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Cucumber Salad

This cucumber salad recipe is crunchy, tangy and cool! Flavored with onion and dill, it’s refreshing and quick to whip up.

Here’s one of our favorite side dishes that’s packed with flavor and fits almost any diet: Cucumber Salad! It’s simple and punchy, with a vinegar-based dressing that packs in tangy, sweet and salty flavor. It’s ideal for just about anytime: summer cookouts or pitch-ins, lunches, or an easy make-ahead side dish you can keep in the fridge for dinners all week. This is one of our favorite because it’s so simple and packed with flavor (plus we both love pickles so it checks that box!).

Ingredients in this cucumber salad recipe

This cucumber salad recipe is actually more like quick-pickled cucumbers and onions than a salad (similar to this German Gurkensalat). While we love a creamy cucumber salad, the vinegar-based cucumber salad is our preference. It’s so easy, holds up well over time, and has incredible flavor. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

English cucumbers: look for the long, thin English cucumbers that come plastic-wrapped in the grocery store.
White onion and red onion: or just use one type of onion. We like using both to get the bright color of red and the mild flavor of white.
Fresh dill: it’s best with fresh herbs, but you can substitute dried dill here and it’s still fantastic.
White vinegar: make sure it’s not white wine vinegar! This is straight white vinegar, which has a piercing straightforward flavor.
Granulated sugar: a bit of sugar balances the acidity.
Kosher salt and black pepper

English cucumber vs standard cucumbers

The best type of cucumber to use in a cucumber salad? English cucumber, aka Persian cucumber or seedless cucumber. It’s got a much better texture and flavor compared to a standard cucumber. Here’s a breakdown:

English cucumbers are long and straight, with a thin, bright green skin with ridges. The seeds are very small and the flavor is sweet and mild. Because of the thin skin and small seeds, it doesn’t need to be peeled or seeded before eating. You can find English cucumbers next to the standard cucumbers in the produce section: it’s sold with a plastic covering to protect its delicate skin.
Standard slicing cucumbers are shorter, with thick, dark green skin and very large seeds. The thick skin and seeds can be bitter, so they’re often removed when cooking.

Want to use standard cucumbers? You can substitute the same weight of standard cucumbers here and it will taste great too! Make sure to slice them very thinly, or you can peel them if you’re sensitive to the bitter flavor of the skin.

Tips for making cucumber salad

Got your cucumbers? Here are a few tips for making this cucumber salad recipe, the ideal summer side dish for cookouts, pitch-ins and more! Here’s what to know:

Use a mandolin for easy slicing. A mandolin is a slicing blade that makes it easy to cut vegetables uniformly. If you’ve got one, it makes this salad recipe a breeze! Make sure to wear the protective gloves that come with the blade to prevent injury.
Don’t have one? Use a chef’s knife to cut the cucumber as thinly as possible.
French cut the onions. Cut the onion from the root end to stem end to make the most attractive-sized pieces (here’s a video).
Refrigerate for 1 hour. You can eat this salad right away, but it’s best after 1 hour of refrigeration. This chills the salad and softens the vegetables.

Leftover storage

This cucumber salad recipe is great for making in advance and holds up well in the refrigerator. Store cucumber salad for up to 7 days refrigerated. It tastes even better after a few days of refrigeration. Use it for side dishes all week long!

More cucumber salad recipes

There are lots of variations on this theme! Here are a few more cucumber salad recipes:

Try Creamy Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream
Opt for juicy Watermelon Cucumber Salad or Tomato Cucumber Salad
Go for traditional German Cucumber Salad (Gurkensalat)
Add cheese for Simple Cucumber Feta Salad

Creamy Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream

Watermelon Cucumber Salad

Simple Cucumber Feta Salad

Tomato Cucumber Salad

This cucumber salad recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

Cucumber Salad

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 8

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Ingredients

2 English cucumbers* (1 3/4 to 2 pounds)
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (or more white onion)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
½ cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Slice the cucumbers as thin as possible, using a mandolin if desired. Thinly slice the onion.
In a small bowl, mix the white vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pepper. Pour the mixture over the cucumbers and onions, mixing everything together to ensure even coverage. You can serve immediately, but it’s best to refrigerate 1 hour so the vegetables become softer.
Stir again to evenly mix the dressing. Then serve with a slotted spoon. Store refrigerated for up to 7 days.

