Serve this lightning quick salad of summer’s most refreshing vegetable with anything from grilled meats to quiche. The easiest and quickest version is crunchy cucumber slices tossed in simple white balsamic vinaigrette.
This is a starting point for an elevated cucumber creation. Add fruit, herbs, cheese, and/or avocados for a fancier, more substantial salad.
Like it cool and creamy? Add plain Greek yogurt and mint.
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Ingredients
- Cucumbers
- Salt
- White balsamic vinegar
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Dill weed
- Garlic granules
- Black pepper
🥒Cucumbers: Mild English cucumbers or small Persian ones taste nice in this salad. If you use regular cucumbers, please remove the seeds and part of the peel to avoid bitterness.
🧂Salt: Fine sea salt, such as this Celtic salt with minerals, or coarse Kosher salt sprinkled on the cucumbers draws out the water and helps them stay crunchy. It also downplays harsh flavors.
White balsamic vinegar: It’s sweeter than white vinegar. If you don’t have any in the pantry, reach for the apple cider vinegar as a substitute.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Reach for an EVOO with a medium taste. No need for high acidity and too much green flavor here.
Dill weed: The recipe calls for dried dill, a traditional herb used in cucumber salads (and in pickles). You can swap in fresh if you want. Use three times as much fresh as dried.
🧄Garlic granules: If you have powder, not granules, use less. Powder is stronger than granules. Check the bottle for the amount used to sub for one fresh clove of garlic. Of course, you could also sub in a fresh clove for extra flavor.
Black pepper: A fine grind is best here.
How to Make
Begin prep by washing your hands for 20 seconds, lathering with soap and rinsing with running water.
1️⃣ Wash and dry the cucumbers. Slice into half-moons if using large English cucumbers or regular cucumbers. Slice smaller cucumbers into rounds.
2️⃣ Place in a bowl or colander set over a bowl. Toss with salt. Allow excess water to drain for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
3️⃣ While the cucumbers are draining, make the vinaigrette. In a jar or glass measuring cup, combine the remaining ingredients. Whisk in the cup to emulsify or shake in a jar.
4️⃣ Pour the dressing over the cucumbers when they have finished draining and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes to chill.
Serve with grilled steak, chicken, or fish. Or, enjoy over a bed of greens along with a slice of quiche or frittata or a large bowl of soup.
❄️Storage
Salting the cucumbers will help them stay crunchy and delicious for a few days. Cucumber salad made with salted cucumbers will keep in the refrigerator for three to five days.
It will only last a day or two if the salting step of the recipe is skipped.
You can cover a bowl full of salad with plastic wrap or place inside an airtight container. I often use a Pyrex bowl with a lid.
Variations
Use this recipe for cucumber salad as the start of something great.
🍓Strawberry Cucumber Salad with Feta Cheese and Basil
Ingredients
- Basic Cucumber Salad (French, recipe card below)
- 1 cup of sliced strawberries
- ¼ cup basil, chiffonade (ribbons)
- ¼ cup feta cheese
Instructions: Combine Basic Cucumber Salad with strawberries and basil. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top.
🥑Cucumber Salad with Mango and Avocado
Ingredients
- Basic Cucumber Salad (French)
- 1 cup mango, cut into small cubes
- ½ small avocado, diced
- ¼ cup red or sweet onion, sliced
Instructions: Combine all ingredients and toss gently. Mound on top of a bed of tender greens, such as Bibb, spring mix, Little Gems, Romaine, or leaf lettuce.
Optional: To make this a meal, add grilled chicken breast or flank steak.
🥛Creamy Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- Basic Cucumber Salad (French)
- ½ cup whole milk Greek Yogurt (or sour cream)
- ¼ cup red or sweet onion, sliced thinly
- ¼ cup mint, chopped
Instructions: Combine all ingredients and chill for at least 15 minutes so the flavors can get to know each other.
Cucumbers Greek Style
Ingredients
- Basic Cucumber Salad (French)
- ½ cup tomatoes, chopped roughly
- ¼ cup Kalamata and Castelvetrano olives, pitted and cut in half
- ¼ cup red or sweet onions, sliced
- ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions: Mix tomatoes, olives and onions with the cucumber salad. Sprinkle feta cheese over the top. Optional: Place the mixture on top of a bed of a crispy bed of greens and then sprinkle cheese over the top.
➡️These are four possibilities. You may think of other ways to make this French Cucumber Salad into something truly your own. I love this refreshing salad in its simplest form and when it's jazzed up with additions.
🌽How about adding sweet corn, black beans, and diced red pepper and onion?
Is it Healthy?
You bet this low-calorie salad, which is just cucumbers, is good for you!
