This cucumber sauce is full of flavor and fast to make! Made in minutes with Greek yogurt, lemon, and dill, it’s like a quick tzatziki.
This cool and refreshing sauce you’ll want to slather on just about everything: cucumber sauce! Stir together shredded cucumber with Greek yogurt, lemon, garlic, and dill, and it’s nothing short of a revelation. Alex and I originally made it to go with our authentic falafel sandwiches, but it works on any sandwich, burger, or even grilled veggie platter. Use it as a healthy dip, spread, or slather: you name it! The best part: it’s actually quick and takes just minutes to put together.
A cucumber sauce that’s actually quick
This recipe is modeled after the traditional Greek tzatziki, so it’s a Mediterranean-style or Greek cucumber sauce. Our authentic tzatziki calls for a 1 to 2 hour chill time. Most cucumber sauce recipes call for salting the cucumber for 1 hour to remove moisture, or chilling for 1 to 2 hours before eating. Who has time for that?
Alex and I created this cucumber sauce to be one you can make in minutes: no waiting time required. While we love our tzatziki recipe: the flavor of this one is just as good! And it’s the one we make on the regular now.
How to make cucumber sauce (basic steps)
Here are the basic steps to how to make this cucumber sauce, and the secret to making it…fast!
- Grate the cucumber, then squeeze out the liquid. Skip salting the cucumber and letting it sit for 1 hour. Here you’ll grate it and then use a clean towel to squeeze out the extra liquid.
- Mix with the remaining ingredients! Then you’ll just mix with the remaining ingredients: Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dill, and salt and pepper. Then, you’ll add water to get it to a creamy consistency…more on that below.
Use just enough water to get it creamy!
Once you mix together this cucumber sauce, you’ll find that the texture is thick. The final step is to stir in water until it gets to the right consistency. You’ll know it’s done when it’s perfectly creamy and easy to dollop onto your sandwich. It should be creamy and thick. Resist the urge to add too much water: we added 2 to 3 tablespoons.
The reason the water varies is because each brand of Greek yogurt varies! Some are thicker than others. You might also notice that when you’re using a large container, after a while the water will pool at the bottom and the yogurt you scoop out is very thick.
Dried dill vs fresh dill
Many Greek or Mediterranean-style cucumber sauce recipes use fresh dill (like this one). Because this one is designed for speed and to be easy to put together, we used dried dill. The flavor turns out fantastic! But if you love fresh dill (we do) and especially if you have it on hand, you can use fresh dill!
The rule of thumb for converting dried and fresh herbs is this: 1 tablespoon fresh herbs equals 1 teaspoon dried herbs. So use 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill in this recipe!
Ways to serve cucumber sauce
The best part: serving this healthy cucumber sauce! There are so many ways to serve it: as a sandwich spread, or as a dip. Here are our top ways to use it:
- Falafel. Use with authentic falafel as a dip, or on a falafel sandwich with our easy flatbread. It’s divine!
- Burger. Slather on this Greek grilled portobello burger, falafel burger, or chickpea burgers. Yum!
- Dip for pita bread or chips. Dip in triangles of our flatbread or pita chips.
- Veggie dip. It’s perfect with carrot sticks and other veg, like a ranch dip.
- Sauce for fish or meat. It’s fantastic over Easy Oven Baked Salmon (similar to our Lemon Dill Salmon). You can thin it out with a little more water if you’d like.
- Roasted or grilled veggie platter. Use it as a sauce for grilled vegetables or roasted veggies like roasted broccoli or even fries.
More cucumber recipes
Do you love cucumbers? This hydrating veggie is one of our favorites to use in sauces, dips and drinks. Here are some favorite cucumber recipes:
- Creamy Cucumber Salad or Cucumber Feta Salad An ultra refreshing side dish! The silky sauce with dill and shallots brings an irresistible flavor.
- Cucumber Salsa Cool and zesty, pairing this crunchy veggie with jalapeño, cilantro and lime.
- Cucumber Juice This cooling juice recipe is easy to whip up in a blender: no juicer needed! A great way to use this hydrating vegetable.
- Greek Salad That classic combination of juicy tomatoes, cool cucumbers, red onion, Kalamata olives, and salty feta.
This cucumber sauce recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
Print
Quick Cucumber Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: About 1 ¾ cups 1x
Description
This cucumber sauce is full of flavor and fast to make! Made in minutes with Greek yogurt, lemon, and dill, it’s like a quick tzatziki.
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated cucumber (1 medium or 2/3 large)
- 1 small garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons dried dill*
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Water
Instructions
- Peel the cucumber and coarsely grate it. Place it in a clean tea towel or dish towel and squeeze tightly over a sink to remove excess liquid.
- Mince the garlic. Juice the lemon.
- In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients, then stir in about 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, until the sauce is smooth and creamy (the water amount will vary based on the yogurt brand). Store for up to 1 week refrigerated.
Notes
*If you prefer using fresh dill or have it on hand, you can use 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill.
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stirred
- Cuisine: Greek
- Diet: Vegetarian
Keywords: Cucumber sauce, Dill sauce, Yogurt sauce, Yogurt dill sauce
Lovely!
I’d love to try this.
Just to ask: instead of adding water, why not use the juice squeezed out from the cucumber? Is that a ‘no-no’?
★★★★
You could do that if desired!