If you’re looking for a cool and creamy dip that can work as a dipping sauce, salad dressing, or easy side dish, you’ve come to the right place. So this cucumber yogurt garlic sauce is DIVINE. Basically my version of a popular Greek dip, with only 22 calories and 2 grams of protein per serving, you’ll want to slather this low calorie tzatziki over E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. We especially love it alongside my Greek Chicken Meatballs and Potatoes!
This recipe for low calorie tzatziki is simple – just grate some cucumber, press out the water, and then dump in a bowl with Greek yogurt, some herbs and seasonings, mix and let chill. And that’s it!
Cucumber Yogurt Garlic Sauce Recipe Ingredients
Nonfat, Plain, Greek Yogurt
I recommend using a Greek-style yogurt for this recipe. Greek yogurt is strained, which means it’s pretty thick and creamy. You’ll want to make sure to drain any accumulated whey before scooping out your yogurt. I do not recommend this recipe using a regular-style yogurt for this cucumber yogurt garlic sauce because the results will be too watery.
Cucumber
This recipe called for shredded, pressed cucumber. I like to use a standing box grater, on the side with the largest holes. If you don’t have a standing box grater, I highly recommend getting one. I use it for all sorts of things like, shredding zucchini for zucchini bread, grating frozen butter for homemade pie crusts, shredding cheeses, grating onions and garlic for meatballs, etc.
You don’t have to peel the cucumber first. Once you have your shredded cucumber, layer it between paper towels and gently press to remove water. I had to repeat this process to make sure I had all the water out. This is an important step because if you leave water in the cucumbers, your cucumber yogurt garlic sauce will be very runny.
Garlic
I recommend using fresh garlic in this recipe. Please do not substitute garlic powder or pre-minced, jarred garlic. Fresh garlic with give this cucumber yogurt garlic sauce the BEST flavor.
Lemon juice
Again, I think it’s important to use freshly squeezed lemon juice in this recipe.
Seasonings & Herbs
I used sea salt, fresh dill and and fresh mint. Fresh is definitely better, especially in this recipe!
Cucumber Yogurt Garlic Sauce (Low Fat Tzatziki)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (65 g) shredded cucumber (pressed)
- 1 cup (285 g) Greek yogurt, plain, non-fat
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (or more to taste)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt (or more to taste)
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
Instructions
- Grate cucumber using the largest shredding side of a box grater. No need to peel cucumber first.
- Place grated cucumber in between paper towels and gently press to remove water. Do this at least two times to remove as much water as possible. If you don't remove the water, it will make your yogurt dip runny.
- In a medium bowl, add grated and pressed cucumber, yogurt, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and fresh herbs. Stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (the longer the better!)
- Once the yogurt dip has chilled for at least two hours, feel free to taste and adjust salt or lemon juice to taste. Enjoy!
NOTE
Nutrition information for this recipe is provided below. For more information on the nutrition facts provided on this site, please visit our nutrition disclaimer.
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