Recipe for tzatziki sauce with what to serve. Tzatziki sauce is a hallmark of the Greek cookbook

In each national cuisine has its own sauce, original and unique to her. These dressings or gravies, which can sometimes be treated as appetizers in their own right, serve as the calling cards of cookbooks. different countries. One has only to remember Japanese Indian chutney or Azerbaijani narsharab. In this article, we will look at the preparation of Greek tzatziki. The classic recipe was born in mainland Hellas. They call it tzatziki or tzatziki.

On the island of Crete, the appetizer sauce is named talaturi (ttalattouri). Along with the name, the recipe has also undergone modifications. In Crete, tzatziki is prepared with less garlic and mint leaves. And in the Bulgarian and Macedonian cuisines, the sauce has generally turned into a soup - a no less popular tarator in the world. Well, in Russia, an analogue of this interesting dish you can count okroshka on kefir.

History of occurrence

Researchers are still at a loss as to which people gave the world this wonderful appetizer sauce. Some believe that it was only thanks to the Turkish conquest that tzatziki sauce appeared in Greece. The classic recipe in the Ottoman Empire used squeezed goat or sheep milk yogurt, garlic, fresh cucumbers, salt, pepper and olive oil. The Turkish dish is called cacık. It differs from the Greek in a more liquid consistency. In the Middle East, in Persia, there is a similar mast-o-khiar sauce. Tzatziki is also reminiscent of the Indian raita gravy. But perhaps the conquering Turks "borrowed" the recipe from the conquered Greeks? One way or another, but who owns the palm in the issue of tzatziki, we do not yet know. The main thing is that we have a recipe for a delicious and healthy sauce.

iconic dish

In Greece, this sauce is sold in any grocery store, and with numerous variations. In Greece, as you know, everything is there. And this statement is true for variety of sauces, united under the common name "tzatziki". The classic recipe suggests the presence of yogurt, garlic, cucumber, olive oil and salt and pepper in the dish. Variations include mint, dill, parsley, lemon juice, ground almonds and much, much more. There are tzatsiki on goat milk and on sheep. With fresh or pickled cucumbers. In a word, for every taste. Not a single meal in Greece is complete without this dish. It is eaten as a snack on its own, simply by dipping pita into it. Tzatziki is served with gyros, souvlaki, meat, fish, fried or stewed vegetables. The sauce invariably accompanies meze - a set of cold and served in the Mediterranean.

Tzatziki: cooking recipe

In fact, there are no difficulties in creating the sauce. We don't even have to light a fire. In Greece, in addition to ready-made sauce, you can also buy the main ingredient for its preparation - very thick (without flavorings). With it, cooking a cult dish will not take even half an hour. All you need is to mix peeled and finely chopped cucumbers, garlic, spices and olive oil into yogurt. Tzatziki must be chilled before serving. In restaurants, the sauce is decorated with an olive cut in half, an olive or a sprig of mint. The amount of ingredients can be adjusted to your liking. But what is the proportion of an authentic tzatziki dish? The classic recipe gives such a list of ingredients. For 370 ml of yogurt for tzatziki, you need to take two cucumbers, five cloves of garlic, two tablespoons of olive oil, one teaspoon of salt and a pinch of black pepper.

Cooking step by step: tzatziki (classic recipe)

Photos will make the description more understandable. Two cucumbers are peeled and chopped on a grater. We add them and squeeze out the slightly allocated juice. Finely chop five garlic cloves, pour a spoonful of wine vinegar (or lemon juice). Add to cucumbers along with 370 ml of thick natural yogurt. If desired, you can sprinkle the mixture with a tablespoon of dill or parsley. The taste of mint with fresh cucumbers will create a cooling effect on a hot day. Mix the sauce thoroughly. In a thin stream, pour in two tablespoons of natural olive oil. Mix again and put in the refrigerator. Before serving, decorate with tzatziki sauce. The classic recipe is good for everyone. But he does not specify where to get such thick natural yogurt in Russia, which is sold in any shop in Greece. Let's try to adapt the recipe to our conditions of import substitution.

