Greek Tzatziki Dip

This is one dish that suits the summer completely. It's a tasty little snack that cools you off when sitting out on the back deck enjoying happy hour! Nothing else seems to help personify a Greek meal than Tzatziki dip.

It's odd how there are so many variations for such a simple dish. You would think that something called Tzatziki would be fairly standardized in its ingredients, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The first recipe I looked at didn't have dill in it, which I always thought was fairly important ingredient. Another recipe didn't even have garlic in it, which had to have been written by someone who has never tasted some real tzatziki!

Some people like theirs runny and soupy, some like theirs chunky, some like it full of flavour and others prefer a bare subtle taste. Even the version in the traditional Greek restaurant differs from the version made by the Greek family at the farmers market. It just seems to be one of those dishes that just differs in flavour and texture for everyone!

Being that this is my first time making this dish, I dont really know what my particular style is. However, this first attempt wasn't too shabby and i'll probably stick pretty close to it. It made quite a bit, and next time I would try to make it a bit thicker, but I wont change much else. And that way, it stays as MY Tzatziki recipe. Critics be damned!


Tzatziki Dip

Plain Yogurt - 2 cups
Cucumber - 2 cups - peeled and shredded
Garlic  - 2 Cloves - minced
Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Fresh Dill - finely chopped - handful
Salt & Pepper - dash



The original recipe I looked at instructed me to peel, de-seed and shred my cucumber. How does one go about de-seeing a cucumber? I left that step out as I wasn't worried about a couple seeds here and there.

Peel the cucumber with a sharp knife, then shred the remainder using a cheese grater.

In a large bowl combine the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and dill... heck, sprinkle in the salt and pepper as well. Stir it all up and your set! Next time I will probably take my immersion blender to this just to chop it down a little more, so you may want to do the same, blend or food processor it.
Chill in the fridge for at least a half hour before the meal and serve.

It goes great with pita's (especially ones with some olive oil on top, some paprika, and toasted), potato chips, chicken souvlaki, or even a nice fish meal!
This recipe serves a lot... and has lots of leftovers. And I made it for two. You may want to consider cutting back, especially on the yogurt as I will be next time.