Dairy Free Tzatziki Sauce; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free Recipe

When you first go gluten free, dairy free, soy free and nut free you feel like there’s nothing you can eat.  I mean honestly, how do you make a dip without cream cheese or sour cream? Or a creamy soup without cream? If you can have soy, or nuts then there are some sour cream and cream cheese substitutes out there, some made with soy, some made with nuts, and some made with pea protein (which, falls into the legume family and relates closely to soy and therefore can’t be had by me anyways).  Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of options.  Even so, it honestly seems weird to me that I felt so lost when it came to cooking without dairy. Although not completely the same, creamy soups can easily be made without “milk” of any kind. Creamy dips – well – that’s another story. Tzatziki though, it’s great made with plain coconut milk greek yogurt. For the longest time none of my grocery stores stocked plain greek, only plain regular (coconut milk) but last week I perused the dairy section and FINALLY they started carrying plain coconut milk GREEK yogurt (I’m sure you could use almond milk greek yogurt or others like it too if you can have them). I’ve made this with plain coconut milk yogurt too but it’s just not quite as thick. We ate this on lamb gyros yesterday and it’s great on chicken gyros too. There are not enough gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free appetizer options, so here’s an idea, serve it at your next BBQ as a dip for some skewered grilled lamb or chicken. Yum!

Dairy Free Tzatziki Sauce

3 cups Coconut Milk Plain Greek Yogurt
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup red onion, very finely chopped
3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
3 tbsp lemon juice
Celtic Sea Salt (why use celtic salt? read here)

Place the chopped cucumbers in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tsp or so of salt. The salt will help to draw out the extra water from the cucs. Let sit for about 30 minutes and then drain off the water.  Mix the cucumbers with all of the rest of the ingredients, chill for a minimum of 2 hours. Serve on top of gyros or as a dip for skewered meat!