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This easy Cucumber Salad with Vinegar is crisp, tangy, and ready in just 10 minutes! A perfect refreshing summer side dish for BBQs, picnics, and potlucks.
Table of Contents
- A Light and Refreshing Summer Side Dish
- Ingredients You’ll Need for Cucumber Salad with Vinegar
- Where this Recipe Came From
- What’s the Best Type of Cucumber to Use?
- Salad Dressing Substitutions
- Is Cucumber Salad Keto Friendly?
- Suggestions for Cucumber Salad
- How to Serve & Store
- Questions About Cucumber Salad with Vinegar
- How to Make Cucumber Salad with Vinegar
- Cucumber Salad with Vinegar Recipe
- More Fresh Summer Side Dishes
A Light and Refreshing Summer Side Dish
I don’t know about you, but when the sun is shining and the grill is fired up, I crave something light, crisp, and refreshing to balance out all those smoky, savory flavors. And let me tell you, this easy Cucumber Salad with Vinegar is exactly that! It’s bright, tangy, a little sweet, and comes together in just 10 minutes. It’s the perfect side for grilled chicken, hot dogs, steaks, burgers, you name it. And best of all? You only need six simple ingredients to make it.
You can serve this as an appetizer, snack, or side dish. It’s perfect for picnics, potlucks, and barbecue cookouts because it keeps well in the fridge and can be made ahead of time. Add regular or cherry tomatoes to make it even more colorful!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Cucumber Salad with Vinegar
I always have these ingredients on hand during the summer because they make the easiest, most refreshing salad:
- Cucumbers – Five fresh, crisp cucumbers from the garden or the grocery store are my go-to, but feel free to use more or less depending on how many you’re serving.
- Red Onion – Not only does it add a pop of color, but it also brings a bit of sharpness to balance the sweetness. Prefer a milder taste? Swap it out for a Vidalia onion.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – I love the tangy, slightly fruity kick of apple cider vinegar. You can also substitute white vinegar, red wine vinegar, or rice vinegar.
- Sugar – About half a cup, but you can adjust depending on your sweetness preference.
- Water – Half a cup helps balance the acidity of the vinegar.
- Salt & Black Pepper – A teaspoon of salt and a few cracks of black pepper to taste.
Where this Recipe Came From
In my humble opinion, this is the best cucumber salad recipe out there! My mom made this salad often when I was growing up, and we still make it today. It’s the perfect side dish and a great way to bring some freshness into your meal! The sliced cucumbers and red onions soak up the sweet and tangy vinegar dressing so well. This is definitely one of my favorite salads for summer nights.
What’s the Best Type of Cucumber to Use?
Honestly, any kind of slicing cucumber will work, but my top choices are:
- Garden-fresh cucumbers (if you’re lucky enough to have a garden!)
- English cucumbers – They’re crisp and have thinner skin, so no peeling necessary.
- Persian cucumbers – Slightly smaller and extra crunchy.
If using regular grocery store cucumbers, I recommend peeling them if the skin is thick and waxy.
Salad Dressing Substitutions
There are also creamy cucumber salads that use a sour cream and mayonnaise based dressing. Again, it’s a matter of preference. This adds calories to the salad, and makes a heavier dressing that can dominate the fresh cucumber taste. With the vinegar based dressing, this cucumber salad is only 66 calories per serving.
Is Cucumber Salad Keto Friendly?
Yes! Just swap out the sugar for monk fruit sweetener or your preferred keto-friendly alternative, and you’re good to go. This salad is also gluten-free!
Suggestions for Cucumber Salad
This salad is delicious as-is, but if you’re feeling creative, here are some fun ways to mix it up:
- Add cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or sliced tomatoes with a splash of olive oil for extra color and sweetness.
- Toss in some feta cheese for a creamy, salty flavor.
- Sprinkle with fresh herbs like basil, dill, or parsley to enhance the freshness.
- Mix in sliced green, red, or yellow bell peppers or even squash for more crunch and variety.
- Love a little heat? A pinch of red pepper flakes or a dash of hot sauce will give it a kick!
- Season the salad with minced garlic for added flavor.
How to Serve & Store
You can enjoy this salad right away, but letting it marinate for at least 20 minutes makes it even better! If you want to prepare it ahead of time, store it in an airtight container or mason jar in the fridge. It’ll keep well for up to three days, though the cucumbers will soften over time. (Some people keep it for up to a week, but I find it best when eaten fresh!)
Questions About Cucumber Salad with Vinegar
At least 20 minutes and up to 3 days.
If they have a thick skin, yes. If they’re thin-skinned, just give them a good wash and slice away.
Anything you love! Tomatoes, feta, chickpeas, herbs, peppers—get creative!