Greek yogurt

Cucumbers and garlic are not a problem for us. Olive oil is also available for purchase. It's about yogurt. The one we sell under the name "Natural" is not suitable for tzatziki sauce. The recipe requires a thick product so that, as they say, a spoon stands in it. Many people replace yogurt with full-fat sour cream. It's really thick enough. But the sauce will be too thick. Therefore, it makes sense to do some preliminary manipulations in order to get a real one. Take a liter of whole milk, bring to a boil and cool to about 43 degrees. Add two tablespoons of sour cream. Put in heat for fermentation for eight hours. Then yogurt should still stand in the refrigerator for better thickening. If the result disappoints you, fold the product in several layers of gauze and hang it up. Overnight, excess whey will drain, and the yogurt will become thick. Well, then you can use it according to the recipe.

Tzatziki with pickles

This sauce can also be made winter. Salted or pickled cucumbers will not refresh tzatziki so much. The recipe suggests transferring 250 grams of thick yogurt to a bowl. Cut two small cucumbers into small cubes in another bowl. Squeeze out the juice - it is not needed in the sauce. Mix cucumbers with yogurt. Finely chop the dill and parsley. Add two cloves of garlic squeezed through a press. We mix everything. Salt to taste, not forgetting the black pepper. And send it to the refrigerator for half an hour so that all the ingredients of the sauce enter into a pleasant interaction with each other. As you can see, this recipe vegetable oil not used. If we mix a teaspoon of grated almonds into the sauce, the tzatziki will have an interesting nutty flavor.

Tzatziki sauce is a cold addition to food that came to us straight from Greece. It is usually prepared on Greek yogurt with the addition of crushed garlic, lemon juice and cucumber pulp. In addition to this composition, other ingredients may be included in the sauce: fresh herbs, wine vinegar, onions and olives. If you want to cook thick tzatziki, then you need to take fatty sour cream, kefir or yogurt as a basis. Below we will consider several recipes for this dish.

classic sauce recipe

This is the traditional option. The following ingredients are involved in the cooking process:

• natural unsweetened yogurt - 150-200 grams;
• cucumber - 200 grams;
• garlic - 2-3 cloves;
• olive oil - 30 ml;
• salt- half tbsp

The number of listed ingredients can be changed. If desired, you can do without adding olive oil or garlic, or on the contrary, add more ingredients. To make a quality homemade tzatziki, follow the steps below. step by step instructions:

1. Remove the skin from the cucumber and rub the vegetable on a fine grater. Squeeze out the juice.
2. Add yogurt, add salt and mix thoroughly.
3. Peel the garlic and pass through a press. In the absence of the latter, you can cut the vegetable into small pieces. Once the vegetable is chopped, add it to the already prepared composition.
4. Add olive oil.
5. Mix all the ingredients, if desired, using a mixer or blender.

Serve the tzatziki sauce immediately or after chilling in the refrigerator. In the second case, it will thicken and acquire a brighter taste.

Sauce with lemon juice and herbs

To make this tzatziki sauce, you will need:

• lemon juice - 1 tbsp;
• chilled fat sour cream - 2 tbsp;
• dried dill and parsley - 1 tbsp each;
• sea ​​salt- a pinch;
• cucumber - 150 grams;
• garlic - 2-3 cloves;
• natural yogurt - 500 ml.

Step by step recipe the preparation of this sauce looks like this:

1. Boil a sieve over a saucepan with hot water by covering it with a napkin or towel.
2. Put yogurt on a sieve and leave overnight, previously covered with a cloth or film.
3. Peel the cucumber, remove the seeds and grind the vegetable in a blender or on a grater. Squeeze out the juice.
4. Add the resulting mixture to the yogurt. Pour lemon juice there and sprinkle greens with salt.
5. Peel the garlic from the peel, chop in the way you can and add to the already prepared mixture.
6. Mix all the ingredients in a blender or in any way convenient for you.

Cool the tzatziki and serve.

Tzatziki with wine vinegar

To prepare tzatziki according to this recipe, you will need:

• natural yogurt - 500 ml;
• olive oil - 3 tbsp;
• cucumbers - 150 grams;
• fresh herbs - 1 bunch;
• garlic - 1-3 cloves;
• wine vinegar - 1 tsp;
• salt and black ground pepper- pinch.

