This yogurt dill sauce is just the thing when you want to pep up some plain roasted veggies, salmon, or potatoes. And, you can also use it as an easy appetizer dip! It can be made ahead of time and it only takes about 10 minutes to prep!
Do you ever wish you had an "extra something" to kick up your plain dinner just a notch or two? I often feel that way when I do a simple pan-seared chicken or fish, or am rocking some basic grilled veggies. For that finishing touch to take your meal to the next level, you have to try this easy yogurt dill sauce!
You only need a handful of ingredients and ten minutes (or less!) prep time. And, you can even customize the sauce to suit your own needs. Leave it thick and use it as a dip, or thin it out for that perfect drizzling consistency. This sauce is so flavorful, you'll find ways to add it to everything! (You can even try it on these quick and easy home fries!)
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Greek yogurt: I prefer using full-fat Greek yogurt for this sauce, it gives a wonderfully thick consistency and creamy texture. You can sub low-fat Greek yogurt if you want, or even regular yogurt. See the FAQ section below for more discussion on using regular yogurt.
- Olive oil: I like to use extra virgin olive oil because it has the most flavor, but if you don't have it, regular olive oil would also work ok.
- Mayonnaise: this is optional, and only if you want your sauce to have a bit of extra creamy richness.
Step by step photos
1. Finely chop the dill.
2. Crush or mince the clove of garlic.
3. Next, add all the ingredients to a bowl (besides optional water and mayo).
4. Then mix the yogurt dill sauce together until smooth.
5. If you want to thin the sauce out, add a little bit of water at a time until you're happy with the consistency. You can also add a tablespoon or two of mayo for an extra creamy sauce!
6. Taste the sauce and add more salt, black pepper, and/or lemon juice to adjust the sauce to your tastes.
Tips and tricks
- You can adjust the thickness of the yogurt dill sauce by adding in more or less water (or no water at all for an extra thick sauce). A thicker sauce is good for dipping, a thinner sauce is good for drizzling! Below you can see the texture of the sauce: (1) as-is, with no water added; (2) with one tablespoon of water; and (3) with two tablespoons of water added.
- If you have the time, I recommend making the sauce a few hours ahead or even the night before. The flavor of the dill and garlic really intensifies as it sits in the fridge!
- And, use only a small garlic clove, because the flavor of raw garlic can become quite strong (unless you really like garlic!) Also, make sure to mince the garlic finely so as not to get a big chunk of raw garlic in your mouth. A garlic press is useful here if you have one.
Recipe FAQs
I think Greek yogurt works best, but I've also made this sauce with regular yogurt before and it's still delicious. It will be thinner and maybe even a little bit tangier in flavor. The texture is similar to the third picture of the thinned out sauce above.
Fresh dill is preferred, since the dill flavor is so front-and-center. But, if all you have is dried and you want to make the sauce, substitute the fresh dill with 1 tablespoon of dried dill. And, I highly recommend letting the sauce sit the fridge for at least an hour or two to allow the dried dill to start to reconstitute in the yogurt, and for the flavor to begin to incorporate throughout the sauce.
Yes you can, and in fact, as I explained in the tips and tricks section above, I prefer to make it a day ahead because the flavors become more pronounced as it sits.
To make the sauce ahead of time, just tightly cover it and store it in the fridge. It will keep for 3 - 4 days. But, for the freshest flavor, I like to eat it within 1 - 2 days. Freezing isn't recommended, but I doubt you will have any leftovers!
There are so many things you can do with this sauce! Leave the sauce thicker to use as a dip for raw veggies and cubes of bread (this makes a great easy appetizer platter!). Or, thin it out more to drizzle it on salmon, grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, or roasted veggies.
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Yogurt Dill Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: sauces, sides, appetizers
- Method: mix
- Cuisine: American
Description
An easy and quick sauce with dill, garlic and Greek yogurt. Can be used as a veggie dip or to top chicken, fish or roasted vegetables.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh dill
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (preferably full-fat)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- 1 - 2 tablespoons water (optional)
- 1 - 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional)
Instructions
- Add the finely chopped dill, minced garlic, Greek yogurt, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, kosher salt and black pepper to a medium bowl.
- Stir ingredients together until evenly combined.
- Optional step: if you want the sauce to have a thinner consistency, stir in 1 tablespoon of water at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Optional step: if you want to make the sauce more creamy, stir in 1 - 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise.
- Taste the sauce and stir in additional kosher salt, black pepper, or lemon juice if needed. Serve the sauce immediately, or, for more intense dill flavor, cover and store in the fridge for several hours or overnight before serving.
Notes
This recipe will yield about 1 cup of sauce.
The sauce will keep in the fridge for 3 - 4 days tightly covered; freezing the sauce is not recommended.
I prefer fresh dill for this recipe, but if you don't have fresh dill you can substitute 1 tablespoon dried dill for the fresh dill. If using dried dill, keep the sauce in the fridge for several hours or overnight to give the dill time to reconstitute and better permeate the sauce.
Keywords: dill sauce, yogurt sauce, yogurt dill sauce
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