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Tzatziki Sauce (classic + 2 variations)

Greek recipe for homemade tzatziki sauce with all the right tips to make it thick and creamy plus two more easy tzatziki variations with carrot and beetroot! Can be served as a dip or a healthy side to many dishes!
Course Appetizer, Dip, Snack
Cuisine gluten-free, Greek, Healthy, Mediterranean, turkish
Keyword cucumber, garlic, sauce, tzatziki
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 6 (about 1/4 cup per serving)
Calories 49 kcal
Author Makos

Ingredients

Classic recipe:

  • 1 small cucumber, grated (about half a cup / 125 grams)
  • 1 cup (250 grams) Greek strained yogurt (the thicker the better)
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
  • 2 teaspoons e.v. olive oil
  • 1-2 tablespoons dill weed, chopped
  • 1 minced garlic clove
  • salt and freshly grated black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Strain the yogurt (optional). See notes for how to do that.

  2. Grate the cucumber through the large holes of a box grater and transfer it to a cheesecloth. Squeeze hard to get rid off the extra moisture (adding a little bit of salt helps to extract the moisture).

    If you're bored to do this, at least squeeze it hard between your hands!

  3. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Taste and add more salt, vinegar or garlic if needed (keep in mind that the garlic taste will become stronger with time).

  4. Store in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors mature and develop.

    Serve.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

For the carrot tzatziki:

Replace the cucumber with 1/2 a cup of grated carrot (best to squeez out the extra liquid) and replace the raw garlic with 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic powder. Also add 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.

For the beetroot tzatziki:

Replace the cucumber with 1/2 cup of grated beetroot (best to squeez out the extra liquid). Also add 1-2 tablespoon chopped capers.

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  • Whole milk yogurt works best for this recipe.
  • If your yogurt is not very thick, transfer it to a cheesecloth or kitchen towel and strain it for a few hours or overnight. The procedure is the same as making homemade Labneh (just watch the short video in this how to make Labneh article) Use 1 1/2 cups of yogurt if you plan to strain it, because it will reduce in volume.
  • Tzatziki will last in the fridge for at least 4-5 days. Double the recipe if you want more.
  • Some people like tzatziki with very intense garlic flavor and others with very mild. I suggest you start with 1 garlic clove per cup of yogurt. If you like a very mild flavor you can use half garlic clove. If you prefer a strong garlic flavor you can use 2 garlic cloves per cup of yogurt.
  • For all the variations you can replace the raw garlic with 1 teaspoon dried garlic powder for milder taste.
  • If you don't like dill you can replace it with fresh mint or parsley (or just omit it).

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