Make Tzatziki Sauce
I am going to say this ahead of time, do NOT skip out on the time for drying out the cucumbers. It is important to dry them out so that you do not have a liquidy sauce.
Peel the cucumber and then slice it in half and then in half again lengthwise and scoop out the seeds in the middle.
Slice it up into smaller pieces and put them on top of paper towels and sprinkle the pieces of cucumber with the 1 tablespoon kosher salt and let them dry for a bit.
Using the paper towel, wrap the cucumber and squeeze the slices to get out as much moisture as you can, you want them as dry as you can get them.
Put the cucumbers into a blender or a food processor with the garlic, dill and lemon juice and chop till fine and combined.
Add the garlic, dill and lemon juice mixture with the sour cream and Greek yogurt in a large mixing bowl and add kosher salt and pepper keep adding salt until you get a balanced flavor.
Put the Tzatziki sauce in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use. The longer it sits, the better the flavors will mix, so feel free to make this ahead of time.
Have Greek Yogurt to use? Check out these great recipes with Greek Yogurt!
Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 garlic clove
- 3/4 cup greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 tsp dill
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt For draining the cucumber
- 1/2 - 3 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Peel the cucumber and then slice it in half and then in half again lengthwise and scoop out the seeds in the middle.
- Slice it up into smaller pieces and put them on top of paper towels and sprinkle them with kosher salt and let them dry for a bit. I usually wait about an hour.
- Squeeze the slices to get out as much moisture as you can, you want them as dry as you can get them.
- Put these into a blender with the garlic, dill and lemon juice.
- Mix that with the sour cream and Greek yogurt in a large mixing bowl and add kosher salt and pepper. You’re going to add quite a bit of kosher salt before it tastes right, but you should know-every sprinkle makes a big difference in how the sauce tastes.
- Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. The longer it sits, the better the flavors will mix, so feel free to make this ahead of time!
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