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Ten Minute Tzatziki

April 4, 201713

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Ten Minute Tzatziki

Ten Minute Tzatziki Sauce

Recipe At-A-Glance

Ten Minute Tzatziki is ready in a snap, so you can use it as a sauce, dip, or salad dressing tonight! Plus, there’s a plant-based option!

Vegan-Option, Gluten-Free

Ready in 10 minutes

Jump Directly to Recipe

The recipe was originally published in August 2010. It was retested with reader feedback, rephotographed, rewritten, and republished for your enjoyment in April 2017.

This recipe right here, this simple, quick, and healthy recipe, was the very first recipe I ever posted on this website, and it’s simplicity, speed, and nutrition are exactly why it’s still a staple in our house now.

If you’ve never had (or heard of) tzatziki sauce, it’s a Greek yogurt sauce that is flavored with dill, cucumber, and fresh lemon juice. It’s amazing served with grilled or roasted meat (hello, gyros) and also works beautifully as a dip or salad dressing. It’s amazingly versatile, and I think it’s a sauce that every healthy cook should have in their repertoire.

Traditional tzatziki sauce is an overnight (or even longer) event—you need to strain fresh yogurt and get all the liquid out of shredded cucumber and let flavors meld and develop for hours—if you are ever looking for a fun weekend project, I highly recommend trying out making tzatziki the traditional way.

But if you need some tzatziki flavor on a crazy busy weeknight? Well, I’ve got a hacked together 10 minute version for you that’s almost as good as the real deal.

Ten Minute Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients

Ten Minute Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients

This is probably a big “duh!” moment—but if you eat dairy, you’re going to want to use Greek yogurt here. You want the thickness and tanginess. I recommend going for full fat or, at the very least, 2% for the best flavor. This isn’t the place to shave off calories and use non-fat yogurt.

If you’re plant-based, you can still make this work! Just search out and find some plain (unsweetened) soy, coconut or almond milk yogurt. I’ve even seen a thick and tangy “Greek-style” version of coconut milk yogurt at Whole Foods before—which would obviously perfect. A word of warning though: many of the “plain” versions of plant-based yogurts are still sweetened, so make sure you are reading labels!

Since the plant-based yogurts don’t quite have the tang of the regular Greek yogurt, you’ll want to add a bit more fresh lemon juice—I made note of the tweaks for a plant-based version in the recipe.

Ten Minute Tzatziki Sauce

As the recipe name suggests, this recipe is ready to go after a short chill in the fridge, but, obviously, the longer you can wait, the better the flavors meld together.

Since we’re using raw garlic here, it’s going to have quite a bite when you first make it (which I love, but some folks don’t). That garlic bite will mellow out the longer the tzatziki rests in the fridge. If you want to avoid the garlic bite, you can use garlic powder or pre-minced garlic from the store. Enjoy!

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Ten Minute Tzatziki Sauce

Ten Minute Tzatziki


★ 1 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Cassie Johnston
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Total Time: 10 min
  • Yield: 1 1/2 cups
  • Category: Sauces
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Description

Ten Minute Tzatziki is ready in a snap, so you can use it as a sauce, dip, or salad dressing tonight!


Ingredients

  • 1/2 large cucumber, peeled and diced (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1 cup plain, full fat or 2% Greek yogurt
  • 1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 2 teaspoons dried dill or 1 tablespoon fresh minced dill
  • Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon juice and 1/2 teaspoon zest)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well.
  2. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

For a plant-based version: Sub in plain almond, coconut, or soy yogurt for the Greek yogurt and add the juice and zest from an additional 1/2 lemon.

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13 Comments

  1. Cassie says

    August 4, 2010 at 1:16 pm

    I love Greek salad because all the flavor comes from the toppings, you barely need to dress it with anything (other than tzatziki of course!).

    Reply
  2. Jessica says

    August 5, 2010 at 11:27 am

    What kind of calorie counter do you use?

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 5, 2010 at 11:48 am

      Hi Jessica! I use the nutrition tracker on Sparkpeople.com.

      Reply
  3. Heidelberg Kindergeburtstag says

    May 8, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.
    I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!

    Reply
  4. Juliette says

    April 4, 2017 at 8:32 am

    I’ve been trying to find an easy recipe to add to my falafel sandwiches and this looks perfect! Can’t wait to try it out tonight.

    Reply
  5. Brianne says

    April 4, 2017 at 11:59 am

    I am literally eating a Greek salad with Tzatziki and one of your Lentil Walnut veggie burgers on top right now. So good! Can’t wait to try it with homemade Tzatziki next time!

    Reply
  6. lyndsay says

    April 4, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    This and the Greek turkey burgers are two of my favourite recipes. We actually just had them for dinner last night!

    Reply
  7. anne says

    April 4, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    This is going to sound weird, but the last 2 tzatzikis I have substituted soft tofu for the yogurt. You can hardly taste the difference once everything else is added & it sits for a few hours. It has a lot less calories & good for those who can’t do dairy.

    Reply
  8. Ingunn says

    April 6, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    I’m digging this new setup with a new, deep-diving post every Tuesday and then a corresponding newsletter later in the week! So I’ll comment on this week’s newsletter here. I love the idea of the Mediterranean diet, but it seems like everyone just reads the headlines and thinks “ooh it must be the wine and olive oil” and that’s as far as they take it.

    Reply
  9. Stick War Games says

    April 11, 2017 at 3:52 am

    This is my favourite. So easy and very yummy.

    Reply
  10. Melissa says

    April 11, 2017 at 9:52 am

    I love tzatziki! Its one of my favourite things to eat with falafels and burgers! Yum!

    http://www.melodramaticadventures.com

    Reply
  11. madalin stunt cars 2 says

    April 18, 2017 at 5:32 am

    I am literally eating a Greek salad with Tzatziki and one of your Lentil Walnut veggie burgers on top right now. So good! Can’t wait to try it with homemade Tzatziki next time!

    Reply
  12. Alex says

    February 25, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    This was awful. Not to be a hater. It seemed like it would be ok. If I went back I would probably try to figure out a different balance that definitely didn’t involve lemon zest and maybe subbed in some vinegar. This tasted like a raw garlic lemon yogurt sauce.

    ★

    Reply

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