There are a boat load of recipes for tzatziki, I know. I have been on a quest for the recipe that I remember from my youth. I grew up in the Metro-Detroit area and I enjoyed many dinners in Greek Town. Oh, the memories—fresh warm pita, tzatziki, moussaka, pastitsio, and gyros. Sigh. I am determined to find the best versions for all these recipes, but tzatziki is the tie that binds. The tzatziki that I remember was simple yet loaded with garlic. Many of the recipes that I run across call for mint or other spices and I just don’t remember that being a part of the tzatziki that I have come to love. Here is my version.
Tzatziki
1/2 English cucumber, seeded, grated
1 (17.6 oz) container of Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
salt
1) Cut one half of an English cucumber in half lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds and grate. Put grated cucumber in a small strainer, sprinkle with salt and let drain over a bowl in the fridge for a couple hours. Squeeze the cucumber dry with a paper towel. These steps help keep the sauce thick.
2) Squeeze in the garlic using a garlic press.
3) Add yogurt and lemon juice and stir.
4) Chill the tzatziki for 1 hour before serving.
Tzatziki
Ingredients
- Tzatziki
- 1/2 English cucumber, seeded, grated
- 1 (17.6 oz) container of Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 cloves of garlic, pressed
- salt
Directions
- Step 1 1) Cut one half of an English cucumber in half lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds and grate. Put grated cucumber in a small strainer, sprinkle with salt and let drain over a bowl in the fridge for a couple hours. Squeeze the cucumber dry with a paper towel. These steps help keep the sauce thick.
- Step 2 2) Squeeze in the garlic using a garlic press.
- Step 3 3) Add yogurt and lemon juice and stir.
- Step 4 4) Chill the tzatziki for 1 hour before serving.
Yum!! I, too, love tzatziki. But, no garlic in your recipe. I have always put garlic in mine, but it is so easy to overdo it and end up with a harsh garlic flavor. I have started cooking my garlic prior to adding it to my hummus and it helps subdue the flavor. Maybe that would work in Tzatziki, as well. I am going to try your recipe! Grating the cucumber and salting it sounds like a big improvement over the recipes I have tried.
We need to go out for greek sometime! Pastitsio (sigh), I have not had that heavenly dish in quite sometime. A friend back east introduced me to it, YUmmy! Maybe the next girls night out? Hmmm… could be the start of something tasty!
By the way, I am very impressed with the food blog! I think I must add a link on my blog!
Just catching up from my business trip! Thank you for posting and for the compliment. I will be posting a Moussaka recipe shortly. I think you and I feel the same way about Greek food. Actually, there is garlic in it but depending on the line break it can be missed, I guess. The idea to saute the garlic first is genius. I LOVE it. I was in the mood for garlic the day I made this so I just pressed it. You are right it can be harsh. If I’m serving it for guests I might also try mincing it instead. I have eaten at a couple of good Greek restaurants around San Diego. But, I haven’t found THE one…sounds like a good quest, huh?