This easy tzatziki sauce recipe is unbelievably delicious and super simple to make. It’s a creamy cucumber yogurt dip you can serve with almost anything!

Tzatziki (pronounced tuh-zee-kee) is a creamy sauce made with yogurt, cucumber, fresh herbs, and garlic. It’s often associated with Greek food, but similar sauces are served throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East. I love to serve it as a sauce, spread, or dip for homemade pita and veggies.

If this is your first time making it, tzatziki is easy. You don’t need much time or fancy equipment. I love this sauce so much that I’ve also shared this feta tzatziki and this creamy cucumber salad with a dressing inspired by authentic Greek tzatziki.

Key Ingredients

• Cucumber: I use thin-skinned cucumbers, such as hothouse, English, or Persian cucumbers. I don’t peel them, and since they are usually seedless, I don’t need to remove any seeds.
• Yogurt: I use full-fat plain Greek yogurt when making homemade tzatziki sauce. Icelandic-style yogurt will work well, too (you are just looking for a thicker-style yogurt). If you can only find thinner yogurt, add it to cheesecloth and strain it for a few hours, like we do when making homemade labneh.
• Garlic: The amount of garlic you use is up to you. I use 2 medium cloves, which gives the sauce a strong garlic flavor. Reduce or increase the garlic in your sauce, depending on how much you want to taste it.
• Olive oil: Adds flavor and a little richness to our sauce.
• Lemon: I love fresh lemon juice in my tzatziki sauce. It really brings all the ingredients together.
• Fresh herbs: I’ll never pass up an opportunity to add some fresh herbs, and I absolutely love them in tzatziki. I love fresh dill and fresh mint.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Tzatziki Sauce

Tip 1: Grate your cucumbers. You’ll start by grating your cucumber. I use my box grater, which takes less than a minute, or you can use the grater attachment for your food processor.

Tip 2: Salting the cucumber makes it taste better. Sprinkle salt over the grated cucumber and leave it for 5 minutes. Salting cucumbers like this helps to season them, bump up their “cucumbery” flavor, and pull out excess water, which would inevitably make our sauce too runny.

Tip 3: Wring out the cucumbers. After 5 minutes of sitting with the salt, place the cucumber in a clean dishcloth or cheesecloth and wring it out. We want the cucumber’s flavor in our tzatziki, but we don’t want all the water that comes with it. By the way, the cucumber water is delicious, so don’t throw it away. I add it to soups, grains, or salad dressings.

Tip 4: Let the sauce sit for 10 minutes. Stir the cucumber into the other tzatziki ingredients and let them sit for at least 10 minutes so the flavors meld, making our tzatziki taste incredible.

What to Serve with Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki sauce can be served in so many different ways. It can be served alongside other dips like our hummus or baba ganoush with this easy flatbread or homemade pita bread. I also love it with seafood and chicken. Next time you make this lemon dill baked salmon, add a dollop of tzatziki (it will be so good!). Or, try it with our juicy skillet chicken breasts.

You can also add it to sandwiches and burgers. I love a dollop of tzatziki on these juicy turkey burgers and our homemade veggie burgers! You can also serve it with raw or roasted veggies or this Greek salad!

Source link

We love this thick, creamy tzatziki with feta cheese and fresh herbs! It’s delicious as a sauce or dip with veggies, pita chips, grilled meats, and sandwiches.

We absolutely love tzatziki sauce around here! It’s so versatile, and we’ll happily spoon it onto just about anything. This recipe takes classic tzatziki to the next level by adding tangy feta cheese for extra flavor and creaminess.

I love this feta tzatziki with homemade pita bread! It’s also incredible with baked chicken breasts, poached salmon, grilled lamb chops, or falafel wraps. Honestly, the possibilities are endless!

