Taverna-Style Tzatziki with Salt-Drained Cucumber and Dill

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The thick, scoopable tzatziki you get at a good Greek taverna — nothing like the watery supermarket tub. The trick is two kinds of draining: salt the grated cucumber until it gives up its water, and strain the yogurt so the dip stands up on a spoon. Raw garlic gets tamed in lemon juice and vinegar so it tastes bright instead of harsh, and a slick of good olive oil on top makes it look like it came out of a warm kitchen by the sea. Serve with pita chips, crackers, or a pile of cold crudités.

Ingredients

• 1 English cucumber (about 12 oz), or 2 Persian cucumbers
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt, for drawing out water

• 2 cups whole-milk Greek yogurt (full fat, 5%)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint (optional)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• pita chips, seeded crackers, or warm pita wedges
• cucumber spears, radishes, carrot sticks, and bell pepper strips
• 1 pinch dried oregano, for finishing

Instructions

1. Trim the cucumber and halve it lengthwise. Scrape out the seedy center with a teaspoon and discard — that core is mostly water. Grate the cucumber on the large holes of a box grater.
2. Toss the grated cucumber with 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a colander set over a bowl and let it drain for 20 minutes at room temperature. Then gather it in a clean kitchen towel or a double layer of cheesecloth and squeeze hard over the sink, in two or three batches, until barely any liquid comes out. You should be left with about 3/4 cup of dry, fluffy shreds.
3. While the cucumber drains, check your yogurt. If it is loose enough to slump on a spoon, spoon it into a fine-mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter or paper towel, set it over a bowl, and refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes to firm up. Thick 5% Greek yogurt straight from the tub can be used as is.
4. Grate the garlic on a microplane (or mash to a paste with a pinch of salt on a cutting board) into a small bowl. Add the lemon juice and white wine vinegar and let it sit 10 minutes — the acid mellows the raw bite so the garlic perfumes the dip instead of burning it.
5. In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt, the garlic-lemon mixture, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and the black pepper. Whisk 20 to 30 seconds, just until glossy and smooth; stop before it thins out.
6. Fold in the squeezed cucumber, dill, and mint if using. Taste and adjust: another pinch of salt for savoriness, a few more drops of vinegar if it tastes flat.
7. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours so the garlic and dill bloom into the yogurt. Taste again cold — chilled dips always need a touch more salt than they did at room temperature.
8. Spread in a shallow bowl, swoosh the back of a spoon through the surface to make a channel, and pool 1 tablespoon olive oil in it. Finish with a pinch of dried oregano, a little more dill, and cracked pepper. Serve cold with pita chips, crackers, and crudités.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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