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Vegan Tzatziki

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Servings: 8 to 10
Calories: 69kcal
Author: Nisha Vora

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces (280g) plain-flavored thick and tart vegan yogurt (Note 1)
  • 8 ounces (227g) English or Persian cucumber, unpeeled (Note 2)
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh dill (7g) (Note 3)
  • 2 fat garlic cloves, grated or crushed in a press
  • 2 teaspoons good-quality red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar), more as needed (Note 4)
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
  • Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
  • 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons good-quality extra virgin olive oil

For serving (optional)

  • Homemade Pita “Chips," store-bought pita chips, or crudites (Note 5)

Instructions

  • Use the wide holes on a box grater to grate the cucumber.
  • Add the grated cucumber to a thin dish towel, nut milk bag, or cheesecloth. Squeeze or wrap it tightly, and wring out as much water as you can.
  • Add the yogurt to a medium bowl. Add in the grated cucumber, dill, garlic, 2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice, salt, pepper to taste, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Mix well. Taste for seasonings, adding more salt, vinegar, or olive oil as needed.
  • If possible, rest in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes (or for several hours) to allow the flavors to marry.
  • If desired, drizzle with olive oil before serving.

Video

Notes

Note 1: A thick yogurt is essential because it will be watery otherwise. Also, a naturally tangy/tart yogurt helps, as naturally sweet varieties taste a bit strange in savory dip like this. My preferred yogurt brands for this recipe are Culina (favorite), CocoJune (favorite), GT’s CocoYo, Anita’s coconut yogurt, or Kite Hill Greek-style almond milk yogurt.
Note 2: I prefer English cucumbers or Persian cucumbers, as they’re sweeter and seedless, but you can use a regular cucumber if needed (the skin is a little tough, so you may want to peel it).
Note 3: You can sub dill with fresh mint. Start with half the amount, add more as needed.
Note 4: You can sub with freshly squeezed lemon juice if you don’t have a good-quality vinegar
Note 5: Homemade pita “chips”
Preheat the oven to 400F. Arrange an oven rack in the second shelf of your oven, the second shelf from the broiler. Take a few whole pita rounds and brush the top sides only with olive oil. Now slice each pita into 8 triangles each. Transfer pita wedges to a sheet pan, lined with parchment paper for easy clean. Bake at 400F for 6 minutes, then turn your oven broiler on (use a medium setting if you have it).Broil on the second shelf for 1 ½ to 2 minutes, keeping a close eye to prevent burning, until nicely browned on the edges.