How to Make Tzatziki Sauce for a Light, Flavorful Snack

Skip the pre-made containers! Here’s how to make tzatziki sauce with fresh ingredients right at home. It’s a light, refreshing dip to serve with pitas or spread inside a veggie wrap!

tzatziki in wooden bowl with pita chips

One of the very few things that I remember about my childhood are the weekends I spent with my dad and hanging out with all my cousins. There were a lot of kids so it was like a huge extravaganza when we got together, which also meant lots of yummy food. My very favorite food has left an impression in my mind and taste buds forever — tzatziki sauce.

My aunt would make homemade falafels with tzatziki sauce and we’d stuff them in fresh pita with tomatoes, cucumber, olives, and feta. Oh yeah, I can remember the exact delicious taste — basically a party in the mouth. My favorite thing about tzatziki is how light and refreshing it tastes.

It’s perfect for warm days because the sauce is not heavy in any way and can be paired with simple foods like olives and feta.

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How to make tzatziki sauce at home

I really love using cucumber or red bell pepper as a dipping device for tzatziki because it totally adds to the fresh burst of flavor. Unfortunately, you don’t get that same flavor profile from store-bought tzatziki. The product itself is never as fresh as homemade and often those sneaky unnecessary ingredients find their way into commercially made tzatziki, making it less desirable.

Fortunately for you and me, this tzatziki sauce is super easy to make at home and only requires a handful of ingredients you may have on hand already — cucumber, dill, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic. You can opt to make a tzatziki sauce with full-fat Greek yogurt but you can also make it with sour cream — your call.

The difference between the two is that tzatziki made with Greek yogurt is often more tangy while the tzatziki made with sour cream is creamier. I like both, but I love creamy more. Double check to make sure the Greek yogurt or sour cream you purchase only has real ingredients in it and is free of thickeners, additives, and anything else the food industry likes to slip into our foods.

tzatziki in wooden bowl with pita chips

★ Did you make tzatziki sauce recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!

tzatziki in wooden bowl with pita chips

Tzatziki Sauce

Yield: 2-1/2 cups
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes

This tzatziki sauce is made with fresh ingredients right at home.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 1 large cucumber, halfway peeled, seeds removed and shredded finely
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, minced, (watch the size of your cloves because if you have 5 very large cloves, the sauce will be extra garlicky, which is not necessarily a bad thing)
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
  • 1-1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, (I like an olive oil with a stronger, spicy flavor for this but a smooth olive oil works great too)
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, (start with 1/2 tsp and then adjust accordingly)
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  1. In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Adjust flavor, if needed, by adding more of any of the following: lemon juice, dill, salt, pepper.
  2. Serve with soft pita wedges, olives, feta cheese, sliced red bell pepper, and possibly even some falafels!

Notes

Tzatziki made with Greek yogurt is more tangy while the tzatziki made with sour cream is creamier.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1/4 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 31Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 2mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g

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Originally published August 2015; this post has been updated. 

 

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About the author: Loriel is on a journey to a more natural life and hopes to inspire those around her by writing about her stories on her blog Naturally Loriel. She lives an abundant life with her husband Scott, toddler Andrew, a crazy little Lilly cat and a flock of 8 chickens. She’s a dreamer of self-sufficiency, a lover of all things sweet, and has a knack for story-telling.

9 comments… add one
  • Carol Cuevas Aug 13, 2022 @ 7:41

    Wow! The tzatziki was much better than I thought it would be. In fact, my husband liked it better than the traditional version…I just happened to run out of Greek Yoghurt. I had fresh garlic, but decided to use the garlic powder to see. It’s just fine.
    (You see, my husband might make it himself if he doesn’t have to mince garlic LOL).
    I added 2 tsp of really vibrant olive oil for flavor because that’s the way we always do it. But the recipe here is SPOT ON, particularly for Gyros.
    Thanks!

  • Dee Wolford Jun 21, 2018 @ 3:09

    Once made, can you freeze Healthy Tzatziki Sauce?

    • Kris Bordessa Jun 23, 2018 @ 11:11

      Freezing it will alter the texture.

  • Michelle Mar 24, 2018 @ 19:28

    Easy to make and super tasty.

  • WMH Cheryl Jul 23, 2016 @ 2:08

    Oh yum, can’t wait to try this recipe. I haven’t had good tzatziki sauce since I lived in Germany and fell in love with a Greek restaurant there.

  • Opal Aug 11, 2015 @ 5:33

    this tastes so good. made it this morning to go with dinner tonight. all I can say is YUM!
    thank you for sharing it!

    • Kris Bordessa Aug 17, 2015 @ 6:19

      Thanks for saying so!

  • Vivianne Aug 4, 2015 @ 10:04

    I do cacik, the Turkish version, with a stem or two’s worth of fresh mint leaves added. For a side dish salad, I peel and seed the cucumbers (3 or 4 per quart of yogurt), cut them into chunks, sprinkle very lightly with salt, let drain for 15 min, then mix with everything else. OMG so good!

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