Key Ingredients

• Cucumbers: For the best tzatziki, use English or hothouse cucumbers. These are the long, thin ones usually sold in plastic wrap. They have thinner skin and fewer seeds, so you can skip peeling and seeding them. Baby cucumbers or Persian cucumbers also work great!
• Yogurt: For a thick and creamy tzatziki, use full-fat plain Greek yogurt. Icelandic-style yogurt is another good option. If you only have thinner yogurt, strain it in cheesecloth for a few hours to thicken it. (It’s like making labneh!)
• Feta Cheese: Crumbled feta cheese adds a deliciously salty tang to tzatziki. If you can find feta packed in brine, grab it! You can use a little of the brine to thin out the tzatziki (if you think it needs it).
• Garlic, Lemon, and Herbs: These ingredients give the tzatziki an amazing flavor. I use one clove of garlic, but feel free to add more. Fresh dill and mint are my favorite herbs.

How to Make Feta Tzatziki

Tzatziki is very simple to make. To make the best, remember this: too much moisture is tzatziki’s enemy. It makes things watery and stops all the flavors like lemon, garlic, and dill from mingling.

We reduce the moisture in two ways: by using thick Greek yogurt and by salting the cucumbers.

For the cucumber, we remove the seeds (if there are any ) and grate it. Scatter the grated cucumber over a clean dishcloth and season with salt. The salt does two things: it makes the cucumber taste more like cucumber and helps draw moisture out. Finally, wrap the dishcloth up and squeeze all the liquid out. You’ll be shocked at how much comes out.

Then mix the yogurt, cucumbers, and remaining tzatziki ingredients, and last but not least, stir in lots of feta cheese!

Spoon this feta Tzatziki onto our lemon dill baked salmon, seriously good turkey burgers and our lemon dill chicken breasts (so good).

Source link

Part bowl, part salad, part sandwich folded up into any kind of bread you like, and I’m here for it in every form.

Favorite thing I’ve been eating lately: these sheet pan chicken pitas.

Er, can we call them pitas? They are part bowl, part salad, part sandwich folded up into any kind of bread you like including but not limited to pitas, and I’m here for it in every form.

Here’s our lineup:

• marinated, spiced, flash-roasted chicken
• roasted bell peppers
• diced fresh cucumber
• kalamata olives
• feta cheese
• olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice
• tzatziki (that yogurt dill sauce that crowns the plate)

Pile that on a plate and grab a fork – or grab a piece of warm, soft naan, or pita, or socca (YUM), and get to work. You’ve got the crunchy, and the cool-creamy, and the puckery-briney all happening in one big joyful bite.

How To Serve Sheet Pan Chicken Pitas

Here’s how I like to serve this: family style!

Everything goes on a roasting pan, and you effortlessly carry your gourmet-looking roasting pan to the table, and you let your people feast.

It’s comforting and filling. But it’s also happy and crunchy and fresh, which is exactly what we need right now in the deep winter. Happy, fresh, filling, annnd go.

Check Out Our Video For How To Make Sheet Pan Chicken Pitas:

---

Frequently Asked Questions For These Chicken Pitas

How long will the tzatziki keep?

The tzatziki will be best for about 3-4 days.

Could you marinate the chicken for longer? Overnight?

You can marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours in the fridge!

How can I make this dairy-free?

Omit the feta and use dairy-free Greek-style yogurt in the tzatziki (Kite Hill is a brand that makes this!).

Print

clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Description

Sheet Pan Chicken Pitas that are salty-briney-crunchy in all the right ways! Marinated chicken, roasted peppers, fresh cucumber, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and an easy homemade tzatziki.

---

Chicken:

Peppers:

Tzatziki:

Other:

---

Notes

Store bought tzatziki also works great in this recipe to save you a few steps!

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keywords: sheet pan dinner, greek chicken, mediterranean chicken, chicken pitas, sheet pan chicken

Three More Easy Sheet Pan Dinners

Make It A Freezer Meal!

Freeze Together:

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into very thin strips
• 2–3 bell peppers, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, grated
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1–2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon each: cumin, smoked paprika, kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• black pepper to taste

FREEZE: Spread into a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze until solid; transfer to a bag or container to store in the freezer. 

To Cook:

BAKE: From frozen, bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

FINAL STEP: Serve with pitas, tzatziki, hummus, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, olives, red onion… sky’s the limit!

View more healthy freezer meals here!

---

One More Thing!

This recipe is part of our collection of easy and delicious sheet pan dinners. Check it out!

Source link