Tarator is a cold soup made with yogurt and cucumbers. This Bulgarian dish is perfect for a light meal in the heat of summertime and would be delicious with a slice of crusty bread!
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Recipe Origins
It’s so clear by researching Bulgaria that Bulgarians love their yogurt (you can read more about why below). So obviously I had to try making a recipe with it!
One of the most famous yogurt dishes in Bulgaria is Tarator, a cold cucumber and yogurt soup.
This soup is perfect for a hot day in summer, when the sun is beating down and you want a refreshing, light lunch to cool down with. It would also be perfect served with some crusty bread!
Why Make this Recipe
- Quick: 5-10 minutes is all you need to throw this soup together. It’s a great last minute addition to a meal!
- Cold Soup: In need of a chilled summer soup to cool you down? This recipe for Tarator is perfectly refreshing and great for those hot summer days!
- “Travel” to Bulgaria: If you’ve ever wanted to try visiting Bulgaria (or have been and want to go back) this is a great way to experience Bulgaria from your home (along with these recipes for Palachinki and Gyuveche)!
What Do I Need to Make this Recipe?
Ingredients
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
- Cucumber: Use an English cucumber (about ¾ of a large cucumber) if possible as the seeds are smaller and less invasive. If you end up using an American Cucumber, slice the cucumber in half and use a spoon to remove the seeds before dicing and adding to the Tarator.
- Garlic: Using fresh garlic, minced from garlic cloves, is the best option
- Walnuts: I used roasted walnuts, but you can also use raw walnuts
- Greek Yogurt: Plain, unflavored. I prefer full fat yogurt.
- Dill: Fresh dill makes a huge difference in the flavor of this recipe, but you can use dried dill in a pinch!
- Salt: This recipe was made using sea salt, but not all salt is made the same. If you are using table salt, replace the ½ teaspoon sea salt with ¼ teaspoon salt.
Tools
- Bowl
- Whisk
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Start the Soup
Add the finely diced cucumbers into a bowl along with all of the other ingredients except for the water. Stir to combine.
Step 2: Thin it Out
Drizzle the water into the bowl as you whisk. Once the water has thinned out the soup, check the consistency. If you like a thinner soup, you can add another ¼ – ½ cup.
Step 3: Serve
Spoon into bowls and garnish with extra walnuts, olive oil, and dill if desired. Enjoy!
What Makes Bulgarian Yogurt Different?
Bulgarians are incredibly proud of the yogurt that is eaten in their country. Bulgarian yogurt has a few different qualities that make it different from Greek Yogurt or regular yogurt.
First of all, Bulgarian yogurt is made with the Lactobacillus Bulgaricus and the Streptococcus thermophilus bacteria. These two strains of bacteria are what gives Bulgarian yogurt its classic taste, a taste that is identifiable as Bulgarian from yogurt enthusiasts around the world.
Bulgarian yogurt is creamy, but not as thick as Greek yogurt. It’s a bit more tart than regular yogurt because it is typically made with sheep’s milk, not cow’s milk.
To learn more about how to make your own Bulgarian Yogurt, check out Bacillus Bulgaricus for their starter!
Health Benefits of Bulgarian Yogurt
In addition to its distinctive taste, Bulgarian yogurt is also special because of its health benefits.
The livestock that are used to make the yogurt (sheep and sometimes cows) graze on the herb-rich fields in Bulgaria. The nutrients and vitamins in the herbs are then transferred into the dairy of the animals.
Bulgarian yogurt is known to be incredibly healthy because of this! This is why most Bulgarians credit their yogurt for their longevity.
Difference Between Tarator and Tzatziki Sauce
Tarator is often confused with tzatziki sauce. They both contain very similar ingredients like cucumbers, yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and dill.
There are three primary differences between the two.
- Tarator is made with cubed cucumbers while tzatziki sauce is made with shredded cucumbers.
- Tarator is thinned with water into a soup-like consistency, where tzatziki stays thick.
- Tarator is often topped with walnuts while tzatziki is not.
Even more confusingly, the phrase “tarator sauce” is sometimes used to refer to tzatziki sauce in certain countries. However, in Bulgaria, the word tarator refers to the soup that is made in this article.
Expert Tips
- Serve this as a first course in place of a salad, as a main course, or as a refresher between courses! You can also serve it as a side dish.
- Keep the cucumber unpeeled to add an even better color to the tarator soup.
- Make this 30 minutes ahead of time and allow it to chill in the refrigerator for best results.
Recipe FAQs
While tarator is popular in Bulgaria, it is also popular in a few other countries, including Albania.
There is also a Lebanese version of tarator that includes tahini paste, but this is not that version.
Tarator tastes a lot like watered down tzatziki sauce (that’s pretty much what it is!). The plain yogurt and lemon give it a more bitter taste, while the cucumbers and walnuts add a wonderful level of texture.
The dill is the most prominent flavor, mixed with the yogurt.
You can store your tarator in the fridge for up to 3 days! Keep it in an airtight container, and make sure to stir it up before serving.
Changes to this Recipe
Please note: This recipe for tarator has been on my website since August 21, 2019. The original version of this recipe used a food processor to blend all of the ingredients together, with the addition of a red bell pepper. This recipe was an incorrect representation of tarator soup, and was edited in May of 2022 to better reflect Bulgarian culture.
Did you enjoy this recipe for Cold Cucumber Soup? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
Tarator: Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup from Bulgaria
Equipment
- Bowl
Ingredients
- ¾ large English cucumber, peeled and finely diced
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 cup Greek Yogurt, plain
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp dill, fresh
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Add ¾ cup finely diced cucumbers into a bowl along with all of the other ingredients except for the water. Stir to combine.
- Drizzle ½ cup water into the bowl as you whisk. Once the water has thinned out the soup, check the consistency. If you like a thinner soup, you can add another ¼ – ½ cup.
- Spoon into bowls and garnish with extra walnuts, olive oil, and dill if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cucumber: Use an English cucumber (about ¾ of a large cucumber) if possible as the seeds are smaller and less invasive. If you end up using an American Cucumber, slice the cucumber in half and use a spoon to remove the seeds before dicing.
- Garlic: Using fresh garlic, minced from garlic cloves, is the best option
- Walnuts: I used roasted walnuts, but you can also use raw walnuts
- Greek Yogurt: Plain, unflavored. I prefer full fat yogurt.
- Dill: Fresh dill makes a huge difference in the flavor of this recipe, but you can use dried dill in a pinch!
- Salt: This recipe was made using sea salt, but not all salt is made the same. If you are using table salt, replace the ½ teaspoon sea salt with ¼ teaspoon salt.
- Serve this is a first course in place of a salad, as a main course, or as a refresher between courses! You can also serve it as a side dish.
- Keep the cucumber unpeeled to add an even better color to the soup.
- Make this 30 minutes ahead of time and allow it to chill in the refrigerator for best results.
Nutrition
JL says
Hallo from Bulgaria!
The main difference of Bulgarian yoghurt is that it is sour and that’s because the specific bacteria. Bulgarian word for yoghurt translates as sour milk. If it’s good you don’t have to add lemon juice. I find other yoghurts bland and tasteless. It makes tarator even more refreshing in the hot summer days. Your recipe is accurate.
The Foreign Fork says
Thank you for the insight JL! So glad to hear that you approve of the recipe! 🙂