This is how you make the best cucumber salad! We toss thinly sliced cucumbers with a sweet, tangy dressing made from vinegar, some sugar, and Dijon mustard.
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With a few simple tricks you can prepare the best and most delicious cucumber salad. It’s amazing the difference they make. First we salt our cucumbers so they taste amazing and stay crunchy. Second, we flame our onions in cold water so their raw flavor doesn’t overwhelm the salad. This salad is dairy and mayonnaise free. For a creamy salad, click our Tzatziki Cucumber Salad.
The secret of the best cucumber salad
The secret to this cucumber salad recipe is Salt the cucumbers. The salt enhances the flavor of the pickles and removes excess water, which thins the dressing.
Cucumbers are mostly made up of water. By salting them, we draw out excess water before tossing the cucumbers in the dressing. We’ve done this in other recipes before—remember our Coleslaw Salad without Mayo and this Creamy Cucumber Salad with Greek Yogurt?
Salting the cucumbers makes the dressing flavorful and not watered down. This makes the cucumbers taste more like cucumbers. It intensifies their taste. The salting process takes about 30 minutes and is well worth it.
So we do it: Slice cucumbers into thin coins – we use our mandoline slicer, but a knife will do too. Sprinkle the cucumber coins with salt, then let them sit in a colander (we put ours in the sink) for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, rinse the cucumbers with cold water. Rinsing removes excess salt so the salad doesn’t become overly salty. Finally, squeeze them dry by placing them in a clean tea towel and squeezing them out.
Once you’ve salted, rinsed and squeezed the cucumbers, it’s time to prepare the salad. The dressing is simple, made with vinegar, mustard, and a little sugar to balance it out.
Finally, add a handful of chopped red onions. Simply! You can enjoy the salad right away, but it will get better after an hour in the fridge.
More easy salad recipes
Recipe updated originally posted June 2013. Since posting in 2013 we have tweaked the recipe to make it clearer. – Adam and Joanne
Spicy cucumber salad
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PREPARATION
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IN TOTAL
The secret of this salad is salting the cucumbers. After cutting them into thin slices, we salt them generously and let them rest for 30 minutes. As they rest, the cucumbers will become even more “cucumbery,” giving off extra moisture that would make the dressing watery if not removed. They are then tossed with a simple dressing and marinated for at least an hour, but no longer than a day. Salting and marinating the salad will take a little more time, but your hands-on time is minimal.
The inactive time for this recipe is 1 1/2 hours. For this, we like to slice the cucumbers into thin slices (1/16 inch or 1.5 mm). After preparing the salad, the cucumbers will be crisp but a little limp. If you want the cucumbers to be sturdier, cut them into thicker slices.
Makes about 4 servings
Watch as we prepare the recipe
you will need
2 house pickles or seedless pickles, about 1 1/2 pounds
Salt
2 to 3 teaspoons granulated sugar, depending on how sweet you like the salad
1/4 cup (60 ml) apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 of a medium red onion, thinly sliced
directions
1Thinly slice cucumbers, toss with 2 teaspoons of salt, then place in a colander over the sink or bowl. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
2Rinse the cucumbers with cold water, then squeeze out excess water from them. (To make it easier, we put the pickles in a clean tea towel, tie it up and squeeze it.)
3In a large bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons sugar, vinegar, and mustard. Taste and add another teaspoon of sugar if needed. Add cucumber and red onion and mix. Before serving, refrigerate the salad for at least 1 hour and up to a day.
Adam and Joanne’s tips
- Seedless Cucumbers: Seedless cucumbers are often sold wrapped in plastic wrap. They have a thinner skin and are slightly sweeter than regular cucumbers. Other names are English cucumber and greenhouse cucumber. If you can’t find them, use regular cucumbers and scoop out the seeds with a spoon before slicing. If the cucumbers have a thicker, waxy skin, we recommend peeling all or part of it.
- Variation – Add Salad: After marinating the pickles, you’ll notice that there’s quite a bit of liquid at the bottom of the bowl. If you like, add some of the liquid to a small bowl, then whisk together 2 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil to make a salad dressing. Then tear the lettuce leaves, mix with the dressing and serve with the cucumbers.
- We like the cucumbers to be thinly sliced. When cutting, you have two options: use a sharp knife or a mandoline slicer. When you have it, the mandolin works wonders to make everything go fast. If you use a mandolin, buy a Kevlar glove for safety reasons.
- Nutritional Information: The nutritional information below is an estimate. We used the USDA Supertracker Recipe Calculator to calculate approximate values.
If you make this recipe, take a picture and tag it with the hashtag #inspiredtaste – we love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutritional value per serving
serving size
1/4 of the recipe
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calories
45
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protein
1g
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carbohydrate
9g
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fiber
2g
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total sugar
6g
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total fat
0g
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Saturated Fatty Acids
0g
/
cholesterol
0mg