Easy Cucumber Salad Recipe – Cucumber Onion Salad

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This easy cucumber salad is one of those go-to summer sides you’ll find yourself making on repeat. It’s fresh, flavorful, and comes together in minutes with no fancy ingredients or fuss needed. You can chill it before serving alongside anything as well as foods off the grill.

Suitable for vegan, low carb, and gluten free diets.

Whenever I am craving something light, crisp, and over the top easy, I pull out this cucumber salad recipe. It’s the kind of side dish that shows up with zero fuss and still manages to steal the spotlight at any summer meal.

I love how refreshing it tastes, especially when everything else feels a little too heavy. No fancy skills needed here, just simple everyday pantry ingredients, a quick toss and voila, the perfect side dish. This cucumber and onion salad is one of those eats that goes with EVERYTHING including these summer salads and everyday bbq side dish recipes.

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Why I Love This Recipe

Quick and easy: This tasty yet frugal salad comes together in less than 10 minutes. And it is so easy that you can set the kiddoes to make this.
Beats the heat: It is crisp, flavorful and perfect when the stove’s a no-go.
Make ahead and portable: Make in advance and simply remix and adjust the seasoning just before serving. Triple or quadruple the recipe to feed a crowd and take along to your picnic, barbeque, potluck, etc.

close up of cucumber salad with onion and red pepper flakes

Ingredient Notes

Cucumber – I prefer using English cucumbers because they’re crisp, mild, and don’t need peeling. If using regular ones or large cucumbers, peel if the skin’s tough and scoop out seeds to avoid a watery salad. Little sweeter Lebanese ones work too, you would need to toss in a few extra.I slice the cucumber thinly with a mandoline or a very sharp knife.
Lime juice – I use freshly squeezed juice for the best taste.
Red onion – Just a few very thin slices go a long way. I soak them in cold water for 10 minutes if I want to mellow out the bite. Use scallions for a milder taste.
Oregano – I prefer fresh oregano but dried is what is more easily available.

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How To Make Cucumber Salad

If you have 10 minutes, you can make this easy cucumber salad recipe! Do check out the recipe card for the full list of recipe instructions.

Whisk up the magic sauce: yeap whip up the olive oil, a good squeeze of lime, the best flaky sea salt, a pinch of chilli, a oregano and a pinch of lemon zest and set aside.
Mix your cucumber slices and chopped red onion into a big non reactive bowl.
Drizzle that zesty dressing all over the cucumber mix and toss everything together.
Feel free to dive in right away or chill in refrigerator for 1-2 hours for the flavors to get all cozy.

Bintu’s Tips and Variations

Here are some tips to make a great salad.

Vary the liquid – I have used apple cider vinegar and lemon juice instead. You may need to adjust the salt content if you try these.
Add more veggies – Like green onions, tomatoes, radishes or bell peppers. So good.
Make it creamier – If you prefer to make this a creamy cucumber salad – then add in a little bit of Greek Yogurt or Creme Fraiche into your salad dressing.
Change up the herbs – Up to you to try like parsley, basil, dill and more.
Add sweetness – Feel free to add some sweetness with 1/2 a teaspoon of maple syrup or sweetener to your taste.
Storage – Slice and then soak the cucumbers in salted water a couple of hours ahead. You can also make the lime dressing a few hours ahead of time. Ideally mix together just before serving.

FAQs

How do you keep cucumber salad from getting soggy?

So try and stick with small cucumbers like Persian, Lebanese and smaller English ones. Just scoop out the seeds if they’re a bit big or watery. For more watery cucumbers, sprinkle some salt over the slices for about 20 minutes, to pull out some moisture and then pat dry before using.

Hold off on the dressing until just before serving to keep everything crisp. And if you’re after that extra bite, a quick chill in the fridge or a dip in ice water does wonders.

close up shot of easy cucumber salad recipe

Serving Suggestions

I definitely eat it just as is (as an after-work snack), but it rocks alongside the treats below.

I love serving it alongside crispy Air Fryer Fish, as well as easy Baked Salmon and the best Air Fryer Salmon Patties. It will make a great addition to a picnic along Hawaiian Pasta Salad, easy Italian Pinwheels or these Veggie Pinwheels as well as the Grilled Chicken Wrap.

Serve alongside mains like Air Fryer Whole Chicken, really juicy Grilled Steak and these Grilled Chicken Skewers, spiced up Jerk Shrimp Tacos and weeknight Lemon Pasta.

More Favorite Summer Salads You’ll Love

For more summer salad recipes, why not try some of my favs from below.

Weight Watchers Points

One serving contains 2 BluePlan Smartpoints.

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