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Sauce

Tzatziki

A chilled Greek yogurt and cucumber sauce flavored with garlic, dill, lemon, and olive oil.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Dill and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Tzatziki

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Drain the yogurt in a sieve or cheesecloth for about 3 hours before using it.

  2. Drain the cucumber.

  3. Salt the cucumber to further remove moisture.

Make the sauce

  1. Combine the yogurt, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice in a bowl.

  2. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour or more.

  3. Add the dill and cucumber to the bowl.

  4. Whisk until smooth.

  5. Add pepper and salt to taste.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

263Calories
19 gProtein
15 gFat
17 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Dill5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
Tarragon1 tsp dried (0.5g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Dill + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together976 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Dill + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together111 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  3. Tarragon + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Dill + cucumbertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together530 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Yogurt
Forms the thick, creamy base of the sauce once its excess whey is drained.
Cucumber
Adds moisture and a crisp, cool texture; salting it first limits excess water.
Garlic
Provides a sharp, pungent aroma that mellows during chilling.
Olive oil
Adds fat that gives the sauce a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the richness of the yogurt.
Dill
Contributes a fresh, herbal aroma.

The step that matters

Draining the yogurt and cucumber. Yogurt only becomes thick when its whey is removed, and wet cucumber releases water that thins the sauce and dilutes its flavor. Skipping either drain leaves the tzatziki loose and watery.

Swap the lemon

The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (yogurt, clove, garlic, dill, tarragon, olive, cucumber):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Limefits about as well
  3. Lemonthe original
  4. Cherryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against yogurt, clove, garlic, dill, tarragon, olive, cucumber. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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