Vegan Tzatziki Sauce

This Easy Vegan Tzatziki Sauce is made up of 6 simple ingredients and is ready in minutes. It’s creamy, light, garlicky, and perfect for drizzling over a vegan gyro or served as a dipping sauce for pita and veggies!

Jump to:

• What is Tzatziki?
• Main Ingredients
• Ingredient Notes
• How to Make This Recipe
• Tips & Tricks
• Substitutions & Additions:
• Serving Ideas
• Storage
• Frequently Asked Questions
• More Vegan Sauces You’ll Love:
• Recipe
• Reviews

The homemade tzatziki sauce is flavorful and delicious with just a handful of ingredients. This recipe is so easy to make- it takes about 5 minutes to whip up and is only 2 steps.

Grate and strain the cucumbers then whisk together the yogurt along with the remaining ingredients. You can serve it immediately or allow it to sit for a bit to marinate and become even more delicious.

What is Tzatziki?

Tzatziki is a traditional greek sauce that is yogurt based and flavored with minced garlic, grated and strained cucumber, olive oil, and lemon juice. It is commonly served as a dip that is paired with cucumber and carrots or as a sauce for a gyro.

Main Ingredients

This vegan tzatziki sauce recipe is a yogurt-based sauce that is 100% dairy-free but tastes amazingly similar to the traditional tzatziki. It’s light, creamy, fresh, and so easy to make! 

• Unsweetened Vegan Yogurt
• Cucumber
• Lemon Juice
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Garlic Cloves
• Fresh Dill

Ingredient Notes

• Unsweetened Vegan Yogurt: I used Unsweetened Greek Style Vegan Yogurt from the brand Kite Hill which is an almond milk-based yogurt. I personally love that brand and it is always my go-to for non-dairy yogurt. It makes an extra creamy dairy-free tzatziki and I highly recommend it!
• Cucumber: A cucumber is a must! You don't need to peel them but you do need to shred the cucumber using a box grater. I recommend adding the cucumber to a nut milk bag and squeezing the water out of it. If you don't have a nut milk bag, you can use a clean dish towel.
• Lemon Juice: Nice citrus flavor and acidity.
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Adds a rich flavor.
• Garlic Cloves: Add as much as you'd like- the more garlic the better. Fresh garlic is best but you could also use garlic powder.
• Fresh Dill: Fresh dill is a must as well- dried dill is great but fresh is best in this case.

How to Make This Recipe

Finely grate the cucumber with the skin on- aim for roughly 1 cup. I did a little more. 

Add the grated cucumber to a nut milk bag or cheesecloth and squeeze out as much water as you can. This is a very important step that shouldn't be skipped. If you omit this step, you risk a watery tzatziki sauce.

Whisk together the vegan yogurt, strained cucumber, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, minced garlic, chopped fresh dill, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.

Taste and adjust the following: salt, black pepper, lemon juice, and dill.

Tips & Tricks

This vegan tzatziki recipe tastes like the real thing despite being completely dairy-free! It also happens to be very easy to make. But there are a few things you can do to make sure you get the best tzatziki sauce every time.

Squeeze the cucumbers! You can use a clean dish towel, nut milk bag, or cheesecloth to squeeze the water out of the shredded cucumber. If you don't do this, the tzatziki sauce will end up watery.

Grate the garlic. I would recommend using a grater, zester, or garlic press- this will help the garlic melt into the sauce without leaving big raw chunks.

Choose a good yogurt! Make sure you choose a vegan yogurt that you actually like the taste of. Of course, the lemon and salt will help tame the tangy yogurt flavor but if you dislike the yogurt- you might not like this sauce.

Substitutions & Additions:

Fresh Herbs: I love adding loads of fresh dill but fresh parsley or mint would be delicious as well.

Cucumber: An English cucumber is the best choice but you can use whatever type of cucumber you have. If it's a seedless cucumber, that's ideal. But you can simply remove the seeds.

Lemon Juice: If you don't want to add lemon, you can use white wine vinegar instead. You could also use apple cider vinegar.

Vegan Yogurt: I used almond milk based yogurt but you can use coconut yogurt, soy yogurt, or any plant-based yogurt. Just make sure you use one that isn't super watery and you want to make sure that you are getting a plain vegan yogurt without sugar.

Serving Ideas

This recipe for this easy vegan tzatziki sauce is so versatile and can be served in so many ways. I love to serve it on my vegan seitan gyro recipe but it’s incredible with fresh-cut cucumbers and carrots as well as with pita bread.

• Serve on a Vegan Gyro: This gyro is why I created this recipe. They are the perfect pair! Delicious, meaty seitan on flatbread with tzatziki sauce and fresh cucumbers, tomato, and red onion.
• Serve with Falafel: Add homemade or store-bought falafel to pita bread and drizzle this tzatziki sauce over the top.
• Serve on a Vegan Shawarma Bowl: I love using soy curls or cauliflower.
• Use as a dip for fresh vegetables, flatbread, pita chips, or Vegetable Fritters.

Storage

Storage: Store the leftover vegan tzatziki sauce in an airtight container for 5 to 7 days. Give it a good stir before serving.

Freezing: You can freeze this sauce for up to 3 months but keep in mind that the texture may be changed.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegan Sauces You’ll Love:

• Easy Vegan Tartar Sauce
• Vegan Roasted Garlic Aioli (Oil-Free!)
• Vegan Heavy Cream Substitute
• Vegan Sour Cream

Recipe

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