Preparing tzatziki sauce with wine vinegar next recipe:

1. Grate the cucumbers, after removing the peel from them. Squeeze out the juice.
2. Peel the garlic from the peel and pass through a press.
3. Mix cucumbers and garlic and pour over everything with yogurt.
4. Cut the greens into small pieces and add to the finished mass.
5. Add vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour in the olive oil.
6. Blend until smooth with a blender.

Serve cold tzatziki sauce. Add it to potatoes, meat, fish.

pickled cucumber product

Traditionally, tzatziki sauce is made with pulp fresh cucumbers. However, there is alternative recipe, which uses pickles. This sauce contains:

• Pickled cucumbers - 100 grams;
• Thick yogurt or natural unsweetened sour cream - 300 grams;
• Dill or parsley - 1 bunch;
• Salt and black ground pepper - 1 pinch;
• Garlic - 2 cloves (can be replaced with asafoetida - half a teaspoon).

Tzatziki is prepared in several simple steps:

1. Put sour cream in a deep plate.
2. Grate the cucumbers on a coarse grater and squeeze the juice. If desired, you can simply cut the vegetables into small pieces.
3. Chop greens.
4. Pass the garlic through a press and add to the already existing mass.
5. Add salt and pepper. Choose the amount of ingredients based on your preferences.
6. Thoroughly mix all the products together and put the finished composition in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Tzatziki with lemon juice and mint

To make this sauce you will need:

• coarse salt- 1 tbsp;
• natural or Greek yogurt - 500 ml;
• cucumbers - 200 gr;
• dill - 1 bunch;
• mint - 10 gr;
• lemon juice - 2 tbsp;
• garlic - 3 cloves;
• shallots - 100 gr. (one middle head);
• ground black pepper - to taste;
• olive oil - 2 tbsp;
• paprika - to taste.

Tzatziki sauce is prepared according to the following recipe:

1. Peel the cucumbers from the skin and pass through a coarse grater. Put the resulting pulp on a sieve placed over a plate. Wait until excess liquid drains and put in a separate deep bowl. Add salt and stir.
2. Peel the garlic from the peel and pass through a press. Add to cucumbers.
3. Finely chop the dill and mint. Transfer the greens to a bowl with the rest of the food.
4. Clean and chop shallots into cubes. Add to the rest of the mass.
5. Pour everything with yogurt, pour in lemon juice, add black pepper, olive oil and paprika.
6. Beat the resulting mass with a mixer or blender.

If all the points are followed correctly, you will get a homogeneous Tzatziki sauce with delicate taste. Serve the product with salads, potatoes, meat and fish. Chill the sauce in the refrigerator first.

Tzatziki with olives

To make this tzatziki, you will need the following ingredients:

• fat sour cream - 500 ml;
• fresh cucumbers - 200 g;
• garlic - 6 cloves;
• olive oil - 4 tbsp;
• vinegar - 3 tablespoons;
• dill - 1 bunch;
• salt and pepper - to taste.

To prepare the sauce, follow the instructions below:

1. Peel cucumbers from peel and seeds, pass through a grater.
2. Peel the garlic and crush with a press.
3. Dill cut into small pieces.
4. Mix all ingredients and pour over sour cream.
5. Add vinegar, olive oil, dill and spices.
6. Blend until smooth and sprinkle with olives.

The tzatziki sauce is ready to serve.

We pronounce Tzatziki sauce both “tsatsiki”, and “dzadzygi” and “dzadzyki”. However, it doesn’t matter how you say it - it’s more important to cook this spicy Greek sauce-appetizer, try it - and Tzatziki (tzatziki) will most likely become one of your favorite sauces. You can just eat it, or spread it on bread, pita bread, or you can serve it to fried meat, to barbecue.

Additional Ingredients, which greatly enrich the taste of tzatziki sauce, are chopped dill or parsley, chopped olives, fresh mint. In addition, vinegar can be easily replaced with lemon or lime juice. Before serving, tzatziki sauce should be infused in the refrigerator for several hours, after which it should be served in a bowl or on a plate.

