Vegan Tzatziki Sauce

Creamy vegan tzatziki sauce is made with silken tofu, fresh dill, lemon, and cucumber along with other special ingredients that turn plain tofu into a bright, flavorful, saucy bite that rivals traditional dairy tzatziki.

Have you ever set your sights on a fresh crisp salad with cucumbers and greens, topped with falafel, drizzled in traditional tzatziki? And then you realize that it’s not dairy-free tzatziki – because, unless you are ordering from a vegan restaurant, it’s just NOT!

Making vegan sauces, dressings, and dips has become a real game-changer for my vegan cooking and meal planning. Because for me, it's all about the sauce! 

Vegan dressing and sauce recipes are often made rich and creamy by blending raw cashews. My Vegan Jalapeno Ranch Dressing and Vegan Honey Mustard Dressing are both cashew-based which gives a real creamy richness. I wanted something a little more traditional and light for my vegan tzatziki.

It’s easy enough to make your own tzatziki sauce at home, of course – except for the fact that it’s typically made from creamy thick Greek yogurt. And honestly, I haven’t found a decent vegan replacement for that.

Tofu to the rescue!

But never fear! This highly flavorful vegan tzatziki recipe is made from silken tofu which is nothing short of a vegan creamy sauce miracle! If you are looking for a way to make a traditional dairy-filled dish vegan, protein-rich creamy silken tofu just might be your answer.

Silken tofu can be used in savory vegan dishes like my Best Healthy Vegan Potato Salad recipe and for sweet dishes like my Creamy Vegan Cannoli Dip as well.

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Ingredients (and substitutions) needed to make dairy-free tzatziki sauce

• cucumbers – You will be grating and squeezing the liquid from the cucumbers. I use two medium/large cucumbers. Grate, drain, and squeeze out the excess moisture from the cucumbers. Two large cucumbers yield one cup.
• silken tofu – It’s important to use silken tofu which is different from firm, medium, or even soft tofu. If you can’t find silken tofu at the grocery store, I’ve found a shelf-stable brand of silken tofu on Amazon. This recipe has been developed for sixteen ounces of silken tofu. If your tofu comes in 12-ounce blocks then buy more than one in order to get the full 16 ounces.
• lemon juice – I use fresh lemon juice for this recipe. One large juicy lemon yields about three tablespoons of juice.
• sauerkraut – You will only need a couple of tablespoons but I promise you, this little bit of sauerkraut lends a subtle tangy flavor you find in Greek yogurt.
• extra virgin olive oil – I use robust flavor.
• white vinegar
• salt
• minced garlic cloves – You will need three garlic cloves very finely minced. I use jarred minced garlic and use one and a half teaspoons of minced garlic.
• chopped dill weed – This recipe used one tablespoon of fresh chopped dillweed. I highly recommend using fresh dill. If you must use dried dill then use only one-third of the measurement, so one teaspoon dried.

How to make dairy-free tzatziki sauce

The exact ingredients with measurements can be found in the recipe card below along with more concise abbreviated instructions. Read on for more details, tips, and tricks so that you will feel confident making this recipe.

Step one: prepare the cucumber

Wash and deseed the cucumbers. You will be grating the cucumbers but I like to leave only half of the skins on. With a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from one of the cucumbers.

Cut the cucumbers in half and with a melon baller or spoon, remove the seeds. The reason we remove the seeds is that they are very moist and will make the tzatziki sauce too liquidy if left in.

Shredded cucumbers naturally have lots of extra liquid you don’t want in your sauce. Line a strainer with paper towels. Squeeze out excess moisture between paper towels, changing them several times until the towels are mostly dry. This will yield about one cup of shredded cucumber.

Step two: Prepare the other ingredients

Squeeze the lemon. If you have followed me for any amount of time, you know I use bottled lemon juice when I can. For this recipe, please juice a fresh lemon for a bright fresh flavor. I have a handy citrus juicer that’s easy to use and squeezes the maximum amount of juice out from each lemon half.

Peel and chop the garlic. Even though I use fresh lemon for this recipe, I use jarred minced garlic. I just don’t have the patience to mince it as small as it needs to be. If you want to use fresh garlic then make sure to very finely mince the garlic cloves. Three cloves of garlic are equal to about one-and-a-half teaspoon of jarred minced garlic. You can always add more to taste later.

Chop the fresh dill. I do use fresh dill in this recipe but in a pinch will use dried dill. When you use dried herbs the general rule of thumb is to use a 1:3 ratio of dried to fresh. Since this recipe called for one tablespoon of chopped fresh dill then use one teaspoon of dried dill.

Open and drain the silken tofu. Most of the time when I cook with tofu, I press the tofu to remove the excess moisture. DO NOT press silken tofu or you will be left with nothing to use! Silken tofu is very soft. Its texture is similar to thick yogurt but in block form. Simply open the package and tip to drain the extra liquid.

Step three: Blend the tofu

After draining the tofu, place it in a blender along with the sauerkraut, lemon juice, white vinegar, olive oil, and salt. Blend until nice and smooth. We will be adding the shredded cucumbers, minced garlic, and chopped dill in the next step.

If you have a high-speed blender, it will take only a minute to blend. A regular blender might require more time to fully blend the sauerkraut.

A note about the salt

I like my food salty – probably saltier than most. Start with one teaspoon of salt for this recipe and add more to taste at the end. (Honestly, I end up shaking in more for my taste!) I recently had a foodie friend of mine taste this recipe. While she loved the creamy texture and authentic tzatziki flavor, she felt it was too salty for her taste. She also admitted she didn’t regularly salt her food much.

If you don’t love salty food as I do, then start with a little less and add more if needed. Remember, you can always add more salt but it’s pretty impossible to take it away!

Final Step: Stir in the other ingredients

Stir in the shredded drained cucumber, minced garlic, and chopped dill weed. It’s ready to go right away BUT, I enjoy the flavors better when nice and chilled.

Keep in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to five days. This recipe does not freeze well so enjoy it fresh!

How to serve and enjoy your fresh homemade vegan tzatziki sauce

Give the tzatziki sauce a taste and decide if it needs a little more salt or not. I like too much salt and do end up shaking more in. You might want too much more garlic too! I drizzle a generous portion of robust-flavored extra virgin olive oil on top!

Serve with a veggie platter, warm pita bread, or (vegan) stuffed grape leaves.

This easy vegan tzatziki sauce recipe is perfect to use as a salad dressing, drizzled on a falafel wrap, or added to a nice saucy sandwich.

The printable recipe card