This cucumber salad recipe is crisp, tangy, and funky, tossed with onion and contemporary dill in a fast vinegar dressing. It’s the simple summer season facet you’ll make on repeat!

Right here’s considered one of my favourite summer season facet dishes that’s filled with taste and matches virtually any food regimen: my cucumber salad! It’s easy and punchy, with a vinegar-based dressing that packs in candy and tangy taste.
I grew up with this salad on the BBQ desk, and should you did too you realize why it’s so nice (proper?). It has the proper summer season vibe for nearly any event: summer season cookouts or pitch-ins, lunches, or a simple make-ahead facet dish you may hold within the fridge for dinners all week. Skinny cash of cucumber and onion marinade in a pointy, sweet-salty vinegar brine, and if simply retains getting higher over time!
5 Star Reader Evaluation
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Tremendous-delicious!!! I made this tonight with the Cajun Salmon and Straightforward Lemon Orzo. What an amazing combo. It was a giant hit with my husband. Positively cooking all of those once more very quickly. Thanks.” -A.M.
Substances You’ll Want
This cucumber salad recipe is definitely extra like quick-pickled cucumbers and onions than a salad (much like this German Gurkensalat). Whereas we love a creamy cucumber salad, the vinegar-based cucumber salad is our desire. It’s really easy, holds up properly over time, and has unimaginable taste. Listed here are the substances you’ll want:
- English cucumbers: Search for the lengthy, skinny English cucumbers that come plastic-wrapped within the grocery retailer.
- White onion and purple onion: I like utilizing each to get the brilliant shade of purple and the gentle taste of white.
- Contemporary dill: It’s finest with contemporary herbs, however you may substitute dried dill right here and it’s nonetheless implausible.
- White vinegar: Ensure it’s white vinegar (not white wine vinegar); it has a piercing simple taste that’s the signature of this salad recipe.
- Granulated sugar: A little bit of sugar balances the acidity.


The Finest Kind of Cucumber for Salad
To me, that is the only most necessary factor about cucumber salad. One of the best sort of cucumber to make use of is an English cucumber, aka Persian cucumber or seedless cucumber. It’s obtained a significantly better texture and taste in comparison with a regular cucumber.
- English cucumbers are lengthy and straight, with a skinny, shiny inexperienced pores and skin with ridges. The seeds are very small and the flavour is nice and gentle. Due to the skinny pores and skin and small seeds, it doesn’t should be peeled or seeded earlier than consuming. You could find English cucumbers subsequent to the usual cucumbers within the produce part: it’s bought with a plastic overlaying to guard its delicate pores and skin.
- Commonplace slicing cucumbers are shorter, with thick, darkish inexperienced pores and skin and really giant seeds. The thick pores and skin and seeds might be bitter, so that they’re usually eliminated when cooking.
Wish to use commonplace cucumbers? You may substitute the identical weight of ordinary cucumbers right here and it’ll style nice too! Ensure to slice them very thinly, or you may peel them should you’re delicate to the bitter taste of the pores and skin.


Suggestions for the Finest Cucumber Salad
Obtained your cucumbers? Listed here are a couple of ideas for making this cucumber salad recipe, the best summer season facet dish for cookouts, pitch-ins and extra! Right here’s what to know:
- Use a mandolin for simple slicing. A mandolin is a slicing blade that makes it straightforward to chop greens uniformly. In case you’ve obtained one, it makes this salad recipe a breeze! Ensure to put on the protecting gloves that include the blade to forestall harm.
- Don’t have one? Use a chef’s knife to chop the cucumber as thinly as doable.
- French minimize the onions. Minimize the onion from the basis finish to stem finish to take advantage of attractive-sized items (right here’s a video).
- Refrigerate for 1 hour. You may eat this salad immediately, however it’s finest after 1 hour of refrigeration. This chills the salad and softens the greens.


What to Serve With Cucumber Salad
This refreshing summer season cucumber salad is after all an ideal pairing for something wealthy, smoky, or grilled as a cool, crunchy distinction. Listed here are a couple of of my favourite pairings:
Storage and Leftovers
This cucumber salad recipe is nice for making upfront and holds up properly within the fridge. Retailer cucumber salad for as much as 7 days refrigerated. It tastes even higher after a couple of days of refrigeration. Use it for facet dishes all week lengthy!
Cucumber Salad Variations
There are many variations on this theme! Listed here are a couple of extra cucumber salad recipes:
Dietary Notes
This cucumber salad recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Straightforward Cucumber Salad Recipe
This cucumber salad recipe is crisp, tangy, and funky, tossed with onion and contemporary dill in a fast vinegar dressing. It’s the simple summer season facet you’ll make on repeat!
- Prep Time: quarter-hour
- Prepare dinner Time: 0 minutes
- Whole Time: quarter-hour
- Yield: 8 1x
- Class: Aspect Dish
- Methodology: No Prepare dinner
- Delicacies: Greens
- Eating regimen: Vegan
- 2 English cucumbers* (1 3/4 to 2 kilos)
- 1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 purple onion, thinly sliced (or extra white onion)
- 3 tablespoons chopped contemporary dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Contemporary floor black pepper, to style
- Slice the cucumbers as skinny as doable, utilizing a mandolin if desired. Thinly slice the onion. Chop the dill.
- In a small bowl, combine the white vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour the combination over the cucumbers, onions, and dill, mixing the whole lot collectively to make sure even protection. You may serve instantly, however it’s finest to refrigerate 1 hour so the greens turn into softer.
- Stir once more to evenly combine the dressing. Then serve with a slotted spoon. Retailer refrigerated for as much as 7 days.
Notes
*English cucumbers are seedless cucumbers with a really skinny pores and skin and gentle taste: they’re price searching for out for this recipe. In case you’d like, you should utilize the identical weight of ordinary cucumbers: ensure that to slice them very thinly or peel them should you’re delicate to the bitter taste of the pores and skin.