• 2-3 medium or 1 large cucumber
• 200 g sour cream
• 100 g cottage cheese
• 3-5 garlic cloves
• 1-2 tbsp. spoons of olive oil
• lemon juice and salt to taste

1. We clean the cucumbers from the skin and rub on a grater, small or large - a matter of taste. It is very convenient to put gauze on a plate, grate cucumbers, and then lift the ends of the gauze and squeeze out the juice.
2. Put cucumber gruel in a salad bowl. Pour sour cream there, mixed with cottage cheese in homogeneous mass. Rub the garlic on a fine grater and also add to the salad bowl.
3. Lastly, pour olive oil, a few drops of lemon juice, salt and mix everything thoroughly. That's the whole recipe.
4. This appetizer-sauce, very popular in Greece, is made from unsweetened, very thick, Greek yogurt. There are no strict proportions, it is permissible to add crushed almonds, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano to taste, garnish with olives and black olives.
   Since we don’t have Greek yogurt, we replace it with thick sour cream with a fat content of at least 20% and mix it with cottage cheese.

Recipe 2: Quick Tzatziki Sauce on Kefir

I offer an express version of the Greek tzatziki sauce, i.e. without hanging and squeezing yogurt, but simply prepared by mixing the right ingredients. Tzatziki sauce is served with vegetable dishes, meat and fish dishes and it tastes even just as an independent snack with bread (pita, lavash...)

Kefir (yogurt) - 1 cup;
Sour cream - 0.5 cups;
Cucumber - 1 piece;
Fresh herbs to taste;
Garlic - 1 clove;
Sea salt or coarse grinding - 1 pinch;
Lemon juice - up to 1 tbsp. spoons;
Pink pepper or a variety of pepper to taste.

Prepare the following ingredients: kefir or yogurt, sour cream, cucumber, lemon, garlic, herbs, salt and spices.

Cucumber and garlic clove, grate, salt and leave for a few minutes to let the cucumber juice.

Mix kefir (yogurt) with sour cream.

Squeeze the grated mass of cucumber through a sieve from the juice and add its thick part to the sauce.

Stir the sauce and preferably let it stand in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Serve tzatziki with any meat, fish or vegetable dishes to your taste.

When serving, add lemon juice, olive oil, chopped herbs, pink pepper to tzatziki to taste.

Recipe 3: Tzatziki with pickles

If tzatziki is cooked with pickled cucumbers, it will turn out even tastier, and it will not overcool us in winter, as fresh cucumbers have a cooling effect and are more suitable for summer.

In Greece, natural thick yogurt is used to make this sauce. We have such a difficult to find, so you can safely replace it with 10-15% sour cream or a mixture of sour cream and ordinary unsweetened yogurt.

But if you decide to cook tzatziki according to all the rules, then you need a store or home drinking yogurt hang overnight in cheesecloth, folded in several layers, so that excess whey is drained, and then add the rest of the ingredients in accordance with the recipe. I also saw the company Valio produces Turkish yogurt 10%.

Sauce "Tzatziki"

• 250 gr. sour cream 10-15% (thick yogurt 10% or a mixture of sour cream and drinking unsweetened yogurt)
• 2 small pickles
• small bunch of parsley and dill
• ground black pepper
• 1-2 garlic cloves (or ½ teaspoon asafoetida)

Put the finished sauce in the refrigerator for several hours to infuse.

Tzatziki is insanely delicious with potatoes (fried, boiled, baked) or with fresh bread. It can also be served as a salad or dip for appetizers.

Recipe 4: Tzatziki Sauce with Cheese and Pepper

• 200 gr yogurt or sour cream
• 100 gr cheese
• half paprika pepper
• 1 fresh cucumber
• 3 garlic cloves
• olive oil

1. We clean the cucumber. We rub it on a fine grater. We squeeze. We take yogurt or sour cream (I took it in half), add grated cucumber to them.

2. Paprika pepper cut into small cubes. Add to the mixture with cucumber.

3. Grind the garlic on a garlic press and throw in yogurt with sour cream.

4. We rub the cheese on a fine grater. We add.

5. Finely chop the greens, spread to the total mass. Salt, pepper, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Mix well.

I used rye bread, they turned out to be good and tasty canapes.

Recipe 5: Tzatziki Sauce with Sour Milk and Vinegar

• 6-8 cloves of young garlic.
• 500 ml of sour milk (10% fat).
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
• Vinegar, salt to taste.
• 1 fresh cucumber.
• Black olive variety Calamon.

