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Vegan tzatziki sauce is creamy, tangy, and delicious. This simple dip adds a fresh flavor to your sandwiches, gyros, salads, falafel, vegetables, and more.
Why I love this dairy-free tzatziki sauce recipe
- Easy to make
- Perfect for anyone who is lactose intolerant
- Vegan tzatziki takes just like traditional tzatziki
- It pairs perfectly with falafel, Turkish pide bread, and all my other favorite Mediterranean recipes
What is Tzatziki?
Greek tzatziki, pronounced "tsa-ZEE-kee," is a tangy cucumber dip made with yogurt, cucumbers, dill, garlic, salt, and lemon juice. The origins of tzatziki sauce date back to the Ottoman Empire. However, much like many foods from the Mediterian, each country has its own variation. The most popular version in the United States is Greek Tzatziki, the vegan tzatziki sauce recipe I am using in this post.
How to Use Tzatziki
Tzaztiki is often used as a dip with grilled meat, gyros sauce, or falafel sandwiches. It is also served as a dip for roasted vegetables or flatbread. (Try pairing it with this Turkish pide flatbread recipe.)
Tzatziki, the classic Greek combination of garlic, yogurt, and cucumber, is versatile and often served with grilled meat, gyros, roasted vegetables, pita bread or flatbread.
Ingredients
- Large cucumber - peeled, seeded, and grated.
- Plain vegan yogurt - 1 ½ cups (use unsweetened yogurt)
- Fresh garlic - 3 cloves - minced
- Fresh dill - ¼ cup - finely chopped
- Fresh lemon - 1 lemon - juiced
- Salt and pepper - to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil - Optional - drizzle on top when serving as a dip
Instructions
Making this vegan tzatziki sauce recipe is so easy! While making this sauce, extract moisture from the cucumbers as possible. This step will help keep your tzatziki sauce thick.
Step 1: Peal the cucumber, cut it in half, and remove the seeds. Using a box grater or food processor, grate cucumbers. Use your hands to squeeze the excess liquid out of the grated cucumber. You want to squeeze out as much water as possible. Place the grated cucumber in a medium-sized bowl.
Step 2: Add the yogurt, garlic, dill, and lemon to the bowl with the cucumber and mix. Add additional lemon juice, salt, and pepper to your desired taste.
Try one of my other Mediterranean recipes.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several types of vegan yogurts on the market. For this recipe, it is important to use unsweetened yogurt and unflavored yogurt. Coconut yogurt or cashew yogurt works very well.
Store in an airtight container or in a bowl tightly covered with plastic wrap. Vegan tzatziki can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Watery tzatziki sauce can happen for two reasons, thin yogurt and/or not enough water extracted from the cucumbers. To avoid this, use thick and creamy yogurt and extract as much water as possible from the cucumbers. After extracting, pat dry to remove additional water.
This step is optional. If I am using organic cucumbers, I normally do not peel them. However, non-organic cucumbers often have a light coat of wax on them to look shiny. Because of this, I always peel non-organic cucumbers.
Recipe
Vegan Tzatziki Sauce Recipe (dairy free)
Equipment
- 1 box grater or food processor
- 1 Medium bowl
Ingredients
- 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated
- 1 and ½ cups plain vegan yogurt
- 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
- ¼ cup fresh dill, finely copped
- 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to tate
- Extra virgin olive oil - Optional - drizzle on top when serving as a dip
Instructions
- Step 1: Peal the cucumber, cut it in half, and remove the seeds. Using a box grater or food processor, grate cucumbers. Use your hands to squeeze the excess liquid out of the grated cucumber. You want to squeeze out as much water as possible. Place the grated cucumber in a medium-sized bowl.1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated
- Step 2: Add the yogurt, garlic, dill, and lemon to the bowl with the cucumber and mix. Add additional lemon juice, salt, and pepper to your desired taste.1 and ½ cups plain vegan yogurt, 3 cloves fresh garlic, minced, ¼ cup fresh dill, finely copped, 1 lemon, salt and pepper to tate, Extra virgin olive oil - Optional - drizzle on top when serving as a dip
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