The best tzatziki sauce is creamy and tangy, laden with fresh dill, cucumber, and a hint of lemon and olive oil. It should have a cooling effect on your palate, making it the perfect complement to grilled meats and a lovely dip for raw veggies.

Tzatziki sauce is so gosh darn yummy, it’s worth the headache of trying to spell (and pronounce) it correctly. And despite being so delicious, it defies the laws of physics and nature by somehow also being ridiculously healthy for you. Prebiotics? Check. Vitamins A and C? Check and check. It’s got more protein and fewer calories than hummus or sour cream. You don’t have to spend time perfecting homemade tzatziki to gain those health benefits, either, because the best store-bought tzatziki sauces won’t compromise quality for taste. There’s no reason to! Like most Mediterranean staples, the beauty of tzatziki is its careful preparation and simple, harmonious ingredients.

For your convenience (because we care and only want the best for you), we went into this ranking looking for the best tzatziki sauce for gyros, the best vegan tzatziki sauce for our dairy-free friends, and the overall best tzatziki sauce to buy at the grocery store. 

Best Cucumber Flavor

Cedar’s Cucumber Garlic tzatziki sauce has a bold, cucumber-forward flavor and garlicky bite, making it one of the best tzatziki sauces for gyros and garlic girlies. It’s a pretty even consistency, not too thick or thin, and the diced cucumber adds a nice crunch to the texture. But be warned: I’m not kidding about how strong the cucumber flavor is in this one. Tasting it, I felt like I was at a spa. I was relaxed, refreshed, ready for my massage. The flavor is distinctly cooling and calming—definitely great on a soft pita. 

Credit: Liv Averett / Ralphs

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Dill Flavor

Signature Select (the house brand at Albertsons-owned grocery stores) makes some of the best store bought tzatziki sauce on the market, and I don’t say that just because I’m a passionate dill devotee. The sharp, fresh dill in this tzatziki sauce grabs your attention immediately—which I love, personally, but might not be for everyone. The texture is thick and firm, but also smooth like butter, so you can really get in there and scoop, you know? As a dip for your pita chips, it’s highly, highly addictive.

Credit: Liv Averett / Albertsons

Rating:

9/10

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Best Vegan

How does Trader Joe’s manage to make some of the best vegan dips known to man? An intrepid food journalist needs to investigate (who isn’t me, because, frankly, I don’t have time). Their vegan tzatziki came in third place in our ranking of all the Trader Joe’s dips (not just the vegan ones!) and absolutely earns a spot among the best store bought tzatziki sauce you can buy. It’s tangy, cooling, and mixed with cucumber chunks that fit perfectly atop your pita chip. Amazingly, there’s also no trace of a fake-dairy aftertaste, which is a feat in and of itself.

Credit: Liv Averett / Trader Joe’s

Rating:

9.5/10

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Runner Up

What do we look for in the best store bought tzatziki sauce? Well, that’s going to depend on your personal tastes, but if I’m speaking for the masses, it’s all about the balance of flavors. A perfect blend of garlic, cucumber, dill, and lemon. That’s exactly what Whole Foods achieves with their tzatziki sauce—the full package, something impossible to fault, an easy crowd pleaser. Since the consistency is not as firm and thick as others on this list, it’s more versatile. You can spread it on baked pita, drizzle it on grilled kabobs, or even toss a dollop or two it in a salad. This could absolutely be our number one pick for the best tzatziki sauce, except, well… I’m a rebel. (You’ll see why.) 

Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

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Best of the Best

I’m going off-book with this one, you guys. I wasn’t supposed to rank Karoun’s Tzatziki Labne number one. The Sporked team discussed it and decided, for the sake of the masses, it would make more sense to give Whole Foods the top spot. Why? Because Karoun’s tzatziki sauce just slaps you in the face with flavor  in a way that might be alienating to those searching for a simple, familiar tzatziki dip. This is bold, complex, and entirely unique compared to other brands—in large part thanks to the use of labne, which is yogurt that’s been doubly strained. If you were to compare regular tzatzikis to ones with labne, it’s sort of like the difference between a mild, perfectly pleasant cheese and a more pungent, aged, sharper cheese. It’s the top shelf Riesling versus your go-to comfort wine. Karoun’s tzatziki labne has a firm, thick texture, closer to a cream cheese than a yogurt, and a prominent lemon tang. It’s got a star quality, a stage presence, and if you ask me, it deserves the title of the best tzatziki sauce. 

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

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