1. Grate the garlic and mix it with olive oil.
2. Mix garlic with sour milk and refrigerate for several hours (so that the garlic and olive oil soak the milk).
3. Before serving, grate the cucumber on a fine grater and squeeze (to remove excess water).
4. Mix the grated cucumber and milk from the refrigerator with the rest of the ingredients.
5. Lay olives on top.

Practical Tips

Each nation has its own traditional dish and sauce. It is national dishes that take pride of place in the cookbooks of various cuisines of the world. In Greece traditional dish, including a snack, is considered Tzatziki sauce, the recipes of which we will consider in today's article.

Sauce "Tzatziki": a classic recipe

According to historical data, Tzatziki sauce appeared in Hellas. To date, it has undergone many modifications, this has also affected its taste.

On a note! In some sources, the described sauce is called "Tzatziki". In our country, Greek sauce can be compared with kefir-based okroshka.

As you already understood, today we will learn how to cook a real Greek Tzatziki sauce. What do they eat it with? Often the described dish is served to the table as self snacks along with pita. Tzatziki sauce often accompanies fish, meat and vegetable dishes.

The classic sauce is prepared on the basis of natural yogurt without any additives and dyes. Fresh cucumbers, garlic cloves, refined olive oil and allspice are added to the appetizer. But at present, there are many other options for preparing the Greek Tzatziki.

Compound:

• 0.25 l of Greek yogurt;
• salt and allspice ground pepper to taste;
• 1 fresh cucumber;
• 3 drops of balsamic vinegar;
• 1 st. l. refined olive oil;
• 1 garlic clove.

Cooking:

Recipe from Crete

You learned how to cook classical performance Greek Tzatziki Sauce. The recipe we are going to look at now is popular in Crete. Some housewives replace fresh cucumbers with pickled ones. In this case, the sauce acquires a completely new and unusual taste.

On a note! Before serving, cooks recommend infusing the sauce for one hour in the refrigerator.

Compound:

• 0.5 l of Greek yogurt;
• 3 pcs. garlic cloves;
• salt to taste;
• 1 fresh cucumber;
• a bunch of dill;
• 2 tbsp. l. refined olive oil;
• 1 lemon.

Cooking:

On a note! You can add some pickled cucumbers, dried herbs and spices to taste in Tzatziki sauce. It is important to feel their balance so as not to spoil the taste of the cooked food.

Acquiring new skills

As you can see, no outlandish products are needed to make a true Tzatziki sauce. Here's just one problem - where to find natural Greek yogurt, because it is unlikely to be sold in a supermarket or grocery market?

Yogurt without additives, dyes and flavors, which we take as a basis for cooking various sauces, for "Tzatziki" is not suitable. And if you want to make a great sauce, learn how to make Greek yogurt at home.

Compound:

• 1 liter of pasteurized cow's milk;
• 2 tbsp. l. sour cream with an average percentage of fat content.

Cooking:

1. Pour pasteurized cow's milk into a thick-walled pan.
2. Place over moderate heat and bring to a boil. At the same time, the milk must be constantly stirred so that it does not run away and does not burn.
3. As soon as the milk boils, set it aside from the heat.
4. Cool down to a temperature mark of 43 °.
5. To determine desired temperature not without a thermometer.
6. Add sour cream with an average percentage of fat content to boiled milk.
7. Mix well and leave in a warm secluded place for 8 hours. During this time, the fermentation process will take place.
8. After the specified time, we move the milk mixture for several hours in the refrigerator.
9. Now take a deep dish and cover it with gauze cut, folded in two or three layers.
10. Spread the mass, tie the gauze.
11. We hang the prepared mass vertically above the sink.
12. Leave for a few hours to get rid of excess moisture.
13. Yogurt is ready, it should acquire a thick consistency.
14. Greek yogurt can be used to make Tzatziki sauce.

This sauce is ready in minutes. You can make it to diversify your daily menu. Serve the tzatziki sauce with fish fillet or meat dish. To taste, it fully harmonizes with baked or fresh vegetables. Also you can do unleavened cakes. Enjoy your meal!

