Cacik (Turkish Yogurt with Cucumbers)

Cacik is a delicious and refreshing Turkish Yogurt dish made with cucumbers, yogurt, and herbs. This wonderful yogurt dip is similar to its Greek cousin known as "tzatziki". It is very easy to prepare, ready in just 10 minutes, and only needs a few fridge ingredients.

Jump to:

• What is Cacik?
• Cacik vs Tzatziki
• Why This Recipe Works?
• Ingredients and Substitutes
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Top Tips From the Chef
• Serving Suggestions
• Recipe FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Cacik (Turkish Yogurt with Cucumbers)

What is Cacik?

Cacik is a very popular Turkish side dish that is perfect for warm summer days and pairs perfectly with grilled meat, rice dishes, or stews.

Cucumbers and yogurt are the two main ingredients to make this refreshing yogurt and cucumber dip. Other ingredients such as olive oil, salt, herbs (mint, dill, parsley), garlic, and water are optional and totally up to your personal taste.

Cacik is also known as "Tarator" (a simple meze of yogurt, walnut, and vinegar) in the Balkans and Southeast Europe. This light and refreshing yogurt dish is usually served as a cold appetizer, a part of meze selection, as a dip, a cold soup, or even as a sauce.

Cacik vs Tzatziki

Turkish Cacik is typically served as a cooling soup during summer, either alone or as a side dish to hot food. It can also, however, be served thicker and more similar to tzatziki, like a cacik dip.

Greek Tzatziki is always served as a meze, or as a side dish. The cucumber is grated, salted, and then squeezed off most of its water, ensuring a thick and spreadable dip.

Turkish Cacik usually uses dried mint, fresh mint, and sometimes dill, and rarely lemon juice as a flavoring.

Greek Tzatziki is heavier on dill and lemon juice or vinegar and also uses oregano as a flavoring.

Why This Recipe Works?

• This Turkish yogurt recipe is very easy to make, ready in 15 minutes, and only requires a few basic ingredients you might already have in hand.

• Cacik is perfect to serve as a cooling soup on hot summer days, a great addition to your Turkish meze spread, or a side dish to most barbecued and grilled meats, vegetables, and casserole dishes.

• This Turkey's most loved yogurt recipe is also very healthy and only contains 124 kcal per portion.

Ingredients and Substitutes

Yogurt

You can use a thick strained Turkish yogurt (known as süzme yogurt) or Greek yogurt to achieve a rich & creamy texture. You can then add a tiny bit of cold water and beat it if you want to make it thinner.

Avoid using flavored or fruit yogurt for cacik, only use plain natural yogurt.

You can substitute it with a dairy-free version to make this delicious dip vegan!

Cucumber

Use fresh cucumbers that are firm and bright in color. I prefer using mini cucumbers or Persian cucumbers as they have a better flavor, are slightly sweeter with tender skins and contain less water than regular English cucumbers.

However, half of a regular English cucumber will work too as long as you peel and remove the seeds before grating them!

• Dried mint - It is a staple in Turkish cuisine and I use it in many Turkish recipes such as Yaprak Sarma - Dolma (Stuffed Grape Leaves), Mucver (Crispy Zucchini Fritters), and Kapuska (Turkish Cabbage Stew). It has a stronger aroma and flavor compared to fresh mint and tastes great with yogurt.

• Fresh Herbs - I use a mixture of dill and mint but you can also use parsley or oregano if you prefer. Adjust the amount to your taste.

• Olive oil - I add olive oil to give this yogurt dish a creamier texture but you can omit it if you prefer.

Step-by-Step Instructions

This Turkish yogurt recipe is very easy to make and to achieve the best results, you need to follow a few simple steps:

Peel and grate the cucumbers with the large size of your grater. Alternatively, you can leave the skin on or finely chop the cucumber for a crunchier texture.

Add the fresh herbs and dried mint to the cucumbers.

Whisk the yogurt, salt, and olive oil together to make a smooth mixture. At this stage, if you want your cacik thin, more like a drink consistency, whisk in some cold water.

Add the cucumbers, dried mint, and finely chopped fresh herbs to yogurt, and mix thoroughly until smooth.

Transfer it to individual bowls and garnish it with some fresh herbs and extra virgin olive oil.

Top Tips From the Chef

• Avoid using flavored or fruit yogurt for cacik, only use plain natural yogurt.

• Make cacik as late as possible before serving. Once mixed, the cucumbers quickly lose their crunch and the yogurt starts releasing whey.

• You can also finely chop the cucumbers if you want to have a crunchier texture.

• The consistency of cacik depends on how you want to serve it. Adjust the amount of water you add to your yogurt to make it thicker or runnier.

Serving Suggestions

You can serve Cacik (Turkish Yogurt with Cucumbers) as a part of a meze platter or as an appetizer along with Lebanese Falafel, Arnavut Cigeri - Turkish Liver, and Cerkez Tavugu- Circassian Chicken.
It can be enjoyed as a refreshing summer "soup" both during and before a meal.
Cacik is also a great side dish to grilled meats such as Grilled Lamb Kofta (Izgara kofte), Lamb Shish Kebab, or Inegol Kofte.
It also works as a treat alongside hearty stews such as Turkish Lamb Stew with Chickpeas, Slow Cooked Lamb Tagine With Apricots, or Kuru Fasulye, and grains such as Bulgur Pilavi(Turkish Bulgur Pilaf) and Turkish Rice (Sehriyeli Pilav).

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more delicious Turkish dips why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this light, cooling, and delicious yogurt dish as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂

Bon appétit! / Afiyet Olsun! 

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