{"id":193710,"title":"Authentic Greek Tzatziki","modified":"2026-10-29T19:35:04+01:00","plain":"A cold Greek sauce of strained yogurt and grated cucumber, seasoned with garlic, wine vinegar, dill and mint.\n\n\n\nThe skewers are coming off the grill, the pita is still warm, and all that\u2019s missing is that well-chilled bowl in the middle of the table. The tzatziki holds its shape on the spoon, thick and glossy, with strands of cucumber and green flecks of dill and mint.\n\n\n\n The garlic has just the right amount of bite, the vinegar wakes up the yogurt and the olive oil rounds everything out. You dip a piece of bread in for a taste, and the bowl empties faster than the grilled meat does.\n\n\n\nTo go with it, our homemade kebab\n\n\n\nWhat Is Tzatziki?\n\n\n\nTzatziki is a cold Greek sauce made with strained yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, wine vinegar and olive oil, flavored with dill and mint. It\u2019s served as a meze with warm flatbread and olives, or alongside grilled meats such as souvlaki and gyros. It should be thick enough to sit on bread without running.\n\n\n\nThe word \u03c4\u03b6\u03b1\u03c4\u03b6\u03af\u03ba\u03b9 entered modern Greek in the mid-20th century, borrowed from the Turkish cac\u0131k. That word is thought to come from the Persian zhazh, a term for culinary herbs.\n\n\n\nFor a meze platter, add homemade falafel\n\n\n\nFrom Turkish Cac\u0131k to Greek Tzatziki\n\n\n\nMixing fermented milk with herbs and vegetables is a very old habit, from the Middle East to the Balkans. In Ottoman times, yogurt sauces were part of the meze spread, and Ottoman dictionaries describe cac\u0131k as an herb salad with yogurt.\n\n\n\nIts Indian cousin: cucumber raita\n\n\n\nThe same base gave rise to a whole family of recipes: Indian raita, Bulgarian tarator served as a cold soup with walnuts, or Turkish cac\u0131k, which is thinner and made with diced cucumber. Greece went the opposite way. There, strained yogurt and thoroughly squeezed cucumber make a dense sauce that stands up to spiced meats and bread.\n\n\n\nThe Main Ingredients in Tzatziki\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhole-milk Greek yogurt, thoroughly strained, is the base: 400 g for five servings, thick enough to carry the garlic and oil without releasing any whey. The cucumber brings freshness, as long as you draw out its water. Grate only the firm flesh, then salt it and squeeze it out thoroughly, otherwise the sauce turns runny.\n\n\n\nTwo to four garlic cloves crushed to a paste spread evenly through the yogurt, with no raw chunks to bite into. Fans of garlicky dishes like garlic chicken will go all the way to four. Wine vinegar gives the tang of the classic Greek version, whereas many recipes outside Greece switch to lemon. Olive oil binds the sauce and mellows the garlic.\n\n\n\nFresh dill is the herb that defines tzatziki, with its subtle anise note. A small amount of mint freshens the finish. Both are finely chopped and added last to keep their color.\n\n\n\nTechnical Pointers for Good Tzatziki\n\n\n\nGood tzatziki holds the mark of a spoon, with visible strands of cucumber and green specks of herbs. If it weeps water in the bowl, the cucumber wasn\u2019t squeezed enough or the yogurt wasn\u2019t strained enough. Mix with a spoon: a food processor breaks down the texture and makes the sauce too thin.\n\n\n\nTo round out the table, a Greek salad\n\n\n\nA spell in the refrigerator mellows the garlic and lets the herbs infuse the yogurt, and tzatziki is even better the next day. Serve it well chilled with warm pita, grilled meats, chicken satay skewers, or on its own by the spoonful. It keeps for three days in the fridge in a tightly sealed glass jar.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tAuthentic Greek Tzatziki\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tCucumber1 cucumberA little salt, (for the cucumber)Assembly400 g Greek yogurt (drained (2 containers))2-4 cloves garlic, (crushed to a paste)2 tablespoons wine vinegar6 tablespoons olive oil, (plus a few drops for serving)1 tablespoon dill, (finely chopped)A little mint (fresh, finely chopped)\t\n\t\n\t\tCucumberGrate the cucumber, holding it almost upright against the grater, so you only take the firm flesh.Stop when you reach the core of the cucumber: it's left in your hand at the end and isn't used.Put the grated cucumber in a colander.Salt to taste and mix well so the salt is evenly distributed.Let it stand for a few minutes, until the cucumber releases its water.Press the cucumber firmly in the colander to squeeze out the liquid.Place the cucumber in a clean dish towel.Gather up the edges of the towel and twist gently to wring out all the remaining moisture, or the creamy texture of the tzatziki will be diluted.AssemblyCrush the garlic to a paste, using more or fewer cloves depending on how strong you want it.Finely chop the dill and mint.Put the yogurt and garlic in a mixing bowl.Add the squeezed cucumber.Add the wine vinegar and olive oil.Stir with a spoon until you have a creamy, smooth sauce.Taste, then adjust the salt and acidity, adding a little more vinegar if needed.Add the dill and mint.Stir to distribute them evenly.Refrigerate the tzatziki before serving so it's nicely chilled.Serve chilled, with a few drops of olive oil on top.\t\n\t\n\t\tDraining the yogurt is essential. For a large batch and a firmer tzatziki, you can strain it further in cheesecloth hung in a cool spot in the kitchen, for anywhere from 4 hours to overnight; in summer, let it drain in a colander in the refrigerator.\nUse a very good olive oil, without overdoing the amount: you need just enough to give the mixture a creamy texture.\nTzatziki keeps for 3 days in the refrigerator in a tightly closed glass jar. By the next day, it's even more flavorful and aromatic.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tSauceGrecque","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}