Dill Tzatziki [with Extra Garlic!]

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Tzatziki is the perfect, cool yogurt accompaniment for a chicken souvlaki pita or even a great dip for veggies. Now, pack your favourite tzatziki with lots of fresh dill, and extra garlic! You have the most flavourful yogurt sauce, that is ready for all your summer grilling recipes!

dill tzatziki in a bowl with celery and carrots on a plate

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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Recipe Overview
Ingredients
Instructions
Tips and Tricks
FAQ
Dill Tzatziki [with Extra Garlic!]
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Why You'll Love This Recipe

It is versatile! While tzatziki is often associated with being a dipping sauce for souvlaki and other greek dishes, once you've got this tzatziki recipe down, you've also got a fantastic veggie dip, or sandwich spread!
It is easy to make! While there are tons of store bought options that are also delicious, you will be surprised to find how easy this tzatziki recipe is! Some recipes skip the cucumber, but adding the cucumber does not make this any more complicated to make!
It packs a punch! Yogurt does not have to be boring. I know there are plenty of sauce dishes out there that are, well, a little higher in fat. With tons of fresh flavours like dill, cucumber and garlic, this yogurt is anything but boring, and definitely lower in fat.

Recipe Overview

Flavour: This recipe is bright! Most tzatziki recipes are pretty standard, with cucumbers and yogurt. This extra garlic and dill tzatziki recipe has a little tangy addition of sour cream, with the freshness of fresh dill! It is perfectly tangy with the right amount of zest from the garlic. It's good, ok!?
Ease: If you have a box grater, a strainer and a mixing bowl, you are ready to go! No special technique or equipment required!
Time: The recipe itself takes about 10 minutes to come together. The longer it sits, the better it get, as with many no-cook dip recipes.

Ingredients

Greek Yogurt: Greek yogurt differs from regular yogurt, as it is much thicker. I would strongly suggest going for greek yogurt, as it will yield a nice, thick dip. If you do not have greek yogurt, you can put regular yogurt in a strainer over a bowl, and let the excess moisture drip down. This will take just a little more time!
Sour Cream: A lot of tzatziki recipes do not use sour cream, but I really do think it adds a nice tang! If you don't have any on hand, or prefer to leave it out, you can. Simply increase the amount of greek yogurt that you are using.
English cucumber: English cucumbers have a thin skin and edible seeds. I generally prefer using english cucumbers for this reason - one less thing to do!
Dill, Lemon Zest and Garlic: The main stars of this dip are the dill and garlic. Garlic is very potent when raw, so if you are not a huge fan of raw garlic, definitely scale this recipe back!

Instructions

Grate the cucumber: Using a box grater, grate the cucumber. You do not need to peel or de-seed the cucumber if you are using an english cucumber.
Strain the water from the cucumber: Place the grated cucumber into a small strainer over a bowl. Let the cucumber sit for approximately 10 minutes. Using a spoon or a rubber spatula, press down on the cucumber as it sits to help the moisture drain out. The cucumber will start to come together like a ball, with little moisture left.
Mix the dip: Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. You can eat it right away, but the longer you let it sit in the refrigerator, the better!

bowl of dill tzatziki with a stick of celery being dipped in

Tips and Tricks

Salt the cucumber: To help speed along the draining process, salt the cucumber lightly to help draw out the moisture!
Grate the garlic: To avoid biting into a roughly-chopped piece of garlic, grate your garlic on either a microplane, a zester or on your box grater!

FAQ

Can I leave the cucumbers out?

You can! I really do think the cucumbers add a great deal of freshness to the tzatziki, but of course, but it will still be a great, dill and garlic dipping sauce!

How long can I store this for?

Believe it or not, this can stay in an air tight container in your fridge for up to two weeks. Of course, be mindful of the best before date of your yogurt! If it is set to go bad in a couple of days, chances are so will your tzatziki!

Can I use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic?

Garlic powder is inherently a lot more mellow than fresh garlic. If you find, even after scaling back the raw garlic, that it is too overpowering, definitely try it with garlic powder. Keep in mind that a lot of the goodness of this dip is that it is meant to pack a zesty punch!