You only need a few simple ingredients from the fridge to make this Homemade Tzatziki Sauce recipe. It comes together in less than five minutes.
For more ideas, check out all our recipe posts.
When I’m in the grocery store, I try really hard to not add any snacks to my cart. I love junk food and will eat so much of it if it’s in the house. So, if I leave them in the grocery store, I’m not tempted.
Then, when I get home and feel like snacking, I just go to the garden and grab a fresh cucumber and make this homemade tzatziki sauce. What’s good about it is you only use half a cucumber (plus a handful of ingredients you probably already have at home) to make it, which means you can use the other half for dipping.
Which, I’m gonna be honest, always feels a little cannibalistic to me.
But wait. First thing’s first: What is tzatziki? It’s a Greek yogurt sauce filled with bright flavors. The creamy sauce is made a little spicy from garlic, a little flavorful from fresh dill, and all together delicious. It’s often drizzled on traditional Greek recipes, like gyros, or Mediterranean recipes, like shawarma. One of the Greek restaurants here in town serves it under keftedes (spiced beef patties) and it’s so, so good with those. The cool cucumber sauce is the perfect balance for the spicy patties.
If you’re eating it as a snack at home, you can also serve it with other fresh vegetables, like carrot sticks, or with pita chips or toasted pita bread. It’s a really great appetizer for any Greek food you might be serving for dinner, like our Homemade Spanakopita. Or, you can use it on top of a burger to make Greek burgers.
Making tzatziki is just one way to use up an abundance of cucumbers. For more ways, check out all of our Budget-Friendly Cucumber Recipes.
Homemade Tzatziki Sauce Recipe
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Homemade Tzatziki Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/2 cucumber
- 3 large cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh dill
- 5.3 oz. plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
How To Make Homemade Tzatziki Sauce:
Slice half a cucumber and spread it out across a tray. Sprinkle it with salt. Let it sit for a little while, then use paper towels to remove any excess moisture from the cucumbers.
If you skip this step, you run the risk of the excess liquid in your cucumber making a watery tzatziki sauce. If that happens, it’ll still taste delicious. The consistency will just be a little off.
Cut the cucumber into chunks and add them to a single-serve blender cup.
Side note: If you don’t have a single-serve cup for your blender, you can use either the blender cup or a food processor. Both of those will work. I just think the blender cup is a lot easier since it’s smaller.
Chop the garlic into large chunks and add them to the blender cup.
Chop the dill and add it to the cup.
Finally, add the yogurt to the blender cup.
Blend until everything is combined.
Quick side note: Taste your tzatziki sauce here. Different yogurt brands can affect the flavoring of the sauce. If the tzatkizi tastes a little sour, for best results, add less of the lemon juice. Adding the full tablespoon might make it too sour for your liking.
Also, I use bottled lemon juice because it’s cheaper, but you could use fresh lemon juice if you have extra lemons around your house.
Add in the lemon juice and salt. Stir to combine.
Homemade Tzatziki Sauce: Frequently Asked Questions
We have a bunch of popular Weight Watchers recipes, so I’ve been getting some questions about if this is a Weight Watchers tzatziki sauce. The simple answer: Yes, it is.
But, that’s by sheer coincidence.
I didn’t set out to make this Weight Watchers-friendly. And in fact, I made this originally way before I had any Weight Watcher recipes on the blog. But, as long as you use non-fat Greek yogurt instead of full-fat Greek yogurt, this dip is 0 Weight Watchers Freestyle Points.
If you’re looking for more ideas, we have a bunch of Weight Watchers recipes you can check out.
Since tzatziki is a yogurt-based sauce, the brand of yogurt you buy is really important to the taste of the sauce. Some are tangier than others. Using those may make the tzatziki dip taste more sour.
That’s why we don’t recommend blending the lemon juice in with the yogurt and other ingredients. That way, you can taste the yogurt sauce after it’s blended and change the amount of lemon juice if needed. If you taste it and think the tzatziki is sour from the yogurt, add less lemon juice.
If you didn’t salt your cucumbers and you’re left with a really thin tzatziki sauce, you could run it through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Leave it that way overnight, discard the extra liquid that drains out, and serve the thick yogurt sauce that’s left behind.
Don’t try to thicken it by adding more yogurt. That actually won’t change the consistency at all and will actually just end up diluting the flavor of your tzatziki.
If you’re looking for an authentic Greek tzatziki sauce recipe, you’re going to find it’s made with yogurt, like this one. However, if all you have is sour cream, go ahead and swap that in a 1:1 swap.
Can you still consider it an authentic tzatziki recipe with sour cream? No. But, it’ll still be a delicious recipe, and really, sometimes you just need to go with what you have.
Store your homemade tzatziki sauce in an airtight container in the fridge.
It’ll be good for about four days if it’s kept in the fridge in an airtight container.
Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
You only need a couple ingredients from the fridge to make this Homemade Tzatziki Sauce recipe. It goes well with veggies, pita, crackers, and more.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cucumber
- 3 large cloves garlic
- 5.3 oz. Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon dill
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Slice half a cucumber and spread it out across a tray. Sprinkle it with salt. Let it sit for a little while, then use paper towels to remove any excess moisture from the cucumbers.
- Cut the cucumber into chunks and add them to a single-serve blender cup.
- Chop the garlic into large chunks and add them to the blender cup.
- Chop the dill and add it to the cup.
- Finally, add the yogurt to the blender cup.
- Blend until everything is combined.
- Add in the lemon juice and salt. Stir to combine.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 30Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 2mgSodium 79mgCarbohydrates 3gFiber 0gSugar 2gProtein 4g
Have you made our easy Tzatziki Sauce recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments.
Mary
Friday 25th of August 2023
Your homemade tzatziki sauce is very good. This blended recipe makes it easy to hide the fact that there is cucumber in it! :-)
Carolyn ~ homework
Thursday 21st of May 2015
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful creativity. You guys make it look so easy and we are going to have to try it out this summer! Have a wonderful and creative day! carolyn
Laurie
Wednesday 20th of May 2015
I have never tired this before - but it looks marvelous! Thank you for sharing with us at Brag About It! ~Laurie
Miz Helen
Monday 18th of May 2015
Your Tzatziki Sauce looks delicious! Hope you are having a great day and thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday this week. Come Back Soon! Miz Helen
Random Musings
Sunday 17th of May 2015
Love the idea of home made dips - I imagine this is much nicer than shop bought! Debbie