Heya! Today's recipe tangy, herby and healthy tzatziki sauce with low cal Greek yogurt. Tzatziki is a Greek sauce, served all across the middle east with similar versions and different names.
Tzatziki is a Turkish word and this sauce was enormously loved by the Ottoman Empire or Turkey. Don't be afraid of miss pronouncing, it is called Zat zee kee, You can hear it here.
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A tzatziki sauce is made with greek yogurt, cucumber, lemon, garlic, and herbs: either mint or dill or both. So by the list of the ingredient, you can imagine it taste sour, creamy, and has background garlic flavor with herbal aroma. It is very refreshing and filling sauce.
How to make it?
For healthy tzatziki sauce, you begin with fresh and firm cucumbers. I'm using a local cucumber variety here. You can use unpeeled cucumbers if you like.
Grate cucumbers on the big hole of the grater box. (
A lot of juices from cucumbers make the sauce to thin, so you squeeze some water out of the cucumber. The quickest way to do this is to hold a fist full of grated cucumbers over the sink and squeeze lightly to drain excess cucumber water in the sink.
Now, my cucumbers were super juicy, so I prefer squeezing it over a strainer. (The juice from cucumber can make a small serving of refreshing cucumber juice. I don't waste it and drink it.)
Tada! you just mix all ingredients in a bowl and healthy tzatziki sauce is ready. (You can use only greek yogurt for the recipe which is simply squeezed yogurt with excess whey drained.)
It's ready. You can store it in the fridge for 2-3 days.
What to eat with it?
This is a vegetable sauce that is good on its own too, like a salad. I would rather eat a few spoons of this sauce alone.
- You can pair it with pita bread or any toasted bread like a spread.
- Or use it as a dip with fresh or grilled veggies. These taste great with crackers and chips too.
- You can add it like a filling in a pita sandwich with gyros or grilled chicken.
- You can also pair it as cucumber raita with biryani or pulao.
FAQ
Tzatziki and cucumber raita have fairly the same ingredients but they are absolutely different in taste and texture. Cucumber raita is made with plain yogurt and has Indian spices. It is thinner and lighter than tzatziki.
The tzatziki sauce is creamy and thicker as we use Greek yogurt (which is strained yogurt ) and squeezed cucumbers. In taste, tzatziki sauce is sour as it gets a dash of lemon and has garlic flavor too. So no it is not a fancy name for cucumber raita, it is fairly different.
The tzatziki sauce is a healthy sauce compared to oil and cream-based sauce like mayonnaise because it has a yogurt-based which is still creamy with fewer calories. Since it is made with greek yogurt from which lactose water has been strained, it is also comparatively high in protein. Traditionally, the tzatziki sauce is made with strained goat or sheep yogurt but Greek yogurt works fine; full-fat or low fat both.
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📖 Recipe
Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 large cucumbers, grated (about 2 cups)
- 1½ cup Low-Fat Greek yogurt, (thick strained yogurt)
- 2 tablespoon olive oil, more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon chopped dill leaves, or 1 extra tablespoon mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic, less or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Squeeze grated cucumber lightly, to drain excess water.
- Combine greek yogurt, cucumbers, and all the ingredient in a bowl.
- Let the sauce sit for 15 minutes at least so the flavors blend.
- Then serve in a bowl and garnish with little olive oil and herbs.
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