Tzatziki sauce can be more than just a simple dip with a little bit of twist. This is one of the best refreshing, extra delicious and unique Yogurt-based salad you will come across.
What is Tzatziki sauce
Tzatziki is a yogurt-based sauce made of yogurt, garlic, fresh herbs, lemon juice, and olive oil. It is commonly used as a dip, side dish, or even a cold soup on hot summer days. While there are variations that include different types of vegetables other than cucumber or use it as a cold soup with added water, the basic ingredients remain consistent: diced or grated salted cucumbers, garlic, olive oil, an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar, and fresh herbs.
Why you will love this recipe
It’s my take on the classic Tzatziki sauce. Tzatziki salad is super easy to make. It has a crunchy texture and a refreshing, wholesome flavour. With green apple, cucumbers, and seasonal pomegranates, this salad is not just for its refreshing flavour but also for its beautiful celebration of the season.
Salad beyond the sauce
This recipe is closer to a Tzatziki salad, but it can also be used as a dip. To make it more like a salad, the ingredients should provide a more substantial texture. I added green apples as well as cucumbers, which is a great addition to this dish.
Crunchy and refreshing Texture:
The authentic Cucumber Yogurt Sauce Recipe (Tzatziki sauce) does not usually include green apples or apples in general. However, I personally believe that adding green apples takes the whole recipe to the next level. Green apples and sliced cucumbers provide a lot of crunchy and refreshing texture. Additionally, the slightly sour and subtly sweet green apple complements the salted sliced cucumbers quite well.
Main Ingredients Explained
Cucumbers
Cucumbers in Tzatziki sauce are finely diced or grated in a sauce. But for this Tzatziki salad, cucumbers need to be sliced thinly and salted for a few minutes. The reason cucumbers are salted serve two purposes – draw out excess water and penetrate flavour into cucumbers. Cucumbers will be sliced thinly and salted for 10 mins or so and rinsed off the salt. You will know when cucumbers are salted enough and soft but crunchy without excessive water after the brining process
Green Apples or Other Firm Types of Apple
Green apples is a great addition to this salad. I highly recommend using apples. They provide a slightly tart but subtle sweetness to the predominantly sour tzatziki sauce and add a crunchy texture. If you don’t have green apples, you can use firmer apple types such as Fiji or pink ladies.
Pomegranates
This amazingly beautiful seeded fruit is optional. But if it’s in season, you should definitely use it. Simply extract the pomegranate seeds and sprinkle them over the salad as a final touch. They are not only beautiful to look at but also their flavour complements the yogurt salad.
Garlic and fresh herbs
The herbs will set the subtle background flavour in the yogurt salad. The most suitable fresh herbs are dill and coriander. Chop the fresh herbs roughly.
Olive oil, garlic and lemon juice
A small amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice will give the recipe a refreshing and zesty flavour. It’s ideal to use one or two garlic cloves. Too much garlic can be overpowering unless you want a very garlicky salad.
Salt
Use mineral salt as opposed to table salt. If you want to find out a bit more about the different between table salt and mineral/sea salt. You can read this article.
Ingredients
- Green Apple: 1/2
- Cucumber: 1
- Yogurt:1 cup
- Dill or Coriander: 1-2 branch (finely chopped)
- Lemon: half
- Garlic:1-2 clove
- Pomegranates: half
- Mineral salt 1/2 tablespoon
- Olive oil dash
Instructions
Step 1 - Preparation
Cucumbers
Slice the cucumbers thinly with a knife or slicer. Round thin slices work best for this recipe. After slicing, sprinkle the cucumbers with sea salt liberally, using about half a tablespoon of any mineral salt. Lightly massage the salt into the cucumbers to ensure even penetration. After about 10 minutes (or once the cucumbers are easily bendable), rinse off the salted cucumbers lightly and squeeze out the water.
Apples
Dice the apples. You can squeeze some lemon juice over the cut apples, as the citric acid will stop the enzymatic reaction that causes apples to brown once they are cut.
Garlic and herbs
Garlic should be finely minced or crushed, and when it comes to herbs, chop them roughly without bruising them.
Pomegranates
Extract seeds from half of a pomegranate.
Step 2 - Mixing/Making Salad
Once all the ingredients are prepared, add them to a deep mixing bowl. This includes salted cucumbers, diced apple, garlic, herbs, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix well and taste, then add salt if needed.
Step 3 - Plating
Once combined, spread the mixture into a flat, but sufficiently deep, plate. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.