Cucumber Salad Recipe (2024)

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Light and refreshing cucumber salad recipe – perfect for a warm summer day. It’s agreat side for just about anything you put on the grill – chicken, steak, andfish.

Cucumber Salad Recipe (1)

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This easy cucumber salad is light and refreshing for a warm summer day. It’s aperfect side for just about anything you put on the grill. I like to serve it alongside chicken, fish, or steak.

It’s a popular salad in Germany where I used to enjoy it while I lived there during my college days. They call it Gurkensalat – some variations are with a vinegar base and some are with a creamy base. Both are delicious but this is my favorite.

It’s very easy to make and it takes only about 10-15 minutes to put together. For more easy salad recipes, be sure to check out my favorite Caesar salad and Tomato salad recipes.

Why you will love this easy cucumber salad recipe

  • Easy side dish: This quick & easy recipe is the perfect side salad for any meat, fish, or poultry dish.
  • Healthy: This nutritious salad is not only wholesome but also full of flavor.
  • Crowd-pleaser: Everyone will love this simple cucumber salad.
Cucumber Salad Recipe (2)

Ingredients

  • English cucumbers. I prefer to use long English cucumbers for this salad, but you could also use any type of cucumber.
  • White wine vinegar: You can substitute it with champagne or sherry vinegar, or even with apple cider vinegar.
  • Sweeter (honey, maple syrup, or sugar). You only need just a little bit of sweetener to balance out the acidity of the vinegar. You can use any type of sweetener, or you can skip it if you want.
Cucumber Salad Recipe (3)

How To Make Cucumber Salad

  • Mix cucumber and onions in a large bowl.
  • Mix white wine vinegar, water, salt, pepper, and sweetener in a small jar. Pour over the cucumbers and onions, and toss to coat.
  • Sprinkle some fresh chopped dill and toss the salad.
Cucumber Salad Recipe (4)

Cucumber Salad Dressing

If you are wondering what dressing goes with this salad, look no further. This simple dressing is light and delicious. It’s made with white wine vinegar, water, a tablespoon of sweetener, fresh chopped dill, salt, and black pepper.

Quick and Easy Salad

Even though this salad with cucumbers is very quick and easy, it doesn’t lack flavor. The simple dressing brings all the delicious and refreshing flavor of the marinated cucumbers. The cucumbers are crunchy and cool. Even though it tastes great with just vinegar and salt, adding onions & dill elevates this simple salad to something more interesting.

This German cucumber salad is also healthy because it doesn’t use any mayo or sour cream. And if you are looking for a keto salad, you could substitute the tablespoon of sugar with another sweetener or omit it. I used English cucumbers, but you could use regular pickling cucumbers. If I use the pickling cucumbers, I would use 4 to substitute the 2 long English cucumbers.

Cucumber Salad Recipe (5)

What to serve it with

This quick salad is great as a side dish served with almost anything. Try it with some of these easy dinner ideas.

  • Honey Chipotle Chicken
  • Maple Mustard Salmond
  • Grilled Shrimp Skewers
  • Baked Chicken Breast
  • Honey Sriracha Salmon
  • Chicken Francese
Cucumber Salad Recipe (6)

Storing & Making Ahead

Also, you can serve the cucumber onion salad right away or store it in the fridge before serving. In general, the salad can be refrigerated for about 2-3 days.

You can make the salad 3 – 4 hours in advance. Slice the cucumbers and the red onion and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Mix the dressing and store it in a separate jar in the fridge. Toss the salad with the dressing just before serving.

If you are planning to refrigerate it overnight, season the sliced cucumbers with salt and place them in a colandersitting in a bowl in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Allow the salt to draw out the excess moisture. Once the cucumbers have drained, discard the liquid and continue with the recipe.

Cucumber Salad Recipe (7)

TIPS FROM NELI’S KITCHEN

Tips and Recipe Notes

  • Use English cucumbers for this salad – they have thin skin and peeling is not required. You can also use Persian cucumbers which are smaller in diameter.
  • Use fresh dill for the most delicious flavor.
  • You can use a mandoline to slice the cucumber and red onion into even and thin slices. Of course, if you prefer you can use a knife.
  • This recipe is best served immediately since the cucumber becomes watery over time. But you can prepare it 3-4 hours ahead of time and refrigerate it.
  • If you are planning to refrigerate it overnight, season the sliced cucumbers with salt and place them in a colandersitting in a bowl in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Allow the salt to draw out the excess moisture. Once the cucumbers have drained, discard the liquid and continue with the recipe.

More Easy Salads

This cucumber dill salad is one of my favorite go-to salads, it’s tasty, simple, and uses only 5 main ingredients. Some other easy salads are:

  • Tomato Cucumber Salad
  • Strawberry Spinach Salad
  • Caprese Salad
  • Greek Salad
  • Carrot Salad
  • Easy Coleslaw
Cucumber Salad Recipe (8)

4.94 from 16 votes

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Cucumber Salad

Light and refreshing cucumber salad – perfect for a warm summer day. It's agreat side for just about anything you put on the grill – chicken, steak and fish.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 24kcal

AUTHOR Neli Howard | Delicious Meets Healthy

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INGREDIENTS

US CustomaryMetric

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Mix cucumber and onions in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

  • Mix white wine vinegar, water, sugar in a small bowl. Pour over the cucumbers and onions, and toss to coat.

  • Sprinkle some fresh chopped dill and toss salad.

TIPS & NOTES

  • Use English cucumbers for this salad – they have thin skin and peeling is not required. You can also use Persian cucumbers which are smaller in diameter.
  • Use fresh dill for the most delicious flavor.
  • You can use a mandoline to slice the cucumber and red onion into even and thin slices. Of course, if you prefer you can use a knife.
  • This recipe is best served immediately since the cucumber becomes watery over time. But you can prepare it 3-4 hours ahead of time and refrigerate it.
  • If you are planning to refrigerate it overnight, season the sliced cucumbers with salt and place them in a colandersitting in a bowl in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Allow the salt to draw out the excess moisture. Once the cucumbers have drained, discard the liquid and continue with the recipe.

