Homemade Tzatziki

Homemade Tzatziki.

Whenever we go to a Greek Restaurant for dinner, I always order a side of Tzatziki and use it on whatever I am eating.  I love this sauce.  I particularly like it with lamb.  The other day I was planning on having lamb steaks for dinner and I thought I would make my own Tzatziki sauce.  I did a bit of research to learn just what ingredients are usually included, and then I came up with my own recipe based on what we like.

1 English cucumber (the one that is sold in a plastic wrap) minced and drained
1 17 ounce container of Greek yogurt (I used 2% Fage brand)

Fage Greek yogurt.

2 tablespoons of minced fresh dill (We like a lot of dill.)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice (I used frozen because I had no fresh lemons)

Frozen Minute Maid lemon juice.

1 teaspoon of minced garlic (I used already minced from a jar.)
Fresh ground pepper to taste
(I did not use salt because we like to restrict our use of salt, but you could salt to your taste.)

I removed the seeds from the cucumber and grated it finely by hand using a box grater.  Do not peel the cucumber.  English cucumbers have fewer seeds and have a milder taste than other cucumbers.

English cucumber with seeds removed.

Because the grated cucumber will retain water, place it in a fine strainer and press with a paper towel to remove most of the liquid.  Set aside.

Squeezing the liquid from the grated cucumber.

 To the yogurt add the dill, lemon juice, garlic and pepper.  Mix thoroughly.

Adding the dill, lemon juice, garlic and pepper.

Add the minced cucumber and mix until well blended.

Adding the minced cucumber that has been drained.

A bowl of homemade Tzatziki. 

Place in the refrigerate.  This will keep for about a week.  We use it as a sauce on all kinds of meat, in place of mayo when making a tomato sandwich, or as a snack spread on crackers or chips.  In another blog I will show how we use this batch of homemade Tzatziki.