Vegan Tzatziki (Oil-Free)

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This vegan tzatziki is great as a dairy-free and gluten-free sauce or dip! It is a cashew tzatziki that is creamy, tasty, and a great substitute for a traditional tzatziki.

What is tzatziki?

Tzatziki is a classic Greek recipe that is used as a dip or a sauce. It is traditionally made with yogurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon, and dill or other herbs. There are some variations as well, but these are the most common ingredients. It is often eaten with gyros, meats, salad, bread, vegetables, and more.

I enjoyed traditional Greek tzatziki so much when I was younger, so when I went vegan I just had to make some dairy-free tzatziki! Of course it contains some different ingredients, but it still has a taste that is very similar to that of traditional tzatziki.

How to veganize tzatziki

To make vegan tzatziki, we have to replace the yogurt. Some vegan tzatziki recipes use tofu or vegan coconut yogurt to replace the Greek yogurt in a traditional tzatziki. This recipe however is made without yogurt or tofu.

I chose to use blended cashews to replace the yogurt for this recipe because cashews add some nice whole-food protein and they have a fairly neutral flavour that allows the other more flavourful ingredients to shine.

This recipe is:

• Vegan
• Whole Foods Plant-Based
• Oil-Free
• Gluten-Free
• Creamy
• Diverse (can be used in so many ways!)

Ingredients

Here is what you will need for this vegan tzatziki recipe (scroll down for quantities and full instructions):

• Cashews
• Water
• Cucumber
• Garlic
• Lemon juice
• Dill

Tips for making

This vegan cashew tzatziki is super easy to make, but here are some tips to make sure it turns out just the way you want it.

• Soak your cashews before blending them. You can leave them soaking at room temperature for several hours, or you can boil them for about 20 minutes if you don't want to wait that long. You can also boil water with an electric kettle, then pour the water over the cashews in a bowl and cover the bowl with an upside down plate and leave for 20 minutes. Making them softer will ensure that they blend up nice and smooth without any leftover chunks.

• Adjust the amount of garlic as desired. I like using 2 cloves for this recipe, but if you want a really strong garlic taste for this tzatziki, add as many cloves as you'd like.

• For the cucumber, I suggest peeling it before adding it to the recipe. Traditional tzatziki is made with the cucumber grated or finely chopped and then it is simply mixed in. I personally prefer a smooth texture, so I chop the cucumber and then blend in with all the other ingredients in my blender. It's really up to you which texture you prefer. You can even blend in some of the cucumber and then mix in the rest at the end.

How to serve this vegan tzatziki

This cashew tzatziki can be used in so many ways! Here are some ideas:

• Use it as a dip or sauce for raw or cooked vegetables
• Thin it out with more water and use it as a salad dressing
• Put it in a wrap
• Put it in a sandwich
• Spread it on bread
• Use it as a dip for tortilla chips
• Use it as a dip for crackers

Check out these other whole-foods plant-based dips:

• Black bean hummus dip
• Oil-free pesto
• Dill pickle hummus

If you are looking for some help to get started with a plant-based diet, check out this plant-based grocery list.

Recipe