Best Ever Tzatziki
This is a very simple tzatziki recipe, but all the ingredients and their preparation have been well considered to give the best eating experience. Rather than peeling, grating and squeezing the fluids from the cucumber, as is often done for tzatziki, we prefer to keep the skin on the cucumber and then dice it. We all know that the nutrients of a fruit or root vegetable are just below the skin – so keep it on! And we prefer the cucumber diced rather than grated, as this gives the tzatziki a fabulous crunch factor that contrasts wonderfully with the thick, creamy yoghurt. We also prefer to mash the garlic so that you get a homogeneous garlic flavour throughout the tzatziki and not just an occasional peppery-garlicky burst. And when you combine these ingredients and add a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil, you truly make the ‘best ever tzatziki!’ Make it now and enjoy it as a wonderful dip with crusty bread or as an accompaniment to lamb, chicken, vegetables, rice… anything! In fact this tzatziki is so good, you can even eat it on it’s own!
Ingredients
Ingredients
You will need…
500 g full-fat natural Greek yoghurt
1 continental cucumber
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
Watch the full recipe video below. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the Subscribe link on the video.
Strain the yoghurt
Place a colander in a deep bowl and line the colander with a muslin cloth.
Place the yoghurt in the lined colander and tie the alternate ends of the cloth together.
Strain the yoghurt for at least 6-8 hours. Do not refrigerate the yoghurt while it is straining – just keep it in a cool place, away from direct sunlight.
Make the tzatziki
When it’s almost time to serve the tzatziki, slice the cucumber in half width-ways and again length-ways. Slice each piece in half lengthways once more and remove the seeded section of each length.
Slice each length into thin strips, 3-4mm thick, and dice each strip. Set aside.
Peel and finely chop three garlic cloves. Add one heaped teaspoon of salt and use the flat of a wide knife blade to press firmly on the garlic and mash it until it forms a smooth paste.
Combine the strained yoghurt, the diced cucumber, the mashed garlic and a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil.
Taste the tzatziki for salt and oil and add more of either if you wish.
Serve the tzatziki
Serve and enjoy… with just about everything or even on its own!
