By Cassie Johnston
Vegan-Option, Gluten-Free
10 minutes
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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.
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.
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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1 from 1 reviews
Ten Minute Tzatziki is ready in a snap, so you can use it as a sauce, dip, or salad dressing tonight!
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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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!).
What kind of calorie counter do you use?
Hi Jessica! I use the nutrition tracker on Sparkpeople.com.
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!
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.
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!
This and the Greek turkey burgers are two of my favourite recipes. We actually just had them for dinner last night!
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.
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.
This is my favourite. So easy and very yummy.
I love tzatziki! Its one of my favourite things to eat with falafels and burgers! Yum!
http://www.melodramaticadventures.com
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.
I think tzatziki is *supposed* to taste like raw garlic lemon yogurt sauce. :-)
[…] You can carve it up and make several meals out of it. You can slather it up the next day with homemade greek yogurt ziziki sauce for a whole new flavor. Slice it up for healthy sandwiches. I like to chop mine in chunks of […]
I have tried to make homemade tzatziki in the past and it never turned out “like the restaurant’s.” But this did! Very tasty. I simplified it by zesting everything–since I had the Microplane out for the lemon zest, I also grated the garlic and onion. Eazy peezy. Thanks for the great recipe.
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