Easy Creamy Cucumber Salad
This light, fresh Easy Creamy Cucumber Salad is a family favorite summer side dish that’s perfect for all your cookouts and great for hot days when you want something cool and refreshing. And it only takes 10 minutes of hands-on time!
You’ll love this quick and easy recipe, especially if you have cucumbers from your garden or farmers’ market. This Easy Creamy Cucumber Salad recipe is so fresh, crunchy, and crispy! Its combination of cucumbers with dill and a sour cream dressing is the perfect side dish for everything from grilled chicken to hot dogs and burgers to barbecued ribs.
Making this salad is as simple as slicing a few fresh garden cucumbers and mixing up a creamy dressing. The hands-on time is only 10 minutes!
🛒 Ingredient Notes
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- Fresh Cucumbers – I prefer to use salad (Kirby) cucumbers for this recipe, but any type of cucumber works. Most regular cucumbers’ peels can be somewhat bitter so I do take a minute to peel them.
- Salt – The bulk of the salt in this recipe is for drawing out the moisture in the cucumbers. Use either regular table salt or Kosher salt.
- Sour Cream – Either full-fat or light sour cream is fine.
- Green Onions – Many of these types of salads use thinly sliced red onions but I prefer the milder taste of green onions.
- Fresh Dill – Cucumbers and dill are a match made in heaven! If you don’t have fresh dill fronds, use dried dill weed (see Substitutions section below.)
- Vinegar – Just plain old white vinegar.
- Pinch of Sugar, Salt, and Pepper – The seasonings for the dressing.
You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe at the bottom of this post.
🔪 How to Make Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream and Dill
- Peel the cucumbers and cut them into thin slices.
- Place the slices in a colander and sprinkle with the salt. Put the colander on a plate to catch any juices that drain from the cucumbers. Set aside for one hour.
- While the cucumbers are draining, make the dressing by mixing together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Cover the dressing with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator until needed.
- When ready to serve, rinse the cucumber slices and pat dry with paper towels. Place them in a medium bowl, toss with the dressing, and serve.
🔀 Possible Substitutions
- Although I prefer salad (or Kirby) cucumbers, you can use any type available. If using English cucumbers, you can usually skip the peeling step because they’re not as bitter as other varieties.
- Out of sour cream? There are quite a few great substitutes. Try plain Greek yogurt, Mexican crema, whipped cream cheese, buttermilk, smooth cottage cheese, or mayonnaise.
- If you can’t find fresh dill, use dried dill weed. Remember dried herbs substitute at 1/3 the amount of the fresh herb, so for this recipe, you’d use 2 teaspoons of dried.
- Substitute the green onions for mild yellow onions, red onions, or sweet onion.
- The white vinegar can easily be substituted with apple cider vinegar if you like.
❗ Recipe Tips
If you’re using salad (Kirby) or regular cucumbers, I do suggest peeling them. Cucumber skins can sometimes be bitter. If using English (hothouse) cucumbers, taste a slice first to determine whether you think you should peel them.
Slice the cucumbers crosswise into thin rounds. If your cucumbers are on the large side, you may want to halve them down the length first and then slice them into half-moon shapes.
If you want really uniform slices, consider using a mandoline.
⏲️ Make it Ahead
If you need to make the recipe in advance, I suggest preparing the cucumbers and dressing separately up to three hours in advance and combining them when ready to serve. Even though the cucumbers have been salted and drained they still give off liquid that can ultimately make the salad watery.
🍚 How I Store the Leftovers
To be honest, this recipe is at its best the same day it’s made. The longer it sits the more the cucumbers lose their fresh crispness. However, you can keep it for a few days in the refrigerator. Place the leftovers in an airtight container with a tight-fitting lid and keep it cold.
❓ Questions About Creamy Cucumber Salad
Cucumbers are about 96% water. Salting draws out a lot of that moisture and helps keep the finished salad from becoming so watery. It’s not an absolutely necessary step, but I do highly recommend it.
Questions? I’m happy to help!
If you have more questions about the recipe, or if you’ve made it and would like to leave a comment, scroll down to leave your thoughts, questions, and/or rating!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
📖 Recipe
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Easy Creamy Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces salad cucumbers (Kirby cucumbers), about 4 medium)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 green onions finely chopped (both white and green parts)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- Pinch of sugar
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Peel the cucumber(s) and cut into thin slices.
- Place the cucumber slices in a colander and sprinkle with the salt. Put the colander on a plate to catch any juices that drain from the cucumbers. Set aside for one hour.
- Mix together the remaining ingredients and place in the refrigerator while the cucumbers are draining.
- When ready to serve, rinse the cucumbers and pat dry with paper towels. Toss cucumbers with the dressing and serve.
Notes
- I prefer salad (or Kirby) cucumbers, but you can use any type available. If using English cucumbers, you can usually skip the peeling step because they’re not as bitter as other varieties.
- There are quite a few great substitutes for sour cream. Try plain Greek yogurt, Mexican crema, whipped cream cheese, buttermilk, smooth cottage cheese, or mayonnaise.
- Substitute 2 teaspoons dried dill weed for the fresh dill.
- Apple cider vinegar may be substituted for the white vinegar.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
Great looking recipe! Would it do well, as eggplant, to salt the cucumber slices for a while to remove the excess moisture natural to the cucumber? (Of course, the salt would washed-off and the cucumbers dried.)
There’s nothing better than a refreshing ‘Cucumber Salad’ (side dish) on a hot summer day! The combination of cucumbers, (lite) sour cream, and fresh dill are all incredible! I’ve been making ‘Cucumber Salad’ pretty much this same way, ever since I was a young bride. My mom’s recipe was very similar to this one, so that’s how I till make it. VERY DELICIOUS!
Delicious recipe and easy to prepare. I’m a big fan of cucs, and this recipe was dinner for one! Munched on several Saltines along with it. My only comment about the published recipe is: The recipe states it takes 10 minutes to prepare — yes, if you don’t consider the one hour rest time for the salted cucs. Next time, I’m going to small cube the cucs and top a split open baked potato.
Replaced sour cream with plain yogurt and rocked on from there. Will use this one over and over again – thank you.
I live in Florida and I can serve this anytime ,considering it’s summer here all year around. I am going to add a wee bit of sweet onion and diced garlic sprinkled with paprika for color.
And a good time was had by all…..
The salad looks yummy & fresh.
Miss P
Great salad for summer!
Yes, it is. Thanks, Maria!
What a fun vacation! And this salad sounds so refreshing and delicious!
Thanks, Deborah. We did have a great time. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
It was so great seeing all your vacay pics on Facebook, looks like you had a great time!
And this salad reminds so much of grandmother’s recipe for a similar thing. I love this flavor together! Thanks for sharing and reminding me.
We did have a great time, Cathy! And you’re welcome for the recipe :-)