Creamy Cucumber Salad
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 72kcal
This Creamy Cucumber Salad is a refreshing side dish with tangy sour cream sauce! The thinly sliced and crisp cucumbers are tossed with red onion, fresh dill, and dressing. Serve it immediately or leave it to chill in the fridge for up to an hour for maximum flavor infusion!
Print Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large English cucumbers about 1 ½ pounds, thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 2/3 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
- 1 Tablespoon white vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar optional, or honey
- 1 clove garlic grated or minced
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest plus 1 teaspoon lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ red onion thinly sliced into half moons
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill mint or parsley, plus more to garnish
Instructions
- Toss cucumbers with 1 TBSP kosher salt, then add to a colander set over the sink or a bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes, while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- Rinse the cucumbers with cold water, then squeeze out excess water. To make this easy, I add the cucumbers to a clean dish towel and squeeze.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, garlic, and lemon juice and zest. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the drained cucumbers, dill and red onions, to the sauce mixture and toss gently to coat.
- Taste and season again with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately at room temperature or refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
Notes
Storing
- Store leftover cucumber salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, keeping in mind that the sliced cucumber and red onion will soften over time.
- I like to give my leftover cucumber salad a little squeeze of lemon juice before serving again as a way to brighten it up.
- Make this cucumber salad ahead of time and store it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 1-2 days at most. The flavors will meld together and intensify!
- Neutralize the strong flavor of red onion and draw out its natural sweetness by soaking the sliced onion in water. Gently pat the onion dry with a paper towel before adding it to the salad to eliminate excess water.
- Tossing the sliced cucumber in salt draws out excess moisture - exactly what you want for any this cucumber salad.
- Add cheese - This refreshing salad tastes great with the addition of creamy cubed feta, mozzarella balls, or shredded Parmesan. Toss them into the salad just before serving.
- Swap herbs - Swap the fresh dill for parsley or mint, or a mixture of both.
- Include greens for substance - Spinach, arugula, or romaine lettuce can be added to this creamy cucumber salad to give it more bulk.
- Kick of heat - Add a slight kick of heat to this cucumber salad by adding ½ to 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to the creamy sauce or including diced jalapeno.
- Switch up the dressing - Change the flavor of this salad by pairing it with a different dressing. Go ahead and try my Greek Yogurt Salad Dressing, Creamy Feta Dressing, Homemade Zesty Italian Dressing, Restaurant Style Ranch Dressing, or Lemon Pesto Dressing. They’re all so good!
- Vegan-friendly - Use a plant-based yogurt instead of the sour cream of Greek yogurt when making the dressing.
Nutrition
Calories: 72kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 1173mg | Potassium: 192mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 270IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 0.3mg