Notes

*English cucumbers are seedless cucumbers with a very thin skin and mild flavor: they’re worth seeking out for this recipe. If you’d like, you can use the same weight of standard cucumbers: make sure to slice them very thinly or peel them if you’re sensitive to the bitter flavor of the skin.

Category: Side dish
Method: No Cook
Cuisine: Vegetables
Diet: Vegan

Keywords: Cucumber salad, cucumber salad recipe

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Green Beans Almondine

Green beans almondine is a simple and stunning side dish, pairing tender beans with butter, garlic, and toasted almonds.

Here’s a simple way to dress up fresh green beans as a gourmet side: Green Beans Almondine! If you’re like me, you might first think of a somewhat soggy, bland version of this dish served at wedding buffets. But make it at home, and this dish is brilliant! The beans are bright green and perfectly tender, sautéed in butter with garlic and toasted almonds and finished with a little lemon zest. After one bite, we were singing its praises: then finished off the entire platter. It quickly jumped to the top of my favorite green bean dishes (like this salad and this simple side).

Ingredients in green beans almondine

Amandine is a French term for a dish that is prepared with toasted almonds, called “almondine” in English. Green beans almondine features green beans sautéed in butter and served with toasted, sliced almonds. The other ingredients depend on the chef, but often include garlic and lemon. While green beans are the most popular with the almondine preparation, it works with other vegetables like asparagus or broccoli or even fish. Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:

French green beans aka haricot verts
Salted butter
Sliced almonds
Kosher salt
Garlic cloves
Lemon

Why to use French green beans, aka haricot verts

Green beans almondine is best with French green beans, aka haricot verts. Haricot verts, which means green beans in French, are thinner and shorter than the standard green beans. The variety of beans you’ll most likely find in the grocery are called Blue Lake beans. French green beans cook faster than French green beans and they’re more tender in texture. Don’t confuse these with French cut green beans or Frenched green beans, which are beans that are thinly sliced.

We always opt for French green beans if given the choice: they’re just that good! You can also use standard green beans in this recipe: you may find you need to blanch them for 1 minute more than French green beans.

How to make green beans almondine: basic method

There are two basic steps to green beans almondine. You might think you could throw them right into a skillet and get to cooking, but you’ll need to blanch the beans first. Here’s what to know:

Blanch the beans by cooking in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, then plunging in ice water. Blanching is a cooking method that involves boiling vegetables until they’re crisp tender, then plunging them into ice water to stop the cooking process. This makes the beans perfectly tender before sautéing them with the butter and almonds. If they’re cooked in the skillet only, the beans can come out rather crunchy.
Cook the almonds and beans in butter. Toast the almonds in butter for 30 seconds, then add the beans and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
Add minced garlic and cook 1 minute more. Adding the garlic at the end ensures that it won’t get too browned. Finish with the lemon zest and serve immediately.

Ways to serve this dish

Green beans almondine is endlessly versatile. It’s perfect in summer when you can find beautifully fresh green beans, but it works for anytime. Here are some great ways to pair this dish:

Salmon like grilled salmon, baked salmon, pesto salmon and more
Other fish like baked fish, baked tilapia or seared tuna
Seafood like sauteed shrimp, shrimp scampi, or scallops
Chicken
Veggie mains like lasagna, mac and cheese, or stuffed portobello mushrooms

More green bean recipes

Got beans? Here are our top green bean recipes, especially for summer side dishes:

Try fresh Green Bean Salad
Go for Pickled Green Beans
Fire up the oven for Roasted Green Beans
Grab Sauteed Green Beans or Grilled Green Beans

Green Bean Salad

Pickled Green Beans

Roasted Green Beans

10 Fresh Green Bean Recipes

This green beans almondine recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based and dairy-free, use olive oil or plant-based butter.

Green Beans Almondine

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4

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