Last updated on September 21st, 2018
Tzatziki is the king of Mediterranean sauces. I love its principal flavorings of tangy yogurt and fresh cucumber, and its subtle background notes of garlic, dill, mint, and lemon. It’s a charismatic condiment for grilled meats (especially chicken and lamb), warmed or fried wedges of pita bread, and, of course, falafels. My step-by-step recipe:
How to pronounce “tzatziki”? I pronounce it “taht-ZEE-kee.” If you are familiar with the Greek language, I hope you’ll either confirm or correct my pronunciation by posting a comment at the end of this recipe!
To start, obtain a cucumber. I prefer a large hot house or “English” cucumber here, because the smooth-skinned creature doesn’t require peeling or seeding. If you use bumpy-skinned garden-type cukes, you’ll want to peel and seed them first.
Using a box grater or the shredding disk of a food processor, grate the cucumber. As you can see, my English subject fit right through the feed tube of my food processor.
Tip the gratings into a bowl, and sprinkle them with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Use your hands to mix the salt into the cucumber bits. Then let the mixture sit for a good 10 minutes (or a bad 10 minutes, depending on the kind of day you are having), while the cucumber renders its vast quantities of liquid.
You see, we don’t want all of the liquid from the cucumber, for it would make for a very wet tzatziki sauce. We want only the concentrated flavor of the cucumber flesh.
Just look at the liquid that has been exuded after a few minutes.
After 10 minutes have passed, place a sieve over a bowl, and put the cucumber in the sieve.
Then dump the drained bits onto a clean kitchen towel.
Twist up the towel, and then squeeze like mad to press out as much liquid as you possibly can.
As you can see, my English cucumber rendered almost 1 cup of liquid!
And that cucumber, when I opened the towel, revealed only a small fraction of its former self.
Onward! Tip 2 cups of good-quality Greek yogurt into a medium bowl.
Add the grated cucumber to the yogurt…
And stir with a fork until well combined.
Also stir in 3 or 4 minced or pressed cloves of garlic. My garlic cloves were small, so I used five of ’em.
And I used my new garlic press to squeeze the garlic essence into the sauce. Sorry about the blurry photo above. My hands were shaking in anticipation of homemade tzatziki!
Now stir in a tablespoon (or more or less) of fresh, finely minced mint…
And another tablespoon or so of dill.
To brighten the works, add the juice of half a lemon…
And finish the sauce with a nice pinch of salt.
Now taste the condiment. Does it need more garlic? Mint? Dill? Perhaps another squirt of lemon, or more salt? Amend your sauce as your taste buds indicate.
Tip: If your sauce is too chunky, just pour the whole kit and caboodle into your food processor, and blitz for a few seconds. Processing this way will turn a too-thick sauce into a just-right sauce.
To insure the very best flavor, cover and refrigerate the sauce for several hours (or overnight). The flavors will mingle and intensify.
Besides its use as a sauce for homemade falafels (I’m filming my falafel recipe for you on Sunday — please check back!)…
Tzatziki is also wonderful for snacking. Just serve it with crackers or fried wedges of pita bread. A little wine on the side won’t hurt.
As I mentioned earlier, tzatsiki is a must-have accompaniment for grilled chicken and lamb. You might like to keep it on hand during barbecue season.
Did you know that Tzatziki is an ancient Greek condiment, probably as old as Zeus himself? Well, that’s the rumor around Athens. I hope you’ll try my homemade version some day.
xKevin
Here’s the printable:
A fresh-tasting cucumber-and-mint condiment. Serve it over falafels, or as a dipping sauce for warm wedges of pita bread. Also delicious on grilled meats, such as chicken and lamb.
Ingredients
- 1 large hot-house (a/k/a "English") cucumber, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for flavoring
- 2 cups good-quality Greek yogurt
- 3-4 large cloves of garlic (or to taste), minced
- 1 tablespoon finely-minced mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon finely-minced dill
- Juice of half a lemon
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Put the grated cucumber in a medium bowl, and sprinkle it with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Mix with your hands. Then let the mixture sit for 10 minutes while the cucumber releases its liquid. Drain, then transfer the cucumber to a clean kitchen towel. Tightly twist the towel over a bowl or sink to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Discard the liquid.
