Healthy Yogurt Dipping Sauce (or Dressing!) Recipe with Dill, Garlic & Lemon

I’m going to let you all in on a little secret… and that is the recipe for our favorite “secret sauce”! As an alternative to sour cream, this plain yogurt-based sauce is zero-guilt, far from plain, and 100% delicious. Like really, really good. Whenever we bring it to a party or potluck, everyone raves about it! 

Furthermore, this creamy yogurt dipping sauce is awesomely versatile! Sort of like ranch dressing. We enjoy it in SO many ways. It will shine as the star dip in a veggie platter, or can be drizzled on top of homemade veggie burgers, zucchini fritters, sandwiches, wraps, potato dishes, or falafel. It is also a great creamy salad dressing. Hell, I even dip cold pizza in this stuff! We don’t eat meat around here, but this dill yogurt sauce would compliment salmon or battered fish nicely too – like tartar sauce.

Did I mention that it is also crazy-easy to make?

The final “secret” about this yogurt sauce is this: it gets better with time! No no, not weeks old of course. Gross. But if you can, plan in advance and make the yogurt dip a day before you want to enjoy it. If that isn’t possible, at least several hours beforehand. Over the first couple of days in the fridge it becomes a bit thicker, and all of the wonderful dill, garlic, and lemon flavors exponentially shine through! 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of plain yogurt. Whole-fat yogurt is best for a thicker sauce! We usually buy this organic plain yogurt from Stonyfield. For a vegan variation, plain coconut yogurt would be a great substitute!
• 1/3 packed cup of chopped dill, or about 1 standard clam shell herb package
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon of coarse black pepper (or to taste)
• A sprinkle of lemon zest, to top. Snag Meyer lemons if possible! Their skin is phenomenally soft and sweet.
• Optional: 1 teaspoon of onion powder. We use our homegrown sweet onion powder for this recipe. If you want to learn how to make your own onion powder, check out this article! 

INSTRUCTIONS

In a mixing bowl, combine the called-for yogurt, finely chopped dill, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Mix well. Top the bowl with a sprinkle of lemon zest now, or before serving. When you’re zesting the lemon peels, make sure to do so shallowly and avoid the white pith. Feel free to scale the recipe up or down as needed! We typically make a double batch if we’re making this for a crowd –  so we can stash a little away for ourselves too!

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving, to allow the flavors to get happy in there! Serve cold with your meal of choice. The yogurt dill sauce/dressing will be good for one week in the refrigerator. 

Get Creative

The provided recipe is intentionally simple, and plenty flavorful on its own. Let it be your base, but if you feel like changing it up a little, by all means… Go for it! We have played with many variations of this yogurt sauce over the years, especially if we have excess garden goodies to use.

Try adding a handful of chopped chives for nice savory pop of flavor. Or, especially during summer garden time, throw in half a cup of finely grated cucumber for a tzatziki-like spin! It is recommended to wring out the cucumber after grating, to avoid adding too much liquid to the sauce. Diced bell peppers, sweet onions, spinach, or even massaged and chopped kale would be divine too!

There you have it. The secret it out! 

If you enjoy this recipe, you may also love our other favorite go-to sauce: “The Besto Pesto”! We spend the summer months making many batches of our popular lemon, walnut and parmesan pesto with garden basil – stocking the freezer for the entire year. It too goes well with more meals than you’d imagine!

I hope you love this dill yogurt sauce recipe as much as we do. If so, please let us know in the comments, and feel free to let your friends in on the secret too!