A simple, vibrant yogurt lemon sauce recipe that comes together in minutes with just a few flavourful ingredients. It is a healthy and delicious sauce for fish or poached eggs (hello, quick and easy hollandaise substitute), or use it as a lemon yogurt dressing for salads and grain bowls.
Fall in LOVE with this Creamy Lemon Yogurt Sauce + Dressing
I have been making this tangy, creamy lemon yogurt sauce on repeat for years.
I make a double batch and store it in the fridge in a jar to drizzle over quick and healthy meals for days.
Try it once and you’ll be hooked. The fresh vibrant lemon paired with creamy yogurt? Every time I make it for someone I’m asked for the recipe. Now you will be, too!
How to use Lemon Yogurt Sauce
- Lash it as a creamy lemon dressing generously over veggie-loaded rice or grain bowls, like the ones pictured
- On poached eggs (did you know how to poach eggs in the microwave?) as a healthier (and easier!) stand-in for hollandaise
- As a dip for yam fries
- As a sauce for salmon or other fish. You can even brush on Crispy Panko-Crusted Baked Cod before baking (instead of the mayo sauce listed). Drizzle more on after baking.
- As a creamy lemon dressing for steamed asparagus, chopped cucumbers, or your favourite tossed salads
- Drizzled over falafel, or beef or lamb kofta
- As a dressing for chicken or Indian chickpea salad sandwiches
- You can even add a teaspoon or two of sugar and use it as a yogurt dressing for fruit salad
Lemon flavors are delicious with so many dishes!
Yogurt Lemon Sauce Ingredients
- Plain Greek-style yogurt: I like the 11% fat kind for a thicker sauce, but regular 3.25% fat plain yogurt is still perfect. A lower-fat yogurt is more sour and will need an extra splash of olive oil to truly round out the sharpness, but let your preferences and tastebuds be your guide.
- Mayonnaise: a couple of tablespoons of the creamy powerhouse makes a perfect dressing base and has emulsifying powers to keep the dressing together in a smooth texture.
- Lemon: use the juice and zest. Use a microplane or fine grater to gather all of the flavour-packed peel before you juice the lemon.
- Olive oil: as mentioned above, fat is required to balance acidity and a splash of healthy olive oil makes the dressing come together in perfect harmony.
- OPTIONAL: stir in 1 tbsp minced fresh herbs (parsley, dill or chives), a minced garlic clove, a pinch of cumin, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, up to 1 tsp smoked paprika, or a squirt of sriracha. For a thinner sauce, add a splash of whipping cream.
How to Make Yogurt Lemon Sauce
- Grab a medium bowl and a fork (or mini food processor.)
- Stir or process yogurt, lemon juice and zest, olive oil, and mayo together vigorously until no lumps remain.
- Store leftovers in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Couldn’t be easier!
Lemon and yogurt go together beautifully, you just have to keep the flavor balance from being too acidic. This is why I add olive oil to the this lemon yogurt sauce recipe. The healthy oil rounds out the taste, keeping it from being too sour. Delicious, creamy and bright.
Yes, you can mix yogurt and citrus. Because yogurt is already acidic, added citrus won’t make it curdle. That’s just the short answer, though. Flavor-wise, adding acid to acid can make a dish too sour. See above for how I keep things in balance.
The best sauce that can be made from yogurt is something like this lemon yogurt sauce, which is used mostly as a finishing touch to drizzle over fish, poached eggs, salads, falafels, or crispy chickpea grain bowls.
It is not recommended to make sauces from yogurt that are going to be heated, as the yogurt can split and curdle at high temperatures.
Lemon Yogurt Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 5 tsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Whisk together all ingredients in a jar.
Notes
- To make ahead, store in sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Excellent. I used it on coleslaw, good for many things, vegetables, meats and more. The zest is key, making it fresh and flavorful
This lemon yogurt sauce is unreasonably GOOD. It is addictive. I’ve been making it once a week.
This is delicious!
I copied your poach egg/spinach on toast but added smoked salmon. Yum.