This easy tzatziki sauce recipe is unbelievably delicious and super simple to make. It’s a creamy cucumber yogurt dip you can serve with almost anything!
Tzatziki (pronounced tuh-zee-kee) is a classic sauce made with yogurt, cucumber, fresh herbs, and garlic. It’s most often associated with Greek food, but similar variations are served throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. We love using it as a spread or dip for homemade pita and fresh veggies.
If this is your first time making tzatziki sauce, you are in luck. It takes just a few minutes and zero fancy equipment. We love this flavor profile so much that we’ve also shared a feta tzatziki and a creamy cucumber salad with a dressing inspired by this very sauce.
Key Ingredients
- Cucumber: We use thin-skinned varieties, such as hothouse, English, or Persian cucumbers. We also don’t peel them, and since they are usually seedless, there is no need to remove the centers. If you have garden cucumbers with seeds, you can still use them, just scoop out the larger seeds.
- Yogurt: We use plain whole-milk Greek yogurt for a thick, creamy base. Icelandic-style yogurt works well, too (you are just looking for a thicker-style yogurt). If you can only find regular, thinner yogurt, strain it through cheesecloth for a few hours, just like we do when making homemade labneh.
- Garlic: The amount is entirely up to you. Our family loves to use 2 medium cloves, which gives the sauce a bold, garlicky flavor. Adjust the amount based on your preference.
- Olive oil: A drizzle adds flavor and a touch of richness.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice brightens the dip and brings all the ingredients together.
- Fresh herbs: We never pass up an opportunity to add fresh herbs, and we absolutely love the classic combination of fresh dill and mint here.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Tzatziki Sauce
Tip 1: Grate the cucumber. Start by grating your cucumber. A standard box grater takes less than a minute, or you can use the grater attachment on your food processor.
Tip 2: Salt the cucumber. Sprinkling salt over the grated cucumber and leaving it for 5 minutes improves both the flavor and texture (trust us). The salt seasons the cucumber, concentrates its flavor (aka makes it taste more “cucumbery”), and draws out excess water that would inevitably make our sauce too runny.
Tip 3: Wring it out. After 5 minutes, place the salted cucumber in a clean dishcloth or cheesecloth and squeeze it dry. We want the cucumber’s flavor in our tzatziki, but not all the water that comes with it. (By the way, that cucumber water is delicious, so don’t throw it away! We add it to soups, grains, or salad dressings.)
Tip 4: Let the sauce rest. This one is so important! Stir the squeezed cucumber into the other ingredients and let the mixture sit for at least 10 minutes. We’re always amazed at how much better tzatziki sauce tastes after it’s had a moment to sit.
Just 10 minutes gives the flavors a chance to meld and makes the final sauce taste incredible.
What to Serve with Tzatziki Sauce
Tzatziki sauce can be served in so many different ways. We love it as part of a spread, served alongside pickles like pickled carrots or pickled beets and other Mediterranean dips like our hummus or baba ganoush with a side of warm flatbread or pita bread.
It is also fantastic with seafood and chicken. Next time you make this lemon dill baked salmon or poached salmon, add a spoonful of tzatziki right on top (it will be so good!). Or, try serving it alongside our juicy skillet chicken breasts.
You can even use it as a fresh, tangy spread for sandwiches and burgers. We love adding a generous spoonful to these turkey burgers, chicken burgers, and especially love it with our homemade veggie burgers!
Finally, you can never go wrong keeping it simple. Serve it as a quick dip for raw or roasted veggies, or spoon it over a fresh Greek salad.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why is my tzatziki watery? With our recipe, we recommend using a thick yogurt (like Greek yogurt) and salting and squeezing your cucumbers before adding them to the yogurt. This should keep your sauce thick and creamy. As it sits in the fridge, you might notice a little extra liquid seeps out. This shouldn’t be enough to make it watery, though. We simply stir it back into the yogurt before serving.
- Is tzatziki healthy? Yes, it’s packed with protein from the yogurt and has fresh veggies. We also particularly love how well it works with other healthy dishes like bean burgers, chicken breasts, and baked salmon.
- Does it taste better the next day? Yes, the garlic mellows and flavors meld. Plus, those salted and squeezed cucumbers are given more time to flavor and season the yogurt.