NUTRITION

Calories: 24kcal | Carbohydrates: 5.7g | Protein: 0.7g | Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 293.2mg | Fiber: 0.7g | Sugar: 3.4g | Vitamin C: 4.1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 0.2mg

Course Salad

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword 4th of July, Gluten Free, Grain-Free, Healthy, Low Carb, Low Fat, Paleo, Summer, Whole30

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Cucumber Salad Recipe (15)

Meet The Author: Neli | Delicious Meets Healthy

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Neli Howard and the food blogger behind Delicious Meets Healthy. I started Delicious Meets Healthy in 2014 while working in public accounting. While everything I did at work was very analytical and detail oriented, I have enjoyed cooking because I get to use my creativity and experiment with flavors and textures of different foods.

Cucumber Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What does a cucumber salad contain? ›

This cucumber salad recipe features thinly sliced cucumbers, red onion, fresh dill, and a sweet and tangy vinegar dressing. Cooling and refreshing, this summer salad is a perfect BBQ or picnic side dish.

How do you keep cucumber salad from getting soggy? ›

Happily, salting cucumbers requires only 20 minutes or so and virtually no effort: You just put them in a colander or strainer, toss them with a big pinch of salt or two — the exact quantity doesn't matter, since most of the salt will flow away with the liquid — and let osmosis do its thing.

What is the best cucumber for salad? ›

Long English Cucumber

Long English Cucumbers have a good crunch with thin, delicate skin that's easy to digest. The best part: you don't even need to peel them—just slice 'em up and eat them as the perfect quick snack. This type of Cucumber is great in salads as well as a ton of other things, too!

What can you put on cucumbers to make them taste good? ›

In a bowl combine the white vinegar, Splenda, garlic and dill and just stir until the Splenda is dissolved. Pour wet mixture over the cucumber slices and stir so that the mixture has coated all of the slices.

Is it good to eat cucumber salad everyday? ›

Cucumbers contain upto 96% water content, which can keep you hydrated and meet daily needs. Getting enough water through fruits and vegetables ensures that cells get proper nutrition, you fight off exhaustion and stay energized through the day. Hence, cucumbers make for a good snacking option as well. Yes!

Why do you soak cucumbers in salt water? ›

Cucumbers are often soaked in salt water to remove some of the naturally high water content. Cucumbers will otherwise give up water and dilute the salad dressing. Unpeeled cucumbers are higher in nutritional value as fiber and vitamin A are lost by peeling.

Why is my cucumber salad bitter? ›

Cucumbers—and other members of the pumpkin and gourd family—produce a compound called cucurbitacins that can impart a bitter taste. The amount of cucurbitacins a cucumber contains is increased when the plant faces adverse growing conditions, like a lack of water or excessive heat.

Should I peel cucumber for salad? ›

Should you peel your cucumbers for cucumber salad? Again, it depends on the variety and maturity of the cucumber. English or Persian cucumbers have thin skins which you do not need to peel. Regular market cucumbers may have thicker peels that can be tough and bitter, so it's best to peel those.

Is a cucumber a fruit or a vegetable? ›

Botanically, Cucumbers Are Fruits

Because cucumbers have seeds in the middle and grow from the flower of a cucumber plant, they are botanically a fruit. Botanical vegetables may be other edible structures of a plant, such as the leaves, stems and roots, and they do not have seeds.

What are number 1 cucumbers? ›

1 consists of cucumbers which are fairly well colored, fairly well formed, not overgrown, and which are fresh, firm, and free from decay, sunscald and from damage caused by scars, yellowing, sunburn, dirt or other foreign materials, freezing, mosaic or other disease, insects, cuts, bruises, mechanical or other means.

What not to mix cucumbers with? ›

Cucumber and tomato are both eaten together in salads. But this is not the right food combination in terms of health. Actually, the way these two are digested is completely different, so eating them together should be avoided.

Why should you crush a cucumber before you eat it? ›

By crushing our cucumber before we cut it, we produce flavors that un-smashed cukes can't. When you crush the cells in a vegetable, as opposed to cutting cleanly through them, certain compounds get mixed together, which can result in a significantly different flavor.

What flavors compliment cucumber? ›

Spices: Cucumbers pair well with spices such as black pepper, cumin, and coriander. Fruits: Cucumbers pair well with fruits such as tomatoes, watermelon, and berries. Meats: Cucumbers pair well with meats such as chicken, salmon, and tuna. Seafood: Cucumbers pair well with seafood such as shrimp, crab, and oysters.

What are the ingredients in a cucumber? ›

Raw cucumber (with peel) is 95% water, 4% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contains negligible fat. A 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) reference serving provides 65 kilojoules (16 kilocalories) of food energy. It has a low content of micronutrients: it is notable only for vitamin K, at 16% of the Daily Value (table).

What does cucumber contain? ›

Nutrients. Cucumbers are packed with them. In just a single cup of cucumber slices, you'll get 14% to 19% of the vitamin K you need for the day. You'll also get vitamins B and C along with minerals like copper, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium.

What are some facts about cucumber salad? ›

Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc. 2. Feeling tired in the afternoon? put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber.

What are the components of the cucumber flavor? ›

More than 70 aroma compounds have been identified in cucumber fruit, including aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, terpenes, esters, and furans, which all contribute to the typical flavor of cucumber fruits [2, 3]. Of these, C6 and C9 aldehydes and alcohols are the main compounds of cucumber flavor [4, 5].

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