Sweet and Tangy Cucumber Salad

Sweet and tangy Cucumber Salad is perfect for your summer BBQ or potluck. Thinly sliced cucumbers and red onion marinated in vinegar with a touch of sweetness creating an intense delicious side dish. Best of all, it’s prepared in minutes.

Kudos to my brother Eric, for introducing me to this cucumber salad. He bought some at the local BBQ joint for lunch and offered me a bite. I’ve never had it before and found it was refreshing and delicious. I needed to recreate this dish and that’s exactly what I did.

What are the ingredients? Cucumbers – either your basic garden cucumber or English cucumbers (my preference), thinly sliced red onion, dill – either fresh or dried, sugar, kosher salt, and crushed red pepper. I prefer to use the English cucumbers because they’re thin skinned and pretty much seedless. If you can’t find them, your basic garden cucumber found at every supermarket works very well.

This recipe couldn’t be simpler. If you have a mandoline, this would be the time to use it to thinly and evenly slice the cucumbers and onion. Otherwise, use a sharp knife and thinly slice the cucumbers and red onion about 1/4” thick.

Place the cukes and onions in a zip top bag along with the other ingredients. Remove all the air from bag, seal, and squish it around with you hand to mix it all up. Lay it flat to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 – 60 minutes to allow the flavors to marry, flipping it over once or twice to make sure everything gets covered. You can marinate it overnight allowing you to make it ahead. The cucumbers will lose it’s crispness but the flavor is still intense.

I prefer to use red wine vinegar, but you can use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I’ve used all three and they’re all good. Choose what you have available.

Quick, simple, and delicious with little effort. Seriously, anyone can make this cucumber salad.

Try some of my other salads:

Mexican street corn salad

Simple vinegar coleslaw

Peruvian oil and vinegar potato salad

Grilled vegetables with feta and balsamic vinaigrette

Macaroni salad

Life’s too short for mediocre food.

Cucumber Salad

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Sweet and tangy Cucumber Salad is perfect for your summer BBQ or potluck. Thinly sliced cucumbers and red onion marinated in vinegar with a touch of sweetness creating an intense delicious side dish. Best of all, it’s prepared in minutes.

Recipe can easily be halved or doubled.

Course: Salad, Side

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Salad, Side

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 6 Servings

Author: Natalie

Ingredients

• 2 pounds garden or English cucumbers
• ½ medium sized red onion
• ½ cup red wine vinegar white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste
• ¼ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

• Thinly and evenly slice the cucumbers 1/4” thick. Transfer the cucumbers into a large zip top bag.
• Thinly and evenly slice the red onion. You want these as thin as possible. Transfer the onions with the cucumbers.
• Add remaining ingredients into the bag, squeeze out the air, seal it, then squish it around to get it all mixed together. Lay it flat to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 - 60 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Flip it over once or twice to make sure everything gets covered. You can marinate it overnight allowing you to make it ahead. Although the cucumbers will lose it’s crispness, the flavor will intensify.

Notes

A note about the vinegar - if you don't mind tart, then prepare this recipe as is. If it seems too tart for your taste, refrain from adding more sugar. Instead, add two tablespoons of water to mellow the tartness of the vinegar. The salt and marinade will draw out the moisture from the cucumbers creating more liquid which will also mellow it out.

Did you make this recipe? I would love to see how it turns out. Tag me on Instagram @thegeneticchef or tag #thegeneticchef and tell me all about it!