A Simple Summertime Salad
Cucumber salad is one of those side dishes you can just toss together quickly and pop in the fridge while you prep your main dish. My version is light, refreshing, and perfectly tangy. It uses only a few simple ingredients but is absolutely bursting with flavor!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Perfect for using up an abundance of cucumbers and dill from your summer garden. Grocery store produce works just as well, though! Pairs nicely with grilled meats, chicken salad sandwiches, or Mediterranean dishes like my Greek chicken orzo. Best enjoyed 30 minutes to several hours after preparing, but will keep for up to 3 days. Can handle some thinly sliced radishes or even cherry tomatoes if you want even more produce in your salad!
Ingredients
My cucumber salad recipe uses just five ingredients besides salt and pepper.
Cucumber. Typically I find that I need 2 standard sized cucumbers to get 5 cups. If you’re using cucumbers grown from your garden or the longer English variety, you may only need one! Onion. Red onion is best, but yellow, white or sweet onion could be substituted. Keep your onions a similar thickness to your cucumbers for a more pleasant bite. Dill. I recommend using fresh dill for the best flavor. If fresh dill isn’t available to you (or if it’s simply not in season), you can use dried dill in a pinch. Note that you won’t need quite as much dry dill as you do fresh; you will only need a heaping tablespoon. Vinegar. White wine vinegar is my preference. If you don’t have this, you can use red wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar in your cucumber salad instead. Sugar. Just a little bit of sugar balances the vinegar and adds flavor. Don’t be put off by this–I use sugar in my super popular macaroni salad and broccoli salad recipes too, and neither has ever been called “too sweet”!
SAM’S TIP: Like when making my refrigerator pickles, thinner cucumber slices will absorb the dressing better. So slice thin! You can use a sharp knife for this or a mandolin (I linked to the inexpensive and well-loved one that I use in the recipe below). This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Cucumber Salad
SAM’S TIP: As the salad sits, more and more water will be drawn out from the cucumbers and you’ll notice it gets pretty liquidy! This is fine, but you could alternatively salt the cucumbers first to draw out their moisture. Here’s a good guide on how to drain cucumbers. Honestly, I never do this because it just doesn’t bother me (or my guests), but it is an option and will give you more concentrated flavor. If your garden has an abundance of zucchini instead of cucumbers, give my chocolate zucchini cake a try! Enjoy! Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
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