Ingredients:

8oz / 250g short pasta of choice, fusilli, penne, shells, etc.

3/4 cup / 185g plain yogurt

3/4 cup / 185g hummus, flavor of choice

1 Tbsp / 14g red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried basil

1 cucumber, diced

1/2 red or green bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup / 90g pitted kalamata olives, sliced if large

1 cup / 150g cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

2/3 cup / 100g crumbled feta cheese

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, for finishing

Directions:

Cook pasta one minute less than according to directions, nicely al dente, drain and rinse in cold water to stop it from continuing to cook. Cool in fridge while you make the dressing.

In a large bowl, stir together yogurt, hummus, vinegar, and spices.

Add pasta, all the chopped vegetables, and cheese; stir until everything is evenly coated in dressing.

Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours. The longer the pasta sits the more the flavors will meld and the sauce be absorbed by the pasta, creating the ideal pasta salad! Just before serving, drizzle with olive oil.

Jenny’s Notes:

If you have fresh herbs on hand, use about 1 tsp each of finely chopped fresh basil and fresh oregano!

The quantity of vegetables is really up to you and easy to adjust in simple recipes like this, measurements are approximate.

While you might think Greek yogurt would be better adapted to this “Greek” pasta salad, plain/soupier yogurt actually works better because as the pasta sits, it absorbs the dressing. If you use already thick Greek yogurt, the dressing will probably end up too thick. If Greek yogurt is all you have, you can simply add a few tablespoons of water or milk to thin up the dressing to your liking. This can also be done if you make/buy a particularly thick brand of hummus, or just want the dressing thinner anyway!

The photos you see in this post I actually used a gluten-free penne pasta made from red lentils and brown rice. I had never tried it before but it is an excellent pasta, I would never have known it’s gluten-free. Probably also because it was made by my favorite pasta brand here in Italy, Rummo. If you live here or can find it in the States, I highly recommend it! Although I think I’ve only seen it at World Market for way more than I pay here in Italy. Bummer.

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Fresh, cool, crunchy, creamy, and delicious Tzatziki, which is basically a Greek cucumber salad made with thick, strained yogurt, and seasoned with dill and garlic. Uh, yum, right? If you’ve ever had tzatziki, you know what I’m talking about!

It’s funny because I’ve known about tzatziki for a long time, enjoying it at restaurants and such, that wonderful Greek yogurt sauce dip wonder. I’ve seen several cucumber salad recipes around this summer on some of my favorite recipe sites like foodgawker; German cucumber salads, normal cucumber salads, and others. It got me hungry, so I decided to make my own. And let me tell you, I got right on it because zero cooking or baking in a recipe is a wonderful thing when the summer here in Florence has been between 90-106°F / 32-41°C since June.

I noticed most of the recipes I came across used sour cream, but I used plain greek yogurt because it’s more nutritious. Once I found a nice balance between the flavors, I wrote down the recipe and decided to share it with you guys! Then I recalled that tzatziki has very similar flavors, and although I’ve never made it nor even looked up a recipe, my curiosity got the best of me to see just how similar they would be. What do you know, I basically made tzatziki and didn’t even know it! So much for making an original recipe, haha!

So what I’m sharing with you today is my accidental take on tzatziki, similarly enough to be called so, but not THE original. If you make the changes listed below, however, you can have yourself a delicious and authentic Greek tzatziki!

What are the differences from a traditional tzatziki and the one you see below?

The cucumber is usually grated and drained (either by squeezing or letting sit in cheese cloth over a bowl overnight) instead of sliced. I also use more cucumber to make a creamy salad rather than a dip that features cucumber. if you want to make real tzatziki, use a half of a large cucumber or a smallish one.
Traditional would have more yogurt so again, more of a sauce or dip rather than a salad. For real tzatziki, double the yogurt to 1 1/2 cups / 340g.
For the acidic element, I used lemon juice, but vinegar of some sort is usually called for. I’ve read in Greece they most often use red wine vinegar.
I added more fresh dill! Because I love dill. If you think about it, this is like a creamy dill pickle dip. It has the cucumbers, the garlic, the dill….no wonder I like it so well! For original tzatziki, use about 1 Tbsp chopped.

If you eliminate the cucumbers (or shred them like the traditional way), it makes an excellent and much healthier alternative to most veggie dips. I might even like it better than Ranch!

Tzatziki Cucumber Salad

Serves about 2

Ingredients:

3/4 cup / 170g plain greek yogurt or vegan yogurt
generous 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 tsp / 10g lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced, or 1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large cucumber, chopped with skin/seeds removed as desired
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling, optional

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine yogurt, dill, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
If serving immediately, add cucumber and stir to coat; drizzle with olive oil. Otherwise, refrigerate until ready to serve, adding cucumber and drizzling with oil at the last minute.

Jenny’s Notes:

For optimal creaminess, I would use full fat greek yogurt. If you are vegan or dairy-free, use a thick/Greek dairy-free yogurt alternative!
In an ideal world the dressing would be made a day ahead of time and the cucumber added just before serving. This helps the flavors meld together and cuts the sharpness of the garlic a bit, without the cucumber sitting in the dressing for a day and losing its liquid. However, this makes a great last minute dish and it tastes just fine if eaten right away!

vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, veggie dip, cucumber, garlic, fresh dill, Greek yogurt, Ranch substitute

Side dish, lunch, sauces and condiments

Greek

Yield: 2

Author: Jennyblogs

Tzatziki Cucumber Salad

Creamy salad form of the classic Tzatziki sauce: Cucumbers, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, and fresh dill.

prep time: 10 Mcook time: total time: 10 M

ingredients:

3/4 cup / 170g plain greek yogurt or vegan yogurt
generous 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 tsp / 10g lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced, or 1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large cucumber, chopped with skin/seeds removed as desired
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling, optional

instructions:

How to cook Tzatziki Cucumber Salad

In a medium bowl combine yogurt, dill, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
If serving immediately, add cucumber and stir to coat; drizzle with olive oil. Otherwise, refrigerate until ready to serve, adding cucumber and drizzling with oil at the last minute.

NOTES:

For optimal creaminess, I would use full fat greek yogurt. If you are vegan or dairy-free, use a thick/Greek dairy-free yogurt alternative! In an ideal world the dressing would be made a day ahead of time and the cucumber added just before serving. This helps the flavors meld together and cuts the sharpness of the garlic a bit, without the cucumber sitting in the dressing for a day and losing its liquid. However, this makes a great last minute dish and it tastes just fine if eaten right away!

Calories

123.72

Fat (grams)

7.21

Sat. Fat (grams)

1.05

Carbs (grams)

5.89

Fiber (grams)

0.61

Net carbs

5.28