Yogurt Mint Sauce Recipe (2024)

Lamb is nearly impossible to resist when dressed with a sauce made from fresh mint, cool yogurt, garlic and spices.

Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.

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Updated September 16, 2022

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Why It Works

Fresh mint and cool yogurt complement rich, full-flavored lamb.
Garlic, cumin, and lemon juice balance the sauce's flavors.

As I've already professed,I love lamb even on its own—that richly flavored meat and luscious fat is a treat enough for me. But when presented with a good mint sauce with my lamb, I'm all over it. This complementary pairing is so ingrained in our collective palates, it's ancient: the Babylonians feasted on lamb with mint. The combo's been nearly impossible to resist ever since. Lore says England's Queen Elizabeth I issued a decree that lamb and mutton should only be eaten with bitter herbs in an effort to deter consumption and help the wool trade—but it backfired. So when I grilled a bunch of lamb chops recently, it seemed fitting to whip up a batch of mint sauce as an accompaniment.

As it was a particularly hot day when I made this, I felt the sauce should cool as well as enhance flavor, which led me to go the yogurt route. A cup of thick and tangy Greek yogurt mixed with a half a cup of chopped mint forms the base. Then garlic, lemon, cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper are added to give it some extra notes underneath the dominant flavors. Served with lamb, this sauce is fantastic.

The yogurt did its job of providing a coolness to a hot dish eaten on a scorching day, while the mint cut through some of the heaviness of the lamb and delivered a more tempered flavor without diminishing the natural lamb-iness. The freshness of mint was enhanced by the lemon, which made the dish seem altogether more seasonally appropriate. I ate one chop sans-sauce to get my naked lamb fill, but once I dipped my my second chop in this sauce, I couldn't have another bite without it.

July 2012

Recipe Details

Yogurt Mint Sauce Recipe

Prep5 mins

Ingredients

1 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup finely chopped mint leaves
2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Place yogurt, mint, garlic, lemon juice, cumin, and cayenne in a small bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let sit for 30 minutes, then serve or transfer to an airtight container and store in refrigerator for up to a week.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
20	Calories
0g	Fat
2g	Carbs
3g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories	20
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g	0%
Saturated Fat 0g	0%
Cholesterol 1mg	0%
Sodium 50mg	2%
Total Carbohydrate 2g	1%
Dietary Fiber 0g	1%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 1mg	6%
Calcium 37mg	3%
Iron 0mg	2%
Potassium 55mg	1%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)