Of course, cucumbers are hydrating since they are mostly water. Cucumbers contain plenty of vitamin K, and they are a good source of potassium (an electrolyte). They are also a source of copper.
As the cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet, the olive oil found in the dressing can almost be labeled "medicine." It is rich in monounsaturated fats and polyphenols that are good for your heart and blood vessels, as well as other aspects of health.
The variation salads are also beneficial for your health. Fruits like mangoes and strawberries are full of vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants.
🥭Spotlight on mangoes: They contain mangiferin, an antioxidant that lowers the risk of certain cancers. Plus they are unusually rich in fat-soluble vitamins for a fruit. They offer vitamins A, E, and K in addition to C. Plus, they contain many minerals.
🌿Herb Nutrition: Basil and mint are full of my favorite vitamin P (for phytochemicals). They are rich in polyphenols, which function as antioxidants in the body mopping up cellular damage that can cause aging and cancer.
Basil contains the polyphenol eugenol, which helps with blood sugar and smells amazing!
Mint is particularly good for digestion, stimulates digestive enzymes, may help with IBS.
Most herbs promote healthy blood clotting and vascular health, which is good for your heart. Essential oils from both herbs are antibacterial and antiseptic.
The recipes don't use large amounts, but there are still some benefits.
Healthy Dairy Ingredients
Greek Yogurt is rich in protein, calcium, and probiotics, which are the good bacteria you need for a healthy gut.
Feta cheese has probiotics, too. Although it's a sheep's cheese, it does contain lactose, which can cause upset stomach for many people. It's lower in fat and calories than many other cheeses and higher in calcium and protein.
🦴 Since feta is a source of phosphorous, it promotes bone health. Add in the vitamin K in the cucumbers, and you've got salads that are very supportive of bone health!
This multi-tasking cheese can also help with energy since it is a good source of vitamin A and vitamin B2 (riboflavin). It also offers vitamin B12, essential for red blood cell formation.
😈Feta, however, does have tyramine, and histamines. These can cause headaches for some people. It's a salty, high sodium food.
Yes, I think it’s essential for taste and crunchiness. It draws out water and readies the cukes to absorb flavors in the dressing.
It increases the storage time of the cucumber salad exponentially and keeps them crunchy!
Grocery stores tend to stock three or four types. Mild varieties, like English or the small Persian ones, are best for the salad. Regular cukes tend to have more seeds and can taste bitter.
If using regular cucumbers (and you may have some from the garden), remove the seeds and perhaps a few strips of peel.
The peel has most of the vitamin K, so it's good to leave some for the salad.
No! If you have them on hand and have time to chop and prep, go for it. Your salad will be extra yummy!
This cucumber salad is French in style because of the dressing. It’s a vinaigrette made with oil, vinegar, and spices. Many French cucumber salads do contain creme fraiche.
For me, the flavor of creme fraiche is too rich for the cucumbers. This ingredient is also very high in saturated fat and calories. You can make a creamy salad with whole milk Greek yogurt that will be less likely to cause an upset stomach.
Plus, cucumbers and Greek yogurt go together like peanut butter and jelly or bacon and eggs. In addition, Greek yogurt is a healthier choice since it contains protein and probiotics that are not usually found in creme fraiche.
Other salads and recipes you may enjoy…
If you can’t get enough of cucumber salads, give this Mediterranean Cucumber Salad a toss. The unusual and zesty dressing is made with soy sauce and apple cider vinegar.
Maybe carrot salads are a favorite? If so, my carrot raisin salad studded with dried pineapple bits is a deliciously sweet take on the classic grated carrot salad.
Or perhaps you have extra zucchini? Light, lemony marinated zucchini carrot salad is a healthy, tasty, and summery salad for your squash.
Need a dressing that screams “summer”? Try this Lemon Basil Vinaigrette. Although it’s amazing on leafy salads, it also acts as a sauce on grains, fish, chicken, and more!
Simple French-style Cucumber Salad
Equipment
- 1 mandoline optional
- 1 bowl, medium
Ingredients
- 1 pound English cucumbers, sliced into half-moons
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 teaspoon dill, or 1 Tablespoon of fresh
- ½ teaspoon garlic granules, or 1 clove fresh grated or pressed
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, fine grind
Instructions
- Wash hands thoroughly for 20 seconds, lathering with soap and rinsing with running water.
- Place sliced cucumbers in a medium bowl and sprinkle with salt. Toss and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain any excess water released by cucumbers.
- Whisk remaining ingredients together in a small cup or shake to emulsify in a small jar with a lid.
- Pour over cucumbers and toss to coat.
- Refrigerate for about 15 minutes. Serve on the side with grilled foods or make it a lunch by serving atop a scoop of cottage cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
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Jani H. Leuschel
I make this at least twice a month. Fast, easy and refreshingly delicious!