Greek Tzatziki Sauce

Submitted by TasteTester

"This is a delicious sauce that can be used in many Greek recipes. We like to use it when making gyros, or other Mediterranean recipes that are wrapped in pitas. It tastes just like the sauce we've had in restaurants such as "Hell's" in Tarpon Springs in Florida. It's a funny name, but the restaurant is known for having some of the best Greek food and Greek pastries in Florida."

 

• Ready In: 20mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 8 ounces plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt, if your store carries it)
• 1⁄2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and finely chopped or 1/2 peeled grated cucumber
• 2 ounces sour cream
• 1 small pinch salt
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 2 mint leaves, finely minced or 1/4 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced

directions

1. Place yogurt in a coffee filter or piece of cheesecloth, and place in a strainer over a dish. Let drain for 2-4 hours in the refrigerator. If using Greek yogurt you do not need to drain it, as it is already a thick consistency.
2. Meanwhile, put the chopped or grated cucumber in a tea towel and squeeze to remove liquid. Discard liquid. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and mix into the cucumber. Set aside 20 minutes. Rinse a little to wash out the extra salt, if you want to. Then squeeze again to express as much liquid as possible.
3. Draining the yogurt and cucumber make for a thick and authentic consistency of tzatziki sauce.
4. Combine the drained yogurt and cucumber, sour cream, pinch of salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, mint and garlic. Note: we love garlic, so I tried adding more once. It made for an overpowering and almost bitter taste, so now I stick to only 1 clove.
5. Place sauce in the refrigerator for 1 hour or more to meld flavors. Stir before serving. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week. Makes 1 1/4 cups.

Reviews

[moramor]

Can't believe I haven't reviewed this...I've been using this recipe for a LONG time now! Since using this recipe, not even a good gyro stand's tzatziki will satisfy me...I smugly think to myself "mine's better!" I think the red wine vinegar and olive oil are KEY and different than your average tzatziki recipe. Of course, I do tweak it to my own taste usually, but doesn't everyone? I also usually use garlic-infused olive oil instead of the garlic clove, as I don't care for raw garlic...it bothers me after the fact in my mouth. Other than that, I think this is the FIRST and ONLY tzatziki you'll ever need. By the way, you can vary the amount of cuke and it's still great, and I often use fresh dill instead of mint. Some peeps even use basil, so use what you've got!

 

[Charmie777]

Yummy! We ate it on everything!

 

[Beansy]

Absolutely love this tzatziki sauce recipe. Just what I was looking for! Will use this recipe many more times in the future. We preferred this recipe over others. Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Kristy D.]

Hmmm....while I did like this sauce on Gyro's, the flavors did not seem well balanced. I thought that the garlic was a too strong for me (maybe my clove of garlic was too large) and I thought that the greek yogurt was perhaps too tangy for my personal taste. I have never used greek yogurt before and was surprised at how tangy it really it.

 

[Dans La Lune]

Super authentic! I had found this recipe yesterday for my mother to try and it turned out that I needed to use it myself for tonight's unexpected Felafel dinner (Felafel in pita... yummy!). I was not near a computer, so I called her and she just read the ingredients to me. I used regular plain nonfat yogurt (not drained!) and fresh mint. I mixed everything up and didn't think it was strongly flavored enough (not realizing that it needed to sit for an hour!) so I added a bit more vinegar and a little black pepper. By the time dinner was ready an hour later it was absolutely perfect... so delicious that I'm still wanting to eat it now which is hours after dinner! This sauce is EXACTLY as I remember from my visits to Tarpon Springs and other nearby Greek restaurants. Thanks for a definite keeper! Can't wait to make it again!!