Recipe: Tzatziki (Greek Yogurt & Cucumber) Sauce (Guest Post from Fearless Grill)

Recipe Source: Greek Heritage Cookbook, published by the Philoptochos of St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Port Arthur, Texas p. 7

Over the weekend, I decided to make gyros. As part of this meal, I needed to make the traditional Greek sauce that goes with them. For this, I turned to one of my favorite sources for Greek recipes. I got this little spiral-bound homemade cookbook from my mom many years ago. It comes from a Greek church in Texas, so I’m not sure where my mom got it, since she’s never been to Texas, but everything I’ve made from it has been really good, so I’m glad she found it.

I pretty much use the recipe as written, in terms of the ingredients. One important substitution is to use what is sold as ‘Greek Yogurt’ if you can get it. This yogurt is much thicker than regular yogurt, and will eliminate the need to thicken the yogurt before using. We’re able to find Greek Yogurt at our local Whole Foods. I also increase the amount of garlic called for in the recipe – the original calls for 2 cloves, which isn’t enough. For a normal audience, I’ll use 3 large cloves. For people who like garlic, you can pump this up. Another change I’ve made to this recipe is in how I incorporate the cucumbers. The recipe calls for them to be finely chopped. This is kind of a pain to do. Many years ago, I ran a gyro booth at our local county fair to raise money for a non-profit, and chopping enough cucumbers to make gallons of sauce to serve thousands of customers wasn’t happening, so I just put the cucumbers in the blender with the yogurt. This comes out fine, and saves a lot of work. Be sure to allow the cucumbers to dry a bit on paper towels before using them, to avoid the sauce becoming too watery.

Tzatziki Sauce (makes about 2 cups. Approx. Cost Per Serving Not Available)

2 cups plain yogurt. Greek yogurt strongly preferred.

1 large cucumber, peeled

3 or more cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Equipment Required

• Blender
• Colander
• Paper coffee filters
• Paper towels

1) If you can’t find Greek yogurt, at least two hours before you’re ready to make the sauce, line a colander with paper coffee filters. Put your yogurt in the colander, cover with a paper towel or dish towel, and place in the sink or in a large pot. You will be amazed how much water comes out. If you skip this step, your sauce will come out extremely watery. Note that if you use Greek yogurt, you can still perform this step, but the amount of water that will be removed is much less.

2) At the same time, peel and slice your cucumber into quarters. Place some paper towels on a cookie rack, put the cucumber slices on the towels, and cover with more towels. This will absorb much of the water from the cucumbers, making a thicker sauce.

3) When your yogurt has drained and your cucumbers have dried, add the ingredients to the blender. I put the garlic through a garlic press or chop it up first, to avoid ending up with large chunks of garlic in the sauce.

4) Blend thoroughly. Add more garlic or lemon juice to taste.

5) Return the sauce to the yogurt container, which makes for convenient storage. Keep refrigerated until use.

Technorati Tags: Greek food,recipe,vegetarian recipe,yogurt,cucumber,garlic,lemon juice,sauces

Comments

[Peter]

These Greek church cookbooks are great, aren't they? Who doesn't love a good tzatziki - stand up!

See, no one's standing.

[Bob]

Tzatziki rules. I grew up in a town with a large Greek population and it seemed like every pizza shop had gyros, each with a different tzatziki. Good stuff.

[Susan Hayes]

Oh, I miss the Tzatziki that was readily available in the town where I grew up (Manchester, NH). I make it on occasion, but it isn't the same - so I'll try this! Thanks.

[Fearless Kitchen]

I'm glad you liked it, and that it could bring back some happy memories! Where could you get the stuff in Manchester? We occasionally have a reason to be up there, and it would be good to know where to get some good food up there.

[Mercina]

I usually just shred the cucumber using a cheese grater, and then I squeeze out the excess water with my hands. Try adding a little bit of finely chopped dill to it, it will give it a nice flavour! The best yogurt to use is Astro's (I think it is called Balkan Yogurt).

[Fearless Kitchen]

Thanks, Mercina! The dill sounds interesting. Fearless Grill isn't generally one to mess with a recipe, at least not without a lot of concern, but I might be able to convince him to give it a shot. :) I usually use Fage yogurt, but if I'm not willing to splurge a little I'll just drain some regular Stonyfield Farms yogurt.

[kamelia]

I visited Greece for our family spring holiday. Greek cuisine is wonderful. Now i read and search new greek recipes for me. Tzatziki is great salad - now I will prepare it

[Fearless Kitchen]

Kamelia, thanks for your comment! I hope you had a good time on holiday in Greece. Tzatziki is a great, flavorful, healthy sauce/salad - I hope you enjoy it.

[Kay]

I love this stuff...i actually stumbled upon your site looking for a substitute for greek yogurt because we ran out - no such luck there, but I did want to note that as another fast trick, i grate my cukes - you still get the bigger pieces but without all of the handwork.

[Fearless Kitchen]

Thanks, Kay! The only substitute that I've found for Greek yogurt is to take regular yogurt and drain it, which is a pain and not quite the same as the real thing anyway. Grating the cukes is a good idea - we'll have to try it next time.

[zerrin]

This is one of my favorite dish especially in summer. We call it 'cacik' in Turkish. You know we have lots of common dishes with Greeks. However,we don't make it that thick. Even though we also love to make it with strained yogurt, we add a little water, some dried mint or fresh dill. We love to have it with any dish in summer and it goes very well with Turkish Raki.

[Fearless Kitchen]

Zerrin - Lots of things go very well with Raki :) I've seen thinner tzatziki/cacik in some places, and it works well. Personally I like it better when it's a little thick because we're usually serving it as part of a buffet when there isn't a lot of seating - the thicker sauce stays on the product better and makes less of a mess.

[trimspa diet]

The cucumber is not considered a vegetable rich in minerals, although the most abundant potassium. To a lesser extent are phosphorus and magnesium. Potassium is a mineral necessary for the generation and transmission of nerve impulses and normal muscle activity, as well as intervene in the water balance inside and outside the cell.

[Crete Rent a Car]

Great post, and your blog is very good too.