I love a refreshing salad, especially on a hot day. Some of my favorites include cherry tomato salad, watermelon salad and this traditional cucumber salad.
Cucumber salad Ingredients
To make this classic cucumber salad you will need English cucumbers, kosher salt, sugar, red onion, fresh dill, red wine vinegar, black pepper and olive oil. You can enjoy this salad with summer favorites like grilled lamb chops, grilled chicken tenders or grilled swordfish!
How Do You Make Cucumber Salad?
This classic cucumber salad recipe starts with thinly sliced cucumbers. Once you slice your cucumbers place them in a medium sized bowl and sprinkle salt and sugar over them. Stir the cucumbers with the salt and sugar and let them sit for a few minutes. While they sit, whisk together red wine vinegar, pepper and olive oil in a small bowl to make your dressing. Add sliced red onion and fresh dill to your cucumbers, pour the red wine vinaigrette over the veggies and toss everything together. Enjoy this cool and refreshing salad!
Tips For The Perfect Cucumber Salad
I like to use English cucumbers for this salad, which are the long cucumbers wrapped in plastic. The skins and seeds of these cucumbers are soft so no peeling required! You can also use small Persian cucumbers or the classic waxy cucumbers. If you use waxy cucumbers, you may want to peel and/or remove the seeds from the cucumbers. Fresh dill is an important component of this recipe, the flavor is so much better than dried dill. Use a sharp knife or a mandoline to get super thin slices of cucumber and red onion. Thin slices help you get the right amount of salad and dressing in every bite.
Flavor Variations
While I love this salad as-is, sometimes I add other ingredients to jazz things up a bit.
Tomatoes: Add 3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes or diced Roma tomatoes. Olives: Add 1/2 cup sliced Kalamata olives. Feta: Try mixing in 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese. Peppers: Add 3/4 cup diced red or green bell peppers. Herb Lover’s: Add 2 tablespoons each of fresh herbs like minced parsley and chives. Protein: You can top this salad with grilled chicken breast, grilled shrimp skewers or your favorite meat. Creamy: Whisk some plain Greek yogurt or sour cream into your dressing or check out my creamy cucumber salad recipe.
I make this salad almost every week, it’s so simple yet pairs well with a variety of foods. Try it with Greek recipes like chicken souvlaki and spanakopita. This salad is perfect for a potluck or as a side dish for everyday dinner. Even my kids love this refreshing side dish!
Cucumber Salad Video
