Tzatziki is a traditional Greek sauce made with Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, some herbs and spices (black pepper, mint, or dill), lemon and sea salt, and. It is correctly pronounced as tsah-tsee-key.
Place the strained plain yogurt in a bowl, add freshly minced or pressed garlic on top, add one small lemon juice and drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and then mix. Let it sit for 15 minutes to allow the garlic time to break down. You can leave the mixture of ingredients overnight except the cucumber and dill or leave it overnight in the fridge for better results.
Place grated cucumber in a strainer over a bowl and sprinkle a generous pinch of salt over. Let it sit for 15 minutes, and then using a paper towel or cloth, gently pat the extra salt and water out. The excess liquid would ruin the creamy texture of the tzatziki sauce.
Add the drained cucumber into the yogurt mixture.
Stir into a mixture, then add the black pepper and adjust the salt according to your taste.
Add the two tablespoons of za’atar optional and stir everything again.
Finally, add some freshly chopped dill, and lastly few drizzles of extra virgin olive oil, and the sauce is ready.
Notes
You can serve yoy homemade tzatziki sauce in a crudité platter of veggies that are in season mixed in Mediterranian meatballs, beef kebabs, pita chips, warm pita bread, zucchini fritters.