I love this creamy cucumber salad Made with fresh dill, our simple yogurt dressing and onions! This tzatziki-inspired summer salad is very simple and tastes incredible.
This creamy cucumber salad recipe was inspired by our tzatziki sauce and has been repeated recently. It’s very simple and can use almost anything, and thanks to Greek yogurt, it’s healthy!
See this easy cucumber salad recipe for a vinegar salad, or try a chopped cucumber tomato salad!
Key Ingredients
- cucumber: I prefer cucumbers with a thin layer of skin tone, such as Hot House or Persian variety, for this salad. Garden cucumbers are OK, too, but I peel and remove most of the seeds beforehand as they usually have thicker skin.
- yogurt: I use whole fat regular Greek yogurt in my homemade cucumber salad dressing. Icelandic style yogurt is a great alternative as long as it is a thicker variety. If you prefer, you can use sour cream, which will give you more German-style cucumber salads.
- Vinegar and lemon: I love adding red wine vinegar and fresh lemon juice to my seasoning. They really enhance the overall flavor of the salad.
- garlic: Since fresh garlic is a key ingredient in the tzatziki sauce, I added a small clove to the salad for an extra kick.
- Dill: Dill is a must-have in my cucumber salad! I prefer fresh dill, but dry dill works as well (alternative tips in recipes).
- onion: I love the color of red onions added to this salad, but feel free to use any onions you have on hand.
How to Make Creamy Cucumber Salad
When making cucumber salad, I always add salt to the cucumbers. Think of it as a quick marinade for cucumbers. Marinate makes the cucumber taste better! We do the same with tomatoes (see our Bruschetta recipe or this cherry tomato salad).
To do this, slice the cucumbers with salt in a colander. After 30 minutes, rinse the cucumbers and shake them. Make dressings while you wait for cucumberwhich also benefits from some extra time.
tzatziki yogurt dressingcombine Greek yogurt with garlic, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, dill and many black peppers. Season with a little salt and set the cucumber aside. Since the seasoning contains garlic, an additional 30 minutes provide the garlic with the opportunity to season the sauce.
Since we like cucumber and onion salads, we cut it into thinly sliced red onions. Like garlic, onions add flavor, so we add thinly sliced onions directly to the dressing. In this way, under the salt of the cucumber, we make the most of our time injecting as much flavor into the dressing.
When the cucumbers are ready, throw them away with dressings and onions. You can eat the salad immediately or let it sit in the refrigerator for a day. As the salad sits, it becomes more delicious, but the cucumbers will become softer. We are not too worried about this, but it’s something to remember.
Simple Cream Cucumber Salad
My Cream Cucumber Salad Recipe features cucumber tossed in cream, tzatziki inspired yogurt seasoning. Add salt to the cucumber for 30 minutes before assembling the salad, thereby absorbing excess moisture and enhancing its flavor. I highly recommend it!
Make about 6 cups
You will need
1¼ lb cucumber, sliced (2 medium)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, and more needed
3 tablespoons thick plain Greek yogurt, we use whole fat
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Juice from 1 lemon wedge
1 teaspoon chopped garlic (1 small clove)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
Fresh black pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (1 small onion)
A handful of fresh dill and/or mint leaves, for serving, optional
direction
1Add the sliced cucumber to the colander and toss with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Place them in the sink for 30 minutes, or drain them on a bowl.
2Meanwhile, make cucumber salad dressing. In a large bowl, stir in yogurt, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and chopped dill. Season with a little salt and plenty of black pepper.
3Stir the onions into the yogurt dressing and set aside until the cucumber is ready.
4After 30 minutes of salting the cucumbers, rinse them with cold water. Get rid of excess water and add seasoning.
5Throw the cucumber into the dressing. Taste and season with extra salt and pepper when needed.
6Eat more fresh herbs spread on it. Eat or refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- Mint is great in this salad. We especially like to add torn or whole mint leaves to the salad before serving.
- The combination of red wine vinegar and fresh lemon makes the salad even more fun, but if that’s all, you can use one or the other.
- While the salad is sitting, the cucumber releases some water, which may be slightly thin. This is totally good as the cucumber water adds another layer of flavor. If the seasoning is too thin, stir another spoonful of yogurt before serving.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate the approximation.
Nutrition per serving
Service size
1 cup
/
Calories
28
/
Total fat
0.6 g
/
Saturated fat
0.3g
/
cholesterol
1.2mg
/
sodium
200.1mg
/
Total carbohydrates
5G
/
Dietary fiber
0.7 g
/
Total sugar
2.4 grams
/
protein
1.6 g
We are Adam and Joanne, a couple who are passionate about cooking and sharing delicious, reliable recipes since 2009. Our goal? Inspire you to enter the kitchen and cook fresh and delicious meals confidently.