- How long does tzatziki last in the fridge? Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. We don’t recommend freezing it, as the cucumbers and yogurt will separate and become grainy once thawed.
More Dips and Spreads
Easy Tzatziki Sauce
- PREP
- TOTAL
Tzatziki is a creamy, delicious sauce made with cucumber, yogurt, and fresh herbs. Salting and wringing out your cucumbers is the secret to making the best tzatziki sauce. This seasoning makes them taste more “cucumbery” and removes excess water that would dilute the sauce. Use a thick plain yogurt for this (Greek or Icelandic yogurt is perfect).
You Will Need
1 large English hothouse cucumber or 3 to 4 small Persian cucumbers, grated (about 2 cups)
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups (16 ounces) plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 to 2 medium garlic cloves, finely grated (adjust based on your preference)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 large lemon), plus more to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, dill, or a combination
Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1Grate the cucumber and scatter it over a clean dishcloth or cheesecloth. Sprinkle evenly with the salt and let sit for 5 minutes.
2Gather the corners of the cloth and squeeze as much liquid as possible from the cucumber. Discard the liquid or save it for your next salad dressing.
3In a medium bowl, stir together the squeezed cucumber, yogurt, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and herbs. Season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
4Let the sauce sit for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to bloom.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Homemade tzatziki lasts in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. It might get runnier as it sits since the cucumbers will continue to release some of their water. Give a good stir before serving.
- Save the cucumber water and use it in salad dressings, soups, or grains.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
I am currently on the Mediterranean diet and wanted to make some fresh hummus. I found your site and made it. Came out great!! I did add some roasted red peppers and my husband loved it. Thank you for the step by step instructions.
I love the way you showed how much of ingrediants to put into tzatziki.
My go to recipe. I make it along side the hummus recipe from inspired taste which is equally as fabulous thank you
Wow, that’s amazing how you are making both!! Thanks so much for coming back 🙂
I am a fan of Greek food, especially tzatziki because I eat gyros often. I have to agree with Jeff Gatling concerning adding dill or mint to the sauce. Though I live in Connecticut now, I spent several years in Chicago, where gyros are wildly popular, and never had one with mint or dill in the sauce. Connecticut is slow to adopt gyros; places serving them are far and few between. There is a place near where I live that sells them, but they don’t come from a spit, but from frozen pre-sliced packaging, and they load up on the mint in the tzatziki. I’m reduced to buying pre-sliced gyro meat from the store, unless I make my own gyros meat, but at this point always make my own sauce. Thank you for your recipe. I will try it soon but will be leaving out mint or dill.
This sauce is delicious! Wondering if it can be frozen?
Hi Mary, I do think you can freeze, although, you might find the texture changes slightly once thawed.
I made this last night to pair with my Salmon. It was so easy and delicious. I usually buy it from the grocery store, because I thought it seemed difficult. This recipe was so easy I already told my friends about it. It is even better today.
I’ve tried this recipe and everyone liked it including my kids. I’ve watched you and your husband but this the first time I’ve tried one of your recipe. Thank you for sharing it with us. Do you have a cook book? Where can I buy it?
Hi Geraldine! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. We don’t have a cookbook yet. We are working on it 🙂
This Tzatziki sauce is a wonderful accompaniment to the falafel!!😍 So good! Thank you!
My ex is Greek and I lived there for 2 years. The entire time I was there I never had Tzatziki with either mint or dill. I learned how to make it from my ex’s grandmother. The method I use is slightly different. I combine the cucumber with the yogurt, salt, pepper, and garlic. Then, as I stir, I slowly add olive oil until it takes about 30 seconds for the olive oil to incorporate. I then put the lemon juice in last and stir it in quickly. Then I put it on almost anything. Scrambled eggs are amazing this way.
This is awesome. I know we are suppose to eat this as a dip or sauce but I can eat it right out of the container with a spoon. You guys never disappoint me with all the recipes I have tried. Keep up the great job.
I’ve made this tzatziki twice! Fantastic stuff!! I chop my cucumbers very finely rather than grating and skip the mint, both personal preferences. It ticks all my boxes. ?