Cucumber Salad Recipe

Everyone loves this classic cucumber salad. It’s made with a simple homemade vinegar dressing and fresh dill. It’s the cucumber salad your grandma used to make!

Cucumbers often make us think of gyros. So whenever we have a craving for gyros, this tzatziki salad totally fits the bill!

Cucumber Salad Recipe

When I was a little girl I remember my aunt putting a big bowl of cucumber salad on every holiday table. The grown-ups would dig in and I always wondered what all the fuss was about. After all, little kids aren’t usually big fans of such things.

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But once I hit elementary school age I decided to try the famous cucumber salad that all the adults carried on about. From that day forward I was hooked. Thin sliced cucumber, a homemade vinegar and sugar dressing, and of course, fresh dill from the garden.

How to Make Cucumber Salad

White wine vinegar is our favorite for the dressing. It has a milder flavor than regular white vinegar, and it’s less sweet than apple cider vinegar. There’s already sugar in the recipe for that. Making this salad couldn’t be simpler honesty. There’s only six ingredients, two of them salt and white pepper.

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I prefer to use English cucumbers for this recipe. There are no seeds and it makes for a tasty salad. You can certainly use regular cucumbers, just use four instead of three. Be sure to slice them nice and thin so they are easy to eat and will absorb the dressing quickly. It might seem like a lot of cucumbers, but they will lose quite a bit of volume after salting.

Ingredients for Cucumber Salad

• 3 English cucumbers (or 4 regular cucumbers)
• 3 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Helpful Kitchen Tools

• Paring knife
• Cutting board
• Mixing bowl
• Colander
• Veggie wash

How to Make Vinegar Cucumber Salad

1. First, wash the outer skins of the cucumbers with a veggie wash or mild dish soap and rinse well.
2. Use a sharp paring knife to cut off the ends. Don’t peel them, there’s a lot of nutrients in the skin! Besides, you will be cutting them thin enough you won’t even notice. Cut the cucumbers into paper thin slices.
3. In a large bowl, mix the cucumber slices with 2 teaspoons salt. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. There’s a reason for this, don’t skip this step. Salting the cucumbers draws out the liquid, keeping your salad from becoming diluted and less flavorful.
4. Drain the excess liquid from cucumbers.
5. In a medium bowl, make the dressing by whisking together the white wine vinegar, sugar, dill, white pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt.
6. Pour vinegar dressing over the drained cucumbers and mix well, tossing to coat.
7. Cover the cucumber salad with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours before serving. This allows the dressing to penetrate the cucumber and allowing the flavors to truly meld.

For the love of cucumbers

• We really do love cucumbers around here! In fact, one of our most popular recipes are these Cucumber Sandwiches. They are ideal any time of the year and great for tea parties, bridal showers, and potlucks.
• Looking for a fun way to get some healthy dishes into your diet? Our Greek Salad Sushi is just the ticket, using cucumbers for the rolls!
• And speaking of healthy, something we really can’t resist is a good smoothie. We’ve made one so delicious you won’t believe it. Be sure to check out our refreshing Cucumber Tropical Smoothie – we know you’ll love it!
• This tomato cucumber salad with feta is light, refreshing, and perfect for summer gatherings. The best part, aside from the flavor, is that it all comes together in under 10 minutes!

More Summer Salad Recipes

• Fruit Salad
• Corn Salad
• Caprese Salad
• Broccoli Salad
• Spaghetti Salad
• Watermelon Salad
• Grilled Corn and Zucchini Salad with Feta
• Greek Salad