Its Friday so let’s try to lighten up the mood a little, shall we? One of the Buzzfeed food guys, Pernell Quilon, broke down Florence Pugh’s tzatziki recipe and it’s so easy, I thought why not pass it along? I usually associate tzatziki with more summer recipes, but our days as yet hover in the low 80s here in So Cal, so I guess mentally I’ve still got one foot in summer.
Anyway, as many of you know, Florence is a good home cook, and she posts many of her recipes to YouTube from her beautiful kitchen. This recipe only takes six minutes, or so Flo claims, and six ingredients, most of which you probably have in your kitchen already. I’ll give you the Buzzfeed breakdown and post Florence’s video below.
Here’s the six ingredients you need for the tzatziki: full-fat Greek yogurt, cucumber, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper. As for tools, all you need is a grater and a bowl to mix it all in. If you already have the salt, pepper, and olive oil, the total cost of making your own tzatziki is under $5. The Greek yogurt I got was small, so I’d say the ingredients below could satisfy up to two people. That can, of course, be expanded easily.
STEP #1: First, start by dumping your yogurt into a bowl.
STEP #2: Next, add lots of olive oil to the yogurt.
STEP #3: Add a little bit of salt and a lot of pepper.
STEP #4: Cut a portion of the cucumber, since we won’t be using the whole pre-pickled dill — all you need is about six inches! Grate your cut cucumber directly into your mixture of yogurt, oil, salt, and pepper.
STEP #5: Take 1–3 cloves of garlic, depending on your liking, and grate on the finest side of your grater directly into the bowl until unable to safely continue.
STEP #6: Finally, mix it all together
Here are my notes: Florence is pretty insistent on full fat yogurt for the tzatziki. I’m not Greek, let me make that perfectly clear, but I’ve made tzatziki with non-fat yogurt before. Florence says in her video below she’s going to be mad at me, but I think we’ll work it out. It’s a dip, not a sauce, so it doesn’t need the fat to coat the starches in the cooking. It’s a taste factor thing. I’ve found the non-fat to make it tangier. I mention this also because I’ve had trouble finding full-fat plain yogurt, tbh. Anyway, you do you. Pernell plays with ingredient amounts as he’s making it and you should too. Go light to begin and add more if you need it. Pull back on the salt and pepper and garlic until you know how much you want. The beauty of tzatziki is the marriage of mellow and zesty. It should have a kick to it, but not punch you as soon as it hits your tongue. Also, Hecate note: always keep a lemon handy. If you get too heavy with that salt or garlic, give it a shot of lemon juice to balance it out. The other thing is, Flo and Pernell talk about grating the cucumber and garlic. I know grating is a pain in the tuchus and hell on your nails, but you want to do it here. I find chunks work against blending the flavors. Oh, and one warning: in the article, Pernell said this only costs $5 if you have olive oil, salt and pepper in your pantry. If you don’t, this is closer to $20, depending on how good your oil is.
Now that you have your fab little tangy tzatziki, what do you put it on? As Florence and Pernell mention, it goes with so much. Try crudité, fish, raw or roasted veggies, chips. Trader Joes sells Gyro slices, grab those, some Pita bread, red onion, tomato and lettuce to whip up a nice little sandwich. Pernell suggested a salad, it’s a heavy dip but it could work with a heavy ruffage, maybe. Veggie pizza tastes great dipped in it. The recipe above is for two people, which is good. Tzatziki doesn’t keep long. I always end up throwing some out and it breaks my heart.
Oh my gawd, I almost forgot the most important part! As Flo will show you below, when you finish mixing, you have to lift the tzatziki bowl and dance in a circle. This invokes the Cucumber Goddess’ blessing, otherwise the yogurt curdles… or so the legend goes 😉.
Photo credit: Avalon Red, YouTube and Instagram
This is … not a revolutionary recipe? LOL It’s good though. She forgot the white wine vinegar and I never grate the cucumber, I cut it in very small cubes. Otherwise this Greek person has no notes.
Except … you do need the full fat (10%) yoghurt. There’s nothing worse than runny tzatziki. Here (Germany) it’s available everywhere, Turkish supermarkets sell it in small buckets. 🙂
LOL I’m not Greek but this seems like a pretty basic and easy tzatziki recipe, I basically make mine the same way.
Yes, runny and bitter! I don’t know how anyone enjoys non-full-fat yogurt. Blech.
My cousin in law in full Greek. Yogurt in Greece and yogurt here is not same. Full fat is way to go, agreed. You can also use sour cream or mix sour cream with Greek yogurt. The thickness is key. You don’t want it runny.
