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This Homemade Tzatziki Sauce is creamy, tangy, and packed with fresh flavor! Made with thick Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, dill, garlic, and lemon juice, this easy Tzatziki recipe is ready with just minutes of prep. Perfect as a dip, dressing, or sauce for gyros, grilled meats, or veggies.
Homemade Tzatziki Sauce at a Glance
- What is Tzatziki? Tzatziki Sauce is a flavorful Mediterranean condiment that is made with yogurt, cucumber, dill, and garlic. It is creamy, herby, and incredibly fresh tasting.
- Crazy Easy Recipe. With a handful of ingredients and less than 10 minutes of hands on prep, you will have the best Tzatziki sauce with authentic flavor.
- Incredibly Versatile. Tzatziki is not only delicious and served as a dip for warm pita or raw veggies, but it adds a fresh, creamy finish to sandwiches, gyros, chicken shawarma, grilled meats, or as a dipping sauce for meatballs.
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
Recipe Highlights
Ingredients for Tzatziki Sauce
- Yogurt: Plain Greek yogurt is key, as regular yogurt is simply too thin. While you can nonfat Greek yogurt, I recommend whole milk or 2% for a rich, creamy texture.
- Cucumber: Seedless cucumbers (like English or Persian) work best. If using garden cucumbers, peel and remove seeds before grating.
- Garlic: Fresh grated garlic provides the best flavor. Use a Microplane or garlic press to avoid large chunks.
- Dill: Fresh dill for the freshest flavor.
- Lemon Juice: Only use the juice of fresh lemons! Jarred lemon juice will make this sauce taste bitter and leave an unpleasant aftertaste.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Adds richness and helps the flavors meld.
- Salt: Use kosher salt, not sea salt or table salt to enhance the flavor without making the sauce overly salt.
How to Make Tzatziki Sauce
Follow these simple steps for perfect, non-watery homemade Tzatziki.
- Prepare Cucumber. Use a box grater or food processor with a shredding disc to grate your cucumber. Place the grated cucumber in a fine mesh strainer and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. Then, transfer to a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth and squeeze out all excess moisture (just as you do for grated zucchini when making zucchini bread or zucchini muffins).
Kristen's Tip
Salting and draining the cucumber is essential to prevent watery sauce. Do NOT skip this step!
- Combine Ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, squeezed cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, dill, salt, and olive oil.
- Chill. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld.
- Serve. Before serving, transfer to a serving dish and drizzle with a little olive oil for a beautiful finish.
Tips for Storing Tzatziki Sauce
Homemade Tzatziki will last for up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Past 3 days, the cucumber will begin to break down and water down the sauce.
- Watery Sauce? If your sauce becomes watery within the 3 days of preparation, chances are you did not properly drain your cucumber. To remedy this issue, you can drain the prepared Tzatziki sauce over a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth to remove the excess liquid.
Serving Suggestions
While Tzatziki sauce is traditionally served along Greek and Mediterranean dishes, it pairs well with Indian cuisine (much like Raita), and can be used as fresh and unique replacement for tartar sauce or ranch dressing. Below are a few of my favorite pairings to inspire you.
- As a Dip: With warm pita bread and/or fresh vegetables are the obvious options. Beyond that, Tzatziki is a fabulous dipping sauce for baked fries, fish sticks, baked Italian meatballs, falafels, and more!
- As a Sauce: Serve on top of grilled veggies, grilled meat, Greek chicken, or even baked fish. I love dolloping it on lemon baked cod.
- As a Condiment: Complete a sandwich or wrap with a healthy dollop of Tzatziki sauce. It is the perfect choice for chicken gyros, veggie wraps, or even a classic burger. I love mixing chickpeas with Tzatziki and stuffing into a pita for a quick and tasty lunch.
- Add to Salads/Grain Bowls: Add a dollop of homemade Tzatziki to Greek quinoa salad, Mediterranean chickpea salad, or Mediterranean couscous salad for a creamy finish.
- Alongside Spicy Dishes: Tame down the spice in dishes like Instant Pot butter chicken, chicken shawarma, or vegetarian curry. I typically omit the dill when pairing outside of Mediterranean flavored dishes, but that is a personal preference.
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Homemade Tzatziki Sauce
Made with thick Greek yogurt, grated cucumber, dill, garlic, and lemon juice, this easy Tzatziki recipe is ready with just minutes of prep. Perfect as a dip, dressing, or sauce for gyros, grilled meats, or veggies.
Ingredients
- ½ large Hothouse cucumber, AKA English or seedless cucumber
- 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, finely grated
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, + more for salting cucumber
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash and dry ½ large Hothouse cucumber then finely grate it using a box grater or food processor fitted with the grating blade.
- Place the grated cucumber into a fine-mesh strainer and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, place the cucumber into a piece of cheesecloth and squeeze out any excess liquid. Alternatively, you place the cucumber in a mesh strainer and use a cup or spoon to press the excess liquid out of the cucumber.
- Mix together 2 cups plain Greek yogurt, 4 cloves fresh garlic (grated), ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 2 tablespoons fresh dill, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice until well combined. Gently stir in cucumber.
- Refrigerate for at least 60 minutes before serving.
- When ready to serve, drizzle with additional olive oil if desired.
Notes
Storage: Tzatziki Sauce should be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Any longer amount of time, the cucumber will begin to break down and the sauce will become a bit watery.
Watery Sauce? Drain the prepared Tzatziki sauce over a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth to remove the excess liquid.
Using a Garden Cucumber: If using a garden cucumber in place of a seedless Cucumber, be sure to peel and seed before grating.
Using a Persian Cucumber: You will need 2 small persian cucumbers to replace ½ a hothouse cucumber. No need to peel or seed.
Yogurt: Non-fat, whole milk, or 2% plain Greek yogurt are all suitable for Tzatziki. For an authentic, luscious sauce, I advise using whole milk yogurt.
Dill: Omit the dill if serving with curries or Indian dishes.
Nutrition
Calories: 48kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 5gFat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 309mgPotassium: 98mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 25IUVitamin C: 1.5mgCalcium: 58mgIron: 0.1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @amindfullmom or tag #amindfullmom!
This post was originally published in 2018 and updated in 2025.
This tzatziki sauce was fantastic. Much better than store bought. Went perfect with the lamb I made for dinner! Will definitely be making again.
Thanks for sharing Brandy! So happy to hear you enjoyed it.
This tzatziki sauce is my absolute favorite!! So creamy and amazing flavor from the fresh dill. We drizzled ours over buddha bowls and it was the perfect topping. Thank you!
We love this! We used it on a gyro and everyone loved it!
One of my favorite summer sauces. Love dipping veggies in tzatziki. I will give your recipe a try. The texture is amazing!