This Lemon Yoghurt Sauce is my go-to sauce that goes with “everything” from beef skewers to roasted vegetables, Gyros wraps to broccoli fritters. 2 minutes to make, keeps for days. It’s bright, lemony, slightly garlicky and creamy, without the greasiness of mayo!
THIS IS A QUICK FLICK RECIPE!
This is a “quick flick” recipe which are simple recipes for handy things like simple sauces and sides. They are easy to make with few ingredients so I’ve skipped all my usual bells and whistles so I can get more of these to you – because they are useful to have in your arsenal! ~ Nagi x
Lemon Yogurt Sauce
This is a sauce that has made appearances in many recipes over the years, often jammed into the footnotes. I use it a LOT because it’s quick to make, I always have the ingredients, it’s not greasy with mayo and it adds creamy, bright tanginess that just seems to be the perfect finishing touch to so many things.
I use it for dunking and drizzling so many things, from Koftas to Fritters, Doner Kebabs to Battered Fish, Roasted Pumpkin to Borek. Make a simple piece of pan fried Chicken Breast or plain Roasted Cauliflower a whole lot more exciting by dolloping it with this Yogurt Sauce.
It goes with virtually any cuisine – Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Mexican – and is probably the sauce I use the most when I want something a little thick and creamy that will cling things.
In short – it’s my Swiss army knife of sauces!! 🙂
Ingredients for Lemon Yogurt Sauce
Here’s what you need to make this sauce. The olive oil and lemon add richness and brightness into the sauce, as well as thinning the yogurt to make it a dipping or drizzling consistency.
Yogurt – Use a plain, unsweetened yogurt. I like to use Greek-style or Greek yogurt, but any unflavoured, no sugar added yogurt will work fine. I always use full-fat because the mouthfeel is better but low-fat will work too.
Lemon – A smidge of fresh lemon juice adds extra brightness into this sauce. That said, lemon is the one thing that I might not always have, in which case I add a small amount of apple cider vinegar or other clear vinegar, or more olive oil.
Garlic (not much!!!) – You just want 1/4 teaspoon finely grated garlic, which is about half a clove, for 1 cup of yogurt. You will be very surprise how strong the garlic flavour is, even for garlic lovers! It’s almost as though the yogurt enhances the garlic flavour. 🙂 If you use too much garlic, it just overwhelms the flavour of whatever you’re using the sauce for.
Extra virgin olive oil – This adds a bit of richness into the sauce. I only use 1 tablespoon, feel free to use more if you want.
Salt and pepper – You want a little bit of salt in the sauce to bring out the flavours.
WATER or OLIVE OIL FOR THINNING – Use more oil or water if you want to thin the sauce, like I sometimes do for drizzling. Also, some yogurts are thicker than others. Taste and add more salt if it needs it (I almost always do, if I thin with water).
How to make Lemon Yogurt Sauce
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You got this. I know you do!! 🙂
What to use Lemon Yogurt Sauce for
This is my most-used sauce because it goes with virtually every cuisine, except perhaps Asian. Here are some ways to use it:
Dipping sauce for fritters, meatballs (like these Moroccan Lamb and Greek (Keftedes) ones), French fries, Haloumi fries, skewers (such as Lamb Souvlaki and Turkish Lamb Kebabs), crispy fried goodness like Samosas, Pakoras, Truly Crispy Salt & Pepper Squid;
Drizzling on things like Chicken Doner Kebabs, Lamb or Beef Doner Kebabs, or a big marinated Greek Butterflied Lamb Leg, a quick Puttanesca fish or Lamb kofta meatballs tray bake;
Smearing as a sauce on burgers (especially great with chicken or veggie burgers) and sandwiches and sliders (use it as as a low-fat sauce alternative for chicken or tuna sandwiches);
Dollop on plain grilled or roasted meats and vegetables to elevate them! Try Roasted Eggplant (aubergine), Roasted Pumpkin, Cauliflower, Asparagus or Carrots. For meats, serve it as the sauce to elevate any protein (chicken, lamb, fish, prawns) cooked simply with salt and pepper.
As a side sauce for anything Mediterranean (especially Greek) or Middle Eastern, from a simple Greek Lemon Rice to a Spanakopita.
So now you know my secret-weapon-sauce! Hope you use it as much as I do. – Nagi xx
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Lemon Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain yogurt , preferably full-fat (I use Greek-style, greek or regular plain works)
- 1/4 tsp finely grated garlic (1/2 clove) (preferably use microplane, else garlic crusher) – note, caution with amount of garlic used! A little goes a long way.
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (sub half the amount with apple cider vinegar, or other clear vinegar)
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil , plus more to thin if desired
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt (halve for fine table salt, +50% for flakes)
- Pinch black or white pepper , optional
- Extra water or olive oil to thin , if needed (use with caution, taste and add extra salt if needed)
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients in a bowl and set aside for at least 20 minutes to let the flavours meld.
- Loosen – If you want to thin it slightly (for drizzling) add water or olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time, taste and add more salt if needed. Use for dipping, drizzling, dolloping, smearing (see in post for so many ideas!)
How much cumin? Shwarma video shows you adding cumin to the yogurt sauce