Dill Yogurt Sauce with Garlic

Dill yogurt sauce with garlic is a fresh and flavorful condiment that's easy to make and goes well with a lot of different dishes.

Dill yogurt sauce is flavorful and versatile condiment that lies somewhere on the continuum between tzatziki and garlic sauce.

The combination of sweet, earthy, herbaceous dill with fresh lemon and spicy garlic in a creamy yogurt base is a perfect match. It goes really well with Mediterranean, Balkan/Romanian and Eastern/Central European dishes. If you're looking for some inspiration, check out the servings suggestions below.

Ingredients

This sauce can be made with just six simple, whole food ingredients:

Yogurt: A strained yogurt like Greek yogurt gives the sauce a beautiful creamy texture. You could also use other types of yogurt which may not have such a luscious texture but will still taste great. I love Fage 0% Greek Yogurt for this because it's high in protein and fat free but so beautifully creamy.

Dill: Fresh dill is ideal but if you don't have it you can also substitute about 2 tablespoons of dried dill. Unlike a lot of other dried herbs, dried dill really retains a lot of the dill flavor. Sometimes I even combine fresh and dried to really amp up the dill flavor.

Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise adds to the flavor, creaminess and soft texture. If you want to scale the recipe then the yogurt and mayo are the base in a ratio of approximately 1 part mayo to 4 parts yogurt.

Garlic: Fresh garlic clove plays really well with dill. There's just enough to let the dill shine, but if you really like garlic then you can add more to your taste.

Lemon juice: The juice of one lemon brings brightness and a bit of acidity to give the sauce some bite. Some people like more acidity so be sure to taste and adjust to your preference.

Olive oil: Olive oil is a nice finishing touch to add a bit more flavor, fat and creaminess.

Salt: Salt is essential to bring out all the other flavors. One teaspoon per cup of yogurt is enough to make a flavor forward sauce but do adjust to your own preference and start with less if you tend to prefer less salt in your food.

Equipment

No special equipment needed and in fact, I would caution against using a food processor or blender because doing so can "break" the yogurt, turning it to the consistency of liquid. This makes the sauce really thin.

If that's what you're after then the equipment can be helpful. But if you want a nice, thick dill yogurt sauce then I recommend just mixing it up by hand.

Instructions

The sauce is so simple it basically makes itself. Wash and chop up the dill, then mash or grate the garlic. Mix up all the ingredients in a bowl and bam: your dill yogurt sauce is ready.

Serving Suggestion

This sauce goes really well with Mediterranean, Balkan/Romanian or Eastern European dishes. For example it's really good served alongside cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers, or rice meatballs in tomato sauce.

You can also serve it with simple roasts like roast chicken quarters or (my absolute favorite) with seafood like One Pot Herb Crusted Cod & Broccoli Parmesan Orzo or simple sheet pan salmon with roasted Mediterranean vegetables.

Alternatively, use dill yogurt sauce to add a bit of pizzazz to vegetable forward dishes like 30-Minute Spiced Red Lentil & Cauliflower Stew or Fresh Fava Beans in Tomato Sauce with Dill & Garlic.

Finally, you can mix a couple tablespoons of this sauce with more lemon juice and olive oil to make a salad dressing. Or serve it with salad wraps like the Rainbow Chard Mediterranean Tuna Salad Wraps shown below.

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