Agree with grating cucumber but you must squeeze that water out or you will get runny tsatsiki and that is gross. I usually use a cheese cloth.
And no need for all that olive oil. We use a teaspoon or two and top it off with a lite squeeze of lemon. Of course, garlic and salt to taste.
And some add dill.
It is yum on pita bread and lamb. Opa!
Agree for the full fat. I would maybe salt my cucumber first and have it expel it’s water first. Rinse than squeeze.
Salting the cucumber will sacrifice the body of the grated cucumber. Pulling out the water dehydrates if salt is used????
But also, Our family prefers a thick tsatsiki. It needs to hold up to the lamb. The test is if the spoon can stand on its own in the tsatsiki dish. But each cook and family have their own preference and secrets. OMG, now I’m hungry.
Yes you have to get the liquid out of the cucumber one way or another.
This is so funny because I’ve been making tzatziki (to eat with carrot sticks) nonstop as a substitute for potato chips (to satisfy my crunchy cravings). I’m not Greek so this is just my own recipe mashup from a couple of recipes I found online.
Here’s my mixture:
Full fat Skyr (instead of Greek yogurt because it’s thicker and tastes better, to me)
1 hothouse/English cucumber, grated on a box grater on the small grate
2 cloves garlic, minced and then smooshed (with some salt) into a paste with the flat edge of your knife
Juice from half lemon
Champagne vinegar
Dill, finely chopped, maybe a teaspoons worth
I don’t measure anymore but use almost the full container of skyr, and then garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, and some additional salt, to taste. I like it garlicky so 2 cloves may be too much for others.
Grate the cucumber first and let it drain in a strainer for a while and then press out as much remaining liquid as you can (it’s a lot!).
And then just mix everything together. So good.
I always put dill and lemon juice in mine too! So yummy!
Thanks for the advice, I am writing a shopping list now!
That’s…a pretty basic tsatsiki recipe. Why the excitement?
Next week: Florence Pugh’s easy 6-ingredient guacamole! Pro-tip: try putting avocado in it.
I will see your six ingredient guac and raise you 2 ingredients! Avocado & and a plop of salsa.
I am not greekbut italian I have made tsatsigi multiple times, it’s quiet a simple recipe can you tell me what do you add?😳
I love using Greek yogurt for everything. But I refuse to waste fat grams so I go with nonfat. And because I don’t like water to accumulate, I even strain my Greeks overnight. It’s so thick and glorious and I always add fresh herbs with the cucumbers. Mottled herbs simply have to go in everything as well. ｡◕‿◕｡
Oh that’s such a good idea, if you really have to use low-fat, strain the yoghurt!
Woo this is so easy. I’m embarrassed to say now that I usually buy this dip pre-made but I just happened to buy full fat Greek yogurt accidentally last grocery run so this is perfect for my Friday night nosh session! It’s the little things.
So easy to make and you can cater it to your own taste. I had a friend who would buy it ready made until she learned how easy it was to make.
Hummus is easy too and I don’t understand why people buy the ready made kind. I don’t care for tahini so I leave it out.
Nothing like fresh and homemade.
With cooking, people often modify recipes to their own taste and that is fine.
I am Greek and I think Pugh does make it correctly, but I have found that if you use a Greek yogurt that is full fat that it does not require any olive oil because it is already thick and rich. On the other hand, if you use a low fat or zero fat Greek yogurt they add something to thicken it I believe it’s some sort of gelatin and it gives the yogurt a really chalky flavor that I find unpleasant. Like I said though, everyone has their own preferences.
My Greek mother’s tzatziki recipe is:
In a bowl put:
Full fat Greek yogurt -1litre
A whole cucumber grated
3 cloves of garlic grated
Fresh dill cut up as small as possible
Salt and pepper to taste
Vinegar or lemon for a tangy taste
Stir it well and voila you have a delicious tzatziki!
Cut the cukes lengthwise and scoop out the seeds, lengthwise you make strips of the “carcasses” and salt then. Wrap in a paper towel to drain off excess water. Mince them or shred further, your choice. The rest of the recipe is fine but use chopped fresh dill, or chopped min, maybe a 1/2 tsp of white vinegar, but the rest of the recipe is fine. Maybe 1 dash of dried oregano (fresh is better) just a teensy bit. Her recipe just needs cuke advice and proper fresh herbs. Don’t forget, other grilled proteins make fabulous authentic Greek pita sandwiches.
Does anyone put mint in it? I do that sometimes. With the dill and all the rest mentioned above.