Tzatziki substitutes

The real sauce, made from Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon and olive oil, which takes less time than going to the shop.

Best for

gyros, souvlaki, grilled lamb and chicken, dips, falafel, roast vegetables

Grate half a cucumber on the coarse side of a box grater, toss it with half a teaspoon of salt, leave it ten minutes, then squeeze it hard in a clean towel. Stir into a cup of Greek yogurt with one crushed garlic clove, a tablespoon of olive oil, two teaspoons of lemon juice and chopped dill or mint. Salting and squeezing the cucumber is the whole difference between a thick sauce and a watery puddle.

Tzatziki minus the cucumber, which is a smaller loss than it sounds.

Best for

gyros, grilled meat, dips, wraps, roast potatoes

For every cup of yogurt, stir in one small crushed garlic clove, two teaspoons of lemon juice, a tablespoon of olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Cucumber contributes freshness and a little crunch rather than flavour, so what you get is a smoother, slightly more one-note sauce that still performs exactly the job tzatziki does on a hot gyro.

The Indian yogurt-and-cucumber sauce, built on the same idea and often sold ready-made where tzatziki is not.

Best for

grilled meat, gyros, wraps, spiced dishes, dips

Structurally the same sauce with different seasoning: raita usually carries cumin, coriander and sometimes mustard seed, so it tastes warmer and earthier and less garlicky and lemony. On a Greek plate the cumin is noticeable but not unwelcome. Add a squeeze of lemon and a little extra garlic to pull it toward Greece.

Strained Middle Eastern yogurt cheese, thicker and tangier than Greek yogurt, loosened into sauce consistency.

Best for

gyros, grilled lamb, dips, mezze plates, sandwiches

An excellent substitute and arguably a richer one. Labneh is denser and more sour than Greek yogurt, so the sauce clings better and tastes sharper - good against fatty lamb, slightly aggressive with delicate fish. Stir in grated squeezed cucumber and garlic and it is essentially tzatziki with a thicker body.

The pantry option, using the cultured dairy most kitchens actually have.

Best for

gyros, wraps, dips, baked potatoes, family cooking

Works, and is noticeably richer and heavier than the yogurt original, with a mellower sourness that does not cut through fat as cleanly. That extra lemon juice matters - without it, sour cream tastes creamy rather than tangy, and the sauce stops doing its job of refreshing the palate between bites of grilled meat.

Unsweetened plant yogurt built into tzatziki the same way, for anyone avoiding dairy.

Best for

vegan gyros, falafel, grilled vegetables, dips

Use unsweetened, thick plant yogurt only - a sweetened one ruins the sauce and is the single most common mistake here. Cashew and almond yogurts are closest in flavour; coconut yogurt is thick and pleasant but its coconut note is unmistakable next to lamb. Add an extra squeeze of lemon, since plant yogurts are usually far less tangy than dairy.