Cool, creamy Greek yogurt meets crisp cucumber and garlic in this Mediterranean classic that has absolutely no business being this good on tacos—but here we are. Tangy, refreshing, and ridiculously versatile.←Back to Taco Topping Recipes
1 cup Greek yogurt, full-fat
0.5 cup cucumber, peeled and grated
2 whole garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp fresh dill, chopped
0.5 tsp kosher salt
Grate the cucumber and toss with a pinch of salt, then let it drain in a fine-mesh strainer for 15 minutes.
Squeeze the salted cucumber dry in a clean kitchen towel—get aggressive with it, you want it bone dry.
In a bowl, combine Greek yogurt, minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and dill.
Fold in the squeezed cucumber and season with salt to taste.
Let it chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the flavors can get acquainted and do their thing.
Chef's Notes
The draining step is non-negotiable. Grate your cucumber, toss it with salt, and let it sit in a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl for 15 minutes. Then gather it in a clean kitchen towel, twist, and squeeze like you're wringing out a confession. You'll be shocked how much liquid comes out. Skip this and you'll have watery, weeping tzatziki that pools on your taco and dilutes everything it touches. Full-fat Greek yogurt is essential. The fat carries flavor and creates the thick, creamy texture that makes tzatziki work. Low-fat versions taste thin and sad. Fage Total is the gold standard; Chobani and Oikos work fine too. The yogurt should be thick enough to hold its shape when scooped. Raw garlic in tzatziki can be intense. If you find it too aggressive, you can mellow it by letting the tzatziki rest overnight in the fridge, or use a Microplane to grate the garlic into a paste instead of mincing, which distributes the heat more evenly. Fresh dill is traditional; dried dill is a shadow of itself and not worth using. This improves after 30 minutes in the fridge as the garlic mellows and the flavors integrate. It keeps for about four days refrigerated, though the garlic flavor intensifies over time.
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