Cucumber Salad is a total classic! It’s light and delicious and tends to be a popular option for summer side dishes and gatherings like backyard barbecues and cookouts. This dish isn’t limited to warm weather though! Because it requires some sitting time before serving, it’s often served for weeknight meals as well as larger meals with numerous dishes. It’s light, refreshing, and easy to make. What’s not to love?

If you love cucumber salad but prefer the creamy variety, we’ve got you covered with our favorite creamy cucumber salad recipe!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • A super simple vinaigrette keeps things easy while still bringing the tangy zip.
  • Fresh dill adds to the pickled flavor people love about this dish.
  • English cucumbers are used for the best texture.
A close up view of a wooden spoon scooping out a serving of cucumber salad from a bowl.

Cucumber Salad is a family favorite that people have been enjoying for ages. Thinly sliced cucumbers and onion are tossed in a sweet and tangy vinaigrette for a classic side dish.

This dish is heavily rooted in German ancestry where they call it Gurkensalat. It’s a popular side dish that has made its way to America. It’s light, refreshing, and easy to make. While the recipe seems to have originated in Germany, it made its way to the Southern United States via German immigrants. There are slight variations out there, of course, but this version is our absolute favorite.

Ingredient Notes

An overhead view of the ingredients required to make the associated recipe for cucumber salad.
  • English Cucumbers: have more flavor and less seeds than regular seedless cucumbers, but both can be used.
  • Red Onion: is perfect for eating raw and provides a nice bite. A white onion can also be used, but avoid yellow onions.
  • Fresh Dill: is strongly preferred in this recipe. If you can’t find fresh dill or don’t have access, you can use 2 to 3 teaspoons of dried dill.
  • White Vinegar: provides a classic strong vinegar flavor. For a more mild flavor, you can also use apple cider vinegar.
A collage of four images showing steps in the process of making German-style cucumber salad.

Sweating Cucumbers:

This recipe calls for “sweating” the cucumbers. When sweating a vegetable you use salt to draw out excess moisture. This is commonly done when working with eggplant. You can certainly skip this step in the recipe, however, you’ll end up with extra liquids from the cucumber, which have a high volume of water content.

An overhead birds-eye view of a bowl of a vinegar-based cucumber salad.

Storage Instructions: 

Store your cucumber salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 

More Simple “No-Lettuce” Salads