- Tip the yogurt into a medium bowl. Use a fork to stir in the cucumber, garlic, mint leaves, dill, lemon juice, and salt. Taste carefully for seasonings -- you might like to add more herbs, lemon juice, and/or salt. Cover and refrigerate the sauce for several hours or overnight. Serve with falafels, warm wedges of pita bread, and all kinds of grilled meats, especially chicken and lamb.
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Lucy says
Kevin, thank you for this. Tzatziki is a summer staple at our house. Try substituting adobo for the salt – works really well.
Lucy
Janet says
I have dreamed of knowing how to make this wonderful condiment for many years. Thanks Kevin, for making my dream come true! There was a little burger stand on the corner by work, owned by a family from Greece. The burgers were good, the Greek food was exceptional, especially loved the sauce.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Lucy – Thanks for the adobo salt tip.
Hi Janet – Glad to be of service to you. Enjoy the sauce!
Karen Stein says
A beautiful rendition of this sauce, thank you. However, a small adjustment to the pronounciation: tza-TZEE-kee. The tz ‘s go together.
Susan Scott says
Learned to make this in Greece this spring. Totally yummy, great topping for the traditional foods such as kabobs and falafels as well as burgers, vegetables and as a sandwich spread.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Karen – I was hoping someone would correct my pronunciation. Thank you!
Hi Susan – Yes, tzatziki is delicious on almost anything!
Connie M. says
Thank you, Kevin. THIS is great. I had forgotten about Tzatziki sauce and I just love it on anything.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Connie M. – It’s a wonderful sauce, and SO easy to make!
Julie R says
Thank you for an even better version of this sauce than I have made many times. The recipe that I have used, does not call for fresh mint. Oh, but I will be changing that. Next time I will use your way of making this yummy sauce, Kevin, as I love to use fresh mint when ever possible. Can’t wait to try this sauce with the extra ingredient added. I love to eat this sauce on soft pita bread, along with sliced onion and sliced tomato.
Olivia says
you forgot to list garlic in the recipe section !!! good thing I love to look at your pictures.
I agree with the corrected pronunciation. “tz” is the important sound. good luck trying to pronounce it the first few times 🙂
Sherry Pace says
Yummy as always! A perfect way to use up a whole English cucumber when they are on sale 3 for $5 or some such nonsense. Sometimes we pronounce it cha chee kee sauce…However you pronounce it – it comes out “delicious”.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Julie – Tzatziki on pita with sliced tomato and onion…YUM.
Hi Olivia – Thanks for the heads-up re garlic in printable recipe. Fixed now!
Hi Sherry – Yes, delicious by any name!
Danella on the Canadian west coast says
Look so forward to your posts. This one is delicious as usual.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Danella — Thank you for your kind words. Let me know how the Tzatziki turns out for you.
Elaine says
I know what you can do with the remaining cucumber juice. Make a healthy facial mask which will tighten skin and reduce wrinkles especially around the mouth. Use one half of the cucumber juice and add one egg white. Rub on face and leave for at least 15 minutes. Rinse off with cold water. Repeat twice a week. Keep the other half of the cucumber juice in the refrigerator and use for your next treatment. I understand it takes a couple of months before you start to really see a difference.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Elaine – Remembering that there is salt in this cucumber juice, would you still recommend it as a skin-tightening treatment? (Hey, I’ll give it a try!)
Cindi says
YESSSS.I LOVE THIS! My friend made a similar kind..left the cuke diced, used Italian seasoning,onion powder…& FETTA CHEESE!..I SO LOVE HIS
Lainey says
You can also make this with grated zucchini. Can’t really tell the difference.
Elizabeth says
Made a huge batch the of this the other day. I added the cucumber water to store bought falafal mix (I know homemade is much better, but it the mix works in a time/hunger crunch). Used the leftover Tzatziki to make greek chicken salad pitas for lunch the next day.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Elizabeth – I’m so glad you made the Tzatziki Sauce. Such a versatile condiment!