Tzatziki Sauce

So your first question is either “What is Tzatziki Sauce?” Or else it is, “How do I pronounce that word?” The easiest way to answer the second question is to tell you to treat the first T as silent and say “Zat-Zee-Key.” It is close enough that you will sound very knowledgeable if people hear you say it.

The answer to the first question is that tzatziki sauce is a cucumber and Greek yogurt sauce that is used on gyros, but is great on other things too!! This is a great dip for fresh veggies or pita chips. It is wonderful as a salad dressing. It is sublime as a dressing on sandwiches.

It is easy to make and has an incredibly fresh and vibrant flavor that you will want to try everywhere, so go for it! And please, let me know what you try it on because I am always looking for new flavor combinations.

Notes:

This is a thin sauce. I have found that using a low fat yogurt makes it incredibly watery. Sometimes it is worth the calories to use a higher fat product in cooking, and this is one of those times. Please use a full fat Greek Yogurt, or, if you need slightly less fat, use a 2% fat Greek Yogurt. Anything less than that will make it virtually unusable.

Also, Greek yogurt is not the same in consistency or flavor as plain traditional yogurt, so please get actual Greek yogurt. It is now readily available in most grocery store chains, so you should be able to find it.

This recipe is best made with all fresh ingredients. That being said, I cannot keep dill plants alive, so I use dried dill for this and it works. The lemon zest is optional but makes a huge difference, so you might as well get a lemon for the zest and the juice. It will only take 1/2 the lemon and there are many uses for the second half including juice for your tea or water, or even tossing into your garbage disposal to clean and freshen it. Otherwise, use bottled lemon juice. It works, the flavor is just much more muted.

Fresh garlic can be potent. I have overdone the garlic in tzatziki sauce in the past and it nearly burned our mouths. Your best bet is to use 1 clove of garlic, make the batch up, then taste it. If it needs a bit more oomph, then add another clove before you remove the sauce from your blender. Better to have too little and be able to add more than to add too much from the start and create an unusable product.

If you can make this at least 1 hour in advance, the flavors will blend nicely as they sit together, but you can use it immediately if that is what you need / want to do. I store my tzatziki in a mason jar in my fridge and I would say that it will last for about a week to 10 days. It may last longer than that but we usually use it all within a week, so I have no idea. Because of the dairy and the potential for it separating and getting nasty, I do not suggest that you freeze it for any length of time.

Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber
• 1-2 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tsp Dill Weed
• 1 tsp Lemon zest (optional)
• 1 Tbsp Lemon juice
• 1 1/2 c Plain Greek yogurt

Directions:

Peel the cucumber. Slice it lengthwise down the center, then use a spoon to remove the seeds. Roughly chop it into cubes. Place into blender.

Add all other ingredients to the blender. Use pulse option to begin the blending process, until the sauce begins to form, then blend normally until the sauce is pretty smooth and of an even consistency.

Chill until you are ready to use it.

Enjoy!