← All recipes · 🥙 Middle Eastern
🥙 Middle Eastern
Persian Cucumber-Yogurt Salad (Mast-o-Khiar)
⏱ 10 min
🍞 ~5g
🍽 4 servings
⭐ 5/5 (mild, cool, kid-comfort flavors)
⚠️ Estimates only — not medical advice. Carb counts vary by brand and portion. Always verify with your endo or CDCES.
🌍 Cultural note
Mast-o-khiar (literally "yogurt and cucumber") is the cooling cousin of Greek tzatziki — every Persian table has a bowl, alongside rice and kebabs. Often it's dressed up with dried mint, golden raisins, and crushed rose petals for special occasions, but for kids the simple version is perfection. It's the dish that turns a spicy meal into something a little kid can handle.
Why this recipe is T1D-friendly
- Greek yogurt + cucumber = mostly protein, minimal carbs, near-zero sugar
- Functions as a "cooler" on the plate — pairs with anything higher-carb (rice, kibbeh, pita meals) and helps slow the whole meal's impact
Ingredients
- 2 cups full-fat plain Greek yogurt (16g — ~4g per serving)
- 2 Persian (or 1 English) cucumber, finely diced (4g — ~1g per serving)
- 2 cloves garlic, very finely grated (1g)
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped (0g)
- 1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped (0g)
- 1 tsp dried mint (traditional Persian touch) (0g)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (0g)
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (1g)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp chopped walnuts for garnish (optional, 1g)
- Pinch of sumac or dried rose petals for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Dice the cucumber as small as you can (½-inch or smaller — it should disappear into spoonfuls).
- Lay the diced cucumber on a paper towel and lightly salt. Let sit 5 min, then pat dry (removes water so the dip doesn't get runny).
- In a medium bowl, whisk the Greek yogurt until smooth.
- Stir in cucumber, grated garlic, fresh dill, fresh mint, dried mint, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Taste and adjust salt and lemon.
- Cover and chill at least 15 min (overnight is even better — the flavors deepen).
- Transfer to a serving bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle with walnuts and sumac.
- Serve cold as a dip, side, or sauce.
Dash's kid tips 🐆
- This is Dash's go-to "tame the spice" dish — if a recipe is too bold for a kid, a spoonful of mast-o-khiar on the plate fixes it
- Skip the dried mint and garlic the first time for a mild intro — just yogurt, cucumber, salt, lemon
- Make a big batch on Sunday — it lives in the fridge 4 days and goes with everything from grilled chicken to scrambled eggs