Chef Ally
Garlic and Rosemary Marinade
Olive oil, garlic, and rosemary in honest proportion. This is what happens when you trust your ingredients and get out of the way.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Herb Yogurt Sauce
Created by
A cool, tangy sauce that celebrates whatever fresh herbs you bring home from the market, stirred into thick yogurt with lemon and good olive oil. Let the herbs do the work.
Sauces & Condiments
Mediterranean
Make Ahead
Quick Meal
BBQ
10 min
Active Time
0 min cook•10 min total
YieldAbout 1 1/2 cups
The herbs matter more than the recipe. Find them fresh, growing or just cut, still perfumed and alive. At the market, this means herbs that smell like something before you bruise a leaf. In the garden, it means picking right before you cook.
This sauce asks almost nothing of you. Good yogurt, the thick kind that holds a spoon upright. Fresh herbs, whatever combination speaks to you that day. A clove of garlic, raw and honest. Lemon to brighten. Olive oil to round the edges. Salt to bring it all into focus.
I have made this sauce a thousand ways. With dill and mint in summer, when the garden is overflowing. With parsley alone in winter, when that is what I have. The proportions shift, the herbs change, but the principle stays the same: perfect ingredients need almost nothing done to them. Your job is to get out of the way.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
full-fat Greek yogurt
Quantity
1 cup
mixed fresh herbs
Quantity
1/2 cup
finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove
minced or grated
extra-virgin olive oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon, plus more for drizzling
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly cracked
lemon zest (optional)
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| full-fat Greek yogurt | 1 cup |
| mixed fresh herbsfinely chopped | 1/2 cup |
| garlicminced or grated | 1 small clove |
| extra-virgin olive oil | 1 tablespoon, plus more for drizzling |
| fresh lemon juice | 1 tablespoon |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| black pepperfreshly cracked | to taste |
| lemon zest (optional) | 1/4 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp chef's knife
- •Cutting board
- •Mixing bowl
- •Microplane or fine grater (for garlic)
Instructions
- 1
Choose your herbs
Start at the market or in your garden. Look for herbs that are bright, fragrant, and alive. They should smell like something before you crush them. Dill and mint are traditional for Mediterranean cooking, but parsley, cilantro, chives, or tarragon all work beautifully. Use what is freshest, what calls to you. A mix is better than any single herb.
Smell the herbs before you buy. If they have no perfume at the market, they will have nothing to give your sauce. - 2
Prepare the herbs
Wash the herbs gently and dry them completely. Wet herbs will make a watery sauce. Strip the leaves from any woody stems. Gather the leaves together and chop them finely with a sharp knife. You want small pieces that will distribute evenly, but not a paste. The herbs should still have texture.
- 3
Combine the base
Spoon the yogurt into a mixing bowl. Add the minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until smooth. Taste the base before adding herbs. The yogurt should be tangy and seasoned, with a quiet hum of garlic and a bright note from the lemon.
Grating garlic on a microplane gives you a paste that melts into the yogurt. Minced garlic is sharper, more present. Choose based on how bold you want the garlic to be. - 4
Fold in the herbs
Add the chopped herbs and fold them through with a spatula. Do not overmix. The sauce should look green-flecked, not uniformly tinted. Add the lemon zest now if you want an extra burst of brightness. Taste again. Adjust salt if needed. The flavors will meld and soften as the sauce rests.
- 5
Rest and serve
Cover and refrigerate for at least fifteen minutes before serving. This allows the herbs to perfume the yogurt and the flavors to come together. When ready to serve, transfer to a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and add a crack of black pepper. The sauce should be cool, bright, and alive.
The sauce tastes best within the first day, while the herbs still have their aliveness. After two days, the color dulls and the freshness fades.
Chef Tips
- •Buy yogurt from a local dairy if you can find one. The difference between fresh, full-fat yogurt and the mass-produced kind is the difference between a meal and a snack.
- •If your herbs are from the supermarket, soak them in cold water for ten minutes before using. It will revive some of their aliveness.
- •Save tender herb stems for stock or pestos. Waste is a sign of disconnection from your food.
- •This sauce loves grilled lamb, roasted beets, warm flatbreads, and raw vegetables. It belongs wherever you need something cool and bright against something rich or charred.
Advance Preparation
- •The sauce can be made up to one day ahead and stored covered in the refrigerator. Stir before serving and add a fresh drizzle of olive oil.
- •If making ahead for a gathering, hold back half the herbs and fold them in an hour before serving for the brightest color and flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 50g)
Calories
60 calories
Total Fat
4 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
4 mg
Sodium
200 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
3 g
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