Classic Greek Tzatziki Sauce

Fresh, light, and fragrant - with the taste of the Mediterranean! Classic Greek tzatziki sauce is ideal with meat, fish, or poultry. It's also used as a salad dressing and as a dish in its own right - a dip for vegetable pieces, chips, flatbreads, seafood, or croutons.

katushafinAuthor avatar
Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:
Translation table of volumetric measures
Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe
By weight of the composition:
Proteins 18 % 3 g
Fats 59 % 10 g
Carbohydrates 24 % 4 g
125 kcal
GI: 50 / 50 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 15 min
  1. Step 1:

    Step 1

    How do you make tzatziki sauce? First, gather the ingredients. Choose plain yogurt with no additives. Traditionally, tzatziki is made with Greek yogurt, which is very thick. If you can't find any, take regular yogurt and hang it overnight in cheesecloth - it'll become much denser.

  2. Step 2:

    Step 2

    First, prepare the herbs. Rinse them very well under running water and dry them. Then chop them finely.

  3. Step 3:

    Step 3

    Now for the cucumber. If it's large with thick skin, peel it. It's also better to remove the seeds from that kind. Leave a young cucumber with thin skin as is. Grate the clean, washed cucumber on a coarse grater. Transfer it to a separate bowl - you can even put the grated cucumber in a sieve set over a bowl. Add a little salt and leave it for about five minutes.

  4. Step 4:

    Step 4

    Peel the garlic and mince the cloves finely. I used a garlic press, but you can grate it.

  5. Step 5:

    Step 5

    By now the cucumber has released its juice, which needs to be drained. If you kept it in a sieve, just let the liquid drain off. If it was sitting in a bowl, squeeze the cucumber with your hands first, then drain off the excess.

  6. Step 6:

    Step 6

    Add the chopped herbs, the grated and squeezed cucumber, the garlic, salt, and pepper to the yogurt.

  7. Step 7:

    Step 7

    Mix the sauce well and taste for salt. Add more if needed. Let the tzatziki rest for about 15 minutes. Drizzle it with olive oil before serving.

  • The sauce came out thick, fresh, and very fragrant! I served it with meat - a perfect match! As a substitute for yogurt, you can use matsoni, kefir, ayran, soured milk, or thick homemade sour cream. Use any herbs too - dill or parsley, and mint is perfect. You can add finely chopped onion to the sauce. If the fermented-milk product isn't very tangy, add some lemon juice or wine vinegar. You can also add grated zest. This sauce also works for hot dogs, burgers, and sandwiches.

Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish

  • Fresh cucumbers - 15  kcal/100g
  • Acidophilus milk, 3.2% fat - 58  kcal/100g
  • 'Rastishka' - 122  kcal/100g
  • Danone drinkable yogurt - 76  kcal/100g
  • 'Agusha' drinkable yogurt - 87  kcal/100g
  • 'Actimel' plain - 83  kcal/100g
  • Danone yogurt, 2.2% fat - 96  kcal/100g
  • 'Mazhetel' - 48  kcal/100g
  • Ehrmann full-fat yogurt - 152  kcal/100g
  • Yogurt, 3.5% fat - 68  kcal/100g
  • Plain yogurt, 1.5% fat - 48  kcal/100g
  • Nonfat milk yogurt - 38  kcal/100g
  • Garlic - 143  kcal/100g
  • Ground black pepper - 255  kcal/100g
  • Fresh dill - 38  kcal/100g
  • Salt - 0  kcal/100g
  • Olive oil - 913  kcal/100g

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