This creamy cucumber salad is the perfect side dish for a hot summer day! It’s cool, refreshing, and super easy to make. Plus, we’ve got some awesome ideas for how to use this recipe to create even more delicious dishes. You can add other ingredients to make it a bigger salad, or use it as a starting point for something totally new!
Recipe Highlights
What are the ingredients for creamy cucumber salad?
- cucumbers
- red onion
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Kosher salt
- sour cream
- plain greek yogurt
- white wine vinegar
- ground pepper
- garlic
- dill
- salt
Get the full ingredient list and full instructions in the printable recipe card below.
Ready to Beat the Heat? Creamy Cucumber Salad – 1 Recipe, 3 Meals/Ways
Be sure and continue reading below the recipe for ways to change this up and extend the recipe beyond the normal Creamy Cucumber Salad.
This post isn’t just a recipe for plain old creamy cucumber salad. This post has lots of ways to use the creamy cucumber salad, beyond just as is, as a side dish.
Want to keep your cucumber salad from getting watery? Here’s a simple trick: sprinkle some salt on your sliced cucumbers and let them sit for a bit before you add them to the salad. The salt helps pull out extra moisture, so your cucumbers stay nice and crisp.
Here’s a step by step method:
Slice those cucumbers: Cut them up however you like – thin slices, chunks, whatever you prefer!
Add some salt: Sprinkle a good amount of salt all over the cucumber slices.
Wait a bit: Let the cucumbers hang out for about 15-30 minutes. This gives the salt time to pull out the extra moisture.
Drain the water: Put the cucumbers in a colander to get rid of all the liquid that came out.
Rinse (if you want): Some people like to rinse off the extra salt before adding the cucumbers to the salad. It’s up to you!
Add to your salad: Once they’re drained, toss the cucumbers into your salad with all the other yummy ingredients.
I answer this question in more depth, but the short answer is:
Extend It: Make a bigger, better salad with it.
Use it as a tasty addition: Add it to sandwiches, serve main proteins on top, like grilled chicken or steak, add to wraps, pitas, flour tortillas, chop up and add to sushi rolls.
See more ideas below.
Wondering how to do more with this recipe?
Before we get to the recipe, let’s talk about what things you can do with this delicious Creamy Cucumber Salad. Don’t be afraid to make double or even triple batches so you have lots to play around with.
Creamy Cucumber Salad 3 ways
Idea #1 – Give it a starring role:
- Make it a grain bowl: Serve the cucumber salad over rice, quinoa, or couscous for a light and refreshing meal.
- Bulk it up: Add some more veggies like tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions to make it a heartier salad.
- Add protein: Toss in some grilled chicken, shrimp, or chickpeas to turn it into a main course salad.
Idea #2 – Use it as a tasty addition:
- Make Tea Sandwiches: Layer the sliced cucumbers on top of a piece of sandwich bread. Top with another piece of bread and then slice into triangles and serve as little Cucumber Tea Sandwiches. We usually slice the cherry tomatoes in half for this or even in thirds if it’s a larger tomato, or leave them out of the mix and slice up a whole fresh tomato to add to the sandwiches.
- Top sandwiches and burgers: It adds a cool and refreshing crunch.
- Serve it with grilled meats or fish: The creamy salad is a great complement to grilled flavors.
- Add it to wraps and pitas: It adds a burst of flavor and texture.
- Use it as a dip: It’s delicious with tortilla chips, pita bread, or even crudités.
Idea #3 – Get creative:
Blend it into a cold soup: Combine the cucumber salad with some broth or yogurt and blend it into a refreshing cold soup.
Add it to your breakfast: Top your avocado toast or eggs with a spoonful of cucumber salad for a fresh and flavorful start to the day.
With a little creativity, you can transform your leftover cucumber salad into a whole new meal or give your favorite dishes a delicious twist!
Idea #4 – Bonus Idea
If you can stand a little heat (cooking wise), there’s a third way to enjoy this.
Boil some pasta noodles on the stove top, we usually use the tri color spiral pasta but you can honestly use whatever you have (spinach noodles are great in this). Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water chilling the noodles.
Add the Creamy Cucumber Salad and stir together. Chill for about a half hour or so. Serve for dinner, as a side dish or even with the tea sandwiches.
How to Store Creamy Cucumber Salad
To keep your creamy cucumber salad fresh and delicious, here’s how to store it:
- Right away: As soon as you’ve made the salad (or have leftovers), pop it into an airtight container. This will keep it from drying out and help it stay fresh longer.
- Keep it cold: Store the container in the refrigerator.
- How long will it last? It’s best to eat your creamy cucumber salad within 2-3 days. After that, the cucumbers might start to get a little soggy.
Enjoy!
Do you do anything interesting with your Creamy Cucumber Salad or just enjoy it as is?
Creamy Cucumber Salad {3+ Ways}
Ingredients
- 4 cucumbers sliced (we used seedless)
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 cups Cherry Tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 32 ounces plain greek yogurt
- 1 ½ Tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced, optional (sometimes we substitute garlic powder)
- ½ cups fresh dill minced
- 1 teaspoons salt or more (optional for flavor, as needed)
Instructions
- Slice the cucumbers and onions and toss them together in a bowl with the kosher salt. Put them in a strainer or colander and put that over a bowl. We cover it in plastic wrap or tinfoil and place the whole thing in the refrigerator for several hours (at least 3 but usually overnight) and allow the liquid to drain out of the onions and cucumbers.
- In the morning, throw out the collected liquid, rinse the remaining salt off the cucumbers and onions and pat dry to remove as much liquid as you can.
- If your yogurt is very liquidy you will want to do the same process with that using a yogurt strainer for several hours to remove as much liquid as you can. We use a greek yogurt which tends to be less liquidy than regular yogurt, so I don’t usually do that step.
- In a large bowl, mix the sour cream and yogurt together. Mix in the white wine vinegar, the fresh dill, the garlic, the pepper and the salt (if needed).
- Mix it all up well.
- Add in the cucumbers and onions and the cherry tomatoes (whole).
- Toss to coat them well. Refrigerate the bowl for about 2-4 hours to give the flavors time to blend. Serve chilled.
Nutrition
I’ve suggested this recipe to be used as a cool soup to a friend. I wonder how it would convert? I suggested taking the liquids after straining the yogurt and cukes and blending those with half of the veggies, like you would do with a creamy potato soup. I’ll have to try this soon.
Michelle that actually sounds really good and probably quite plausible. Food for thought. Let me know if you do it and how it turns out!
I have been waiting for this recipe. Because I knew it would be awesome. Pinned and sharing, my sweet friend. Because everyone needs cucumber salad in their lives. 😉
Great recipe! I love all the options, especially the tea sandwiches. It has been a long time since I have had one of those.
Wanted to stop by and tell you that I’ve nominated you for the addictive blog award!
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