Creamy, tangy tzatziki sauce can be made at home for your favorite Greek recipes.
Have you seen the new My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 movie? I haven’t seen it yet, but you can bet that there is no doubt that I will be seeing it very soon. I adored the first one. I mean who didn’t? And to this day, I can’t look at a bottle of Windex without thinking of it.
I decided to share one of the first Greek things I ever had. And oddly enough, I first had this when I lived in Germany. It was also the first time that I ever ate at a food truck! When we lived in Germany in the late ’90s, on certain days of the week, there would be a Greek food truck outside the post exchange. Any time I saw it, I would always get one thing- “Pommes frites.” Yes, a pouch of fries, but not just any. There was something about the way they made these and they served them with tzatziki sauce! It was delicious.
Also a little side note – I despise cucumbers. I mean, I hate them with every fiber of my being. I have to hold my breath and do the “mouth breathe so you don’t smell anything” kind of breathing when I work with them in the kitchen. Seriously.
There’s only 2 ways I can eat cucumbers: Pickles and Tzatziki Sauce.
Period.
Now on to the recipe! To begin, peel and seed an English cucumber, then dice it up into about 1/2 inch pieces, or smaller.
Place the diced cucumber in a bowl and sprinkle it with a tablespoon of kosher salt. Give it a stir.
Transfer the salted cucumber to a wire sieve. Place the sieve on the bowl, then place a smaller bowl on top of the cucumbers. Place something heavy, like a bottle of olive oil into the bowl. What you are doing is simply creating a press to remove all of the excess liquid from the cucumber. Let it sit this way for 30 minutes.
After it has pressed for 30 minutes, pour the cucumbers into several layers of paper towel, or cheese cloth and squeeze out every last drop of liquid that you can.
Place the cucumbers in your food processor along with: 16 ounces plain Greek yogurt, the juice of a fresh lemon, 1 clove of grated garlic, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and a teaspoon of zest from the lemon. Finally, add in either 1 tablespoon of fresh dill or a teaspoon of dry dill – whichever you have on hand. Pulse this in your food processor until it is smooth as can be.
Transfer the sauce to a dish, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight is even better.
That’s it! You’ve made your own tzatziki sauce. Use it as a dip with pita bread, spooned into a gyro, or on a plate of pommes frites! (Or how ever you like.)
I drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top before serving. Enjoy!
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Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber
- 1 Tb kosher salt
- 16 oz plain Greek yogurt, or 2 cups
- 1 lemon – zest 1 tsp from the peel, then juice it
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tb fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon of dry dill
Instructions
- To begin, peel and seed an English cucumber, then dice it up into about 1/2 inch pieces, or smaller.
- Place the diced cucumber in a bowl and sprinkle it with the kosher salt. Give it a stir.
- Transfer the salted cucumber to a wire sieve. Place the sieve on the bowl, then place a smaller bowl on top of the cucumbers. Place something heavy, like a bottle of olive oil into the bowl. What you are doing is simply creating a press to remove all of the excess liquid from the cucumber. Let it sit this way for 30 minutes.
- After it has pressed for 30 minutes, pour the cucumbers into several layers of paper towel, or cheese cloth and squeeze out every last drop of liquid that you can.
- Place the cucumbers in your food processor along with all of the remaining ingredients.
- Pulse this in your food processor until it is smooth as can be.
- Transfer the sauce to a dish, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight is even better.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If nutritional values are provided for this recipe, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands of ingredients you use. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste or for serving. If nutritional values are very important to you, I suggest using your favorite nutritional calculating tool with the brands you use.
A good tzatziki sauce is always a plus to have on hand!
This is a great main-stay recipe to Pin for Keeping! Great post!
Mmmn, yum. I love Tzatziki sauce! I agree, it’s great with fries.
I could put this on everything! I must try your recipe…
Tzatziki sauce is the BEST. I love it with everything – and I’m not crazy about cucumbers either. I think I like them better than you, but definitely not my favorite. But tzatziki is a whole different thing :-)
All I need is a spoon for this dip!!
I love Tzatziki sauce so much! :) I love the idea of eating it with fries!