Tzatziki sauce is a classic Greek appetizer. It is distributed in Turkey, Cyprus, the Balkan countries, Iran. There are many variations of this sauce. But the base is grated cucumber, thick yogurt, garlic, fresh dill and olive oil.

It is served with lamb, pork, dressed with salads, eaten with a piece of lavash.

What is tzatziki sauce

A firm favorite of summer picnics, parties and outdoor barbecues, tzatziki appetizer sauce has become a favorite all over the world. In Greece it is called zadjiki. In Turkey - Jadzhik. In Cyprus - talaturi.

The name of the sauce comes from the Turkish word cacık, which in turn is supposed to have been borrowed from the Armenian word cacıg.

In Greece, it is made from thick, salty yogurt (usually sheep's or goat's) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, and dill. Sometimes lemon juice, natural apple or grape vinegar are added.

In addition to dill, thyme, mint, parsley are used. Serve chilled.

In Turkey, the basis of tzatziki is made up of the same ingredients as in Greece, with the only difference that mint is added instead of dill. There are recipes with sumac, hot pepper, fresh or dried thyme.

It is served thick with the main course as an appetizer. As a side dish or sauce - dilute with water to the desired consistency.

It can be served with fried meat along with flavored anise aperitif, they are seasoned with boiled or raw carrots, other vegetables.

In Cyprus less garlic is added and mint instead of dill.

In Iran, where it is called masto-o-khiar (which literally means yogurt with cucumber) and some others Arab countries serves as an appetizer alcoholic beverages, put on the table like a meze. Sometimes chopped nuts or raisins can be added to it.

In the cuisine of the Balkan countries, such as Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, there is a similar dish called tarator. Unlike the cold soup of the same name, the sauce is based on cucumbers, garlic, chopped walnuts, salt, vegetable oil. Whereas yogurt is added to the soup.

How to cook tzatziki

Tzatziki sauce is very easy to make. It only needs a few ingredients that are easy to buy in the summer. And it only takes a few minutes to cook. True, there are some subtleties.

Cucumber is known to contain a lot of water. The essential step is to remove this fluid. To do this, the grated mass is placed in gauze and suspended. Or they leave it on the sieve for a while, sometimes all night. Of course, you can just squeeze out.

It is better to grate garlic on a fine grater or pass through a press.

The thicker the yogurt, the better. Liquid is not suitable for him. The best option- buy a real sheep or goat.

To make the sauce more fragrant, first combine all the ingredients with the exception of cucumber and dill, and refrigerate overnight.

Dill should be added last, just before serving.

How to make tzatziki sauce

Now two classic recipe dressing sauce.

Tzatziki sauce recipe with dill and mint

You will need:

0.5 large cucumber

2 garlic cloves

500 grams Greek thick yogurt

1 bunch dill

Several sprigs of mint

How to cook:

1. Cut the cucumber in half and clean out the seeds. Grate on a fine grater.
2. Place the grated cucumber in a sieve, put it on a bowl and add salt. Stir and leave for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Stir again, squeezing out the liquid with a spoon.
3. Peel and finely grate or crush the garlic. Combine with oil in a large bowl. Can be left in oil for several hours. But not necessarily.
4. When most of the liquid has drained, spread the mixture on a clean kitchen towel and pat dry.
5. Mix in garlic mixture. Add yogurt and stir.
6. Finely chop the dill and mint leaves. Add to sauce.
7. Squeeze lemon juice (to taste), add oil and mix well.

Sprinkle with dried mint if desired.

Serve with meat as an appetizer, season salad with tomato and other vegetables. Yes, and just put a spoon on a piece of loaf or pita bread - very tasty.

Classic recipe for tzatziki sauce

You will need:

0.5 cucumber

1.5 cups yogurt

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon white grape vinegar

0.5 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon chopped dill

How to cook:

Grate the cucumber and squeeze out the liquid.

Mix yogurt, minced garlic, oil and salt. Cover with a lid and put in the refrigerator. Maybe overnight.

In the morning, add the cucumber mass and dill. Mix and serve.

Can manifest creativity and add others to it spices, paprika or hot pepper.

Surprise your guests by serving it with fried chicken, kebabs or grilled vegetables.