Tzatziki

"This well-known Greek 'meze' is good in so many different ways...read on..."
 
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photo by WorkNMomma photo by WorkNMomma
photo by WorkNMomma
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by Lavender Lynn photo by Lavender Lynn
photo by Peter J photo by Peter J
Ready In:
10mins
Ingredients:
7
Yields:
1 1/2 pints
Serves:
12
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ingredients

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directions

  • Just mix everything up together until it is all blended and the oil has emulsified into the yoghurt/sour cream. Taste for seasoning, and add salt if you think necessary. Put in a resealable container.
  • Allow to 'sit' in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours before using to allow the flavors to come out.
  • This wonderful meze (we do not think of it as a sauce here- it is a thick 'salata') is used to counterpoint rich, bbq'd meats (like souvlaki/shish kebab), but can be used in more diverse ways.
  • Place a small plate full on your dinner table for people to scoop up small amounts onto their bread (preferably crisp-baked pita).
  • Fry up some zucchini or eggplant slices (dredge in flour and fried in olive oil) and serve with a dollop of tzatziki on top.
  • Use as a salad dressing.
  • A dip for crudites.
  • Note: If I have time, I often lightly salt the grated cucumber and put in a colander to drain, then squeeze out water as per usual. This eliminates even more water.

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Reviews

  1. This is great. There is one tip I would like to mention. To remove the excess liquid from the freshly grated cucumber, I find it is most efficient and easiest to put the cucumber in the centre of a tea towel, gather the edges to leave a ball of cucumber in the middle, then, grabbing the towel next to the ball of cucumber, twist the ball of cucumber so as to squeeze the contents. Do this over the sink to catch the drips.
     
  2. Excellent. I used lemon juice in place of vinegar & added crumbled feta. Served on gyros with sliced yellow & red bell pepppers. Thanks for sharing!
     
  3. I followed this recipe with a couple of minor substitutions. I used Greek yogurt, a tbs of dried dill because that's what I had on hand, and sherry vinegar (also what I had on hand). I lightly salted and drained the shredded cuke, and pressed it between paper towels. I added about a tsp of salt. It was creamy, delicious, and exactly how I remember the tsatziki in Greece. It gets better and better the longer it sits. I love it with carrots, red peppers and celery for dipping.
     
  4. I love tzatziki and I love trying new recipes. This one was exceptional with a delicious flavor. I have never added oil or vinegar in any other recipes and maybe that is what made this taste so good. I did cut the recipe in half though and opted out of the dill weed. When we had it I felt it needed a bit of salt and realized I forgot to put it in the mix the night before when I made it. It is amazing how much water is in a cucumber !! Yummy stuff Evelyn, will be making this one again. Made it to go with Recipe #437604 and Recipe #227654 and Recipe #107224 and everything worked out fantastic. Thanks for sharing Evelyn..
     
  5. This was very nice to use with dinner tonight (Di Neal's Shawarma recipe). I decided to do as chia did, and made two very small small batches of this, one using sour cream and one using thick yogurt...and I found that the yogurt was much more to my liking than the sour cream. :-) This was very tasty and I will make it again. I too enjoyed the addition of the vinegar, and I used dry dill, not fresh, as that was all I had on hand. Thanks for the recipe :-)
     
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Tweaks

  1. my first time doing this--simple and delicious! we used fat free plain yogurt instead of the sour cream and less olive oil. Thanks for posting!
     
  2. Excellent. I used lemon juice in place of vinegar and added crumbled feta. Served on gyros with sliced yellow and red bell pepppers. Thanks for sharing!
     
  3. Amazing! This is a great Tzatziki recipe, served it last night on Chicken Gyros and using it as a dip today with veggies. I did use plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream and I think thats what made it sooo yummy! :) Thank you!
     
  4. This is very authentic. Instead of the sour cream I used a Greek yogurt. I also added the dill, and omitted the olive oil altogether. The taste got even better the next day. I served this over a vegetarian gyro.
     
  5. WOW! I would give more stars if I could. It was super easy to make and every bit as good as our favorite Greek restaurant's! I used fat free Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream and used only about a tablespoon of the oil but it was still amazingly creamy and delicious! I will be making this often!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<style>body { background: url("http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3512121819_f2f1aaf050.jpg?v=0"); background-repeat: repeat-y; }</style> OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages! I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure. So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call. What did I do wrong? Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths. I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time. That's all for now.
 
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