Cucumber Onion Salad

This simple Cucumber Onion Salad makes for a refreshing side dish. A couple hours rest time means you can prep it ahead of time!

What Is Cucumber Salad?

This is a really simple and refreshing side dish of fresh cucumbers and onions that are marinated in a tangy vinegar mixture. There’s another kind of cucumber salad that is creamy and you can make that by quickly mixing up cucumber with sour cream and dill. Want to focus on the onions? Try my Brazilian Onion Salad recipe.

The ingredient list for this is pretty short. We’re using English cucumbers and sweet onions for this cucumber salad recipe. English cucumbers are great because they have thin skin that doesn’t need to be peeled. Some recipes use red onion instead of the sweet variety, so you can also try that, but stay away from harsher flavored white or yellow onions for this dish.

The vinegar mixture that the veggies soak in is simply vinegar, water, salt, and sugar. I like to sprinkle some fresh dill on top when serving, but that’s totally optional.

Why Marinate In A Baking Dish?

Lots of cucumber onion salad recipes I’ve seen have you marinating the veggies in a bowl in the fridge. While that does take up less space, it also means that only some of the vegetables are actually getting submerged in the mixture.

You may decide you’re okay with that, but I wanted the deliciously tangy flavor in each and every bite. That’s why I prefer to let my salad marinate in a large, shallow baking dish, like a 9×13 casserole dish.

Using a baking dish instead of a bowl to marinate the cucumbers and onion allows the vegetables to be in better contact with more of the seasoned vinegar, ensuring that every bite of cucumber and onion is flavorful.

Serving Cucumber Onion Salad

To serve this salad, use a slotted spoon to transfer the cucumbers and onions to a serving dish. You can drizzle over a few tablespoons of the vinegar mixture over the salad, but you don’t want the salad to continue to sit in the mixture, getting too soft. (You can use the remaining mixture to marinate other veggies or as the base of a salad dressing!)

This cucumber onion salad goes great alongside burgers and hot dogs or other grilled meats. Enjoy! – Christine xo

Podcast Episode On Making Cucumber Salad

Listen to learn how to make this recipe, along with some great tips from Christine:

Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.

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Cucumber Onion Salad Recipe

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• Author: Christine Pittman
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Refrigerate: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 0 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Side Dish
• Method: Marinate
• Cuisine: American

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This simple Cucumber Onion Salad makes for a refreshing side dish. A couple hours rest time means you can prep it ahead of time!

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Ingredients

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• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 large English cucumber, sliced into 1/4-inch coins
• 1/4 sweet onion, sliced thin
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill (optional)

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Instructions

1. In a medium bowl stir together vinegar, water, salt, and sugar until salt and sugar dissolve. Transfer mixture to a 9×13-inch baking dish.
2. Add cucumbers and onions to baking dish, toss with vinegar mixture. Distribute cucumbers with as little overlap as possible. Cover and refrigerate 1 and ½ to 2 hours.
3. Remove baking dish from refrigerator, uncover. 
4. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cucumbers and onions to a serving bowl.
5. Drizzle a few tablespoons of the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers before serving. If desired, garnish with fresh chopped dill.

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Notes

The vinegar mixture can be used to pickle or marinate other vegetables, meat or seafood, or used in a salad dressing.