More Cucumber Salad Recipes
How to Make Cucumber Salad with Vinegar
Cucumber Salad with Vinegar
Video
Ingredients
- 5 cucumbers
- 1 red onion
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar, red wine vinegar, rice vinegar)
- ½ cup sugar (or more to taste)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Peel and slice cucumbers into thin slices.
- Cut onion in half and cut into very thin slices.
- Combine onions and cucumbers in a large bowl.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Stir until sugar dissolves.
- Pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers and onions. Stir until the cucumbers are evenly coated in the dressing.*
- Refrigerate at least 20 minutes. Before serving, drain liquid and place in a serving bowl to serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
More Fresh Summer Side Dishes
Looking for more easy, refreshing sides? Check out these favorites:
Chopped Broccoli Salad
Watermelon Feta Salad
Caprese Salad
Greek Pasta Salad
Wedge Salad
Grilled Corn Salad
Easy and versatile. Tastes great adding your own herbs or additions as suggested.
I made this and it’s been in my refrigerator now for a month, the cucumbers and onions are still crisp and so infused with flavor i put it on my salad along with spoonfuls of the vinegar. Sooo refreshing.
So delicious, for the life of me, I had totally forgotten this one….haven’t made this in almost 15 years!
thanks for bringing it back to mind! BTW, your blog is beautiful & great!
Excellent base recipe. I use about a teaspoon of sugar and the salad is really delicious and so quick and easy to prepare.
Thank you, Sharon! I’m glad you enjoyed!
Very good. I put 1/4 cup sugar and less sweet,more to our liking.
Great idea!
I have eaten these a few times at restaurants around Baltimore and I grew a lot of cumbers this year, so…
This tastes excellent!
Thank you so much Lawrence! So glad you liked this recipe!
Yummy! I follow the recipe exactly and it was so good! Thank you.
I’m so glad you liked it, thanks for the review!
Can I use regular vinegar?
Easy to do tastes great!
My mom always added crushed red pepper!
Soo…. I’ve been making this since last summer when I needed to change things up. Made if for Labor Day, Thanksgiving, a family reunion, basically at least once or twice a week… It’s THAT AMAZING! However the second time I made it, I mistakenly grabbed the wrong bottle and switched the apple cider vinegar with RED WINE vinegar!! It made the perfect sweet/tart combination… and I also added cherry tomatoes sliced in half… and now, all anyone asks when they are come over is if I made any of the Cherry Tomato Cucumer Onion Salad!?! All the rest of the ingredients stay the same!!!
#HugeHit
Mark
Hi Mark– red wine vinegar would be delicious! I also love the idea of adding some cherry tomatoes. So glad it was such a hit for you and your friends/family! Thanks for the nice comment and 5 stars!
Looks good
As others have said, this recipe is quite close to what my mother made growing up. The only difference is that after slicing the cucumbers, she would heavily salt the slices and let them sit for a few hours. The cucumbers were not crisp, but somehow I think it brought out the flavor. Before marinating she would rinse and drain the cucumbers. Delicious!
That sounds great! I’ll have to try that next time!
I am 70 and remember this as made by my grandmother and mother, so it goes back a ways. Both of them salted the cucumber slices after slicing to “sweat” the cucumber. They cucumbers were not crisp, but they tasted great. They did not rinse the cucumbers, but did not have salt in the rest of the recipe.
My mother always used wine vinegar, it has a more refined taste. Frankly, this is something that doesn’t require a recipe, it’s so simple, second nature.
Loved this recipe. I didn’t have any Apple Cider Vinegar so I substituted with Balsamic Vinegar. It came out great with a slightly darker color and a bit sweeter taste. I think I will keep doing it with Balsamic.
Yum! That sounds delicious! I love a good balsamic. Will definitely try it that way next time, just for fun!
Try this recipe with white balsamic vinegar or rice vinegar (I buy both of these at Trader Joe’s). I also put in a teaspoon of sesame oil and a few green onions, sliced diagonally. For a little heat, put in as much or as little crushed peppers as you would like.
When storing in frig for a few days, should you drain the marinade?
I like to keep it in the marinade when storing. It gets a more infused flavor that is delicious!
After searching Pinterest for a cucumber/onion salad~I stumbled upon your recipe. I am taking the plunge as will follow the recipe as written, then add make a comment. I can not wait to make, also making cucumber/lemon water as well. Now I need to find a recipe for rhubarb since my friends have gifted me an abundance of this sweet treat. I also am now a “follower”!!!.
Hi Sue! Welcome to Favorite Family Recipes! We are so excited that you found us 😀 We don’t have many rhubarb recipes (in fact I don’t think we have any on the site yet) we will have to put it on our “to-do” list. Our mom has a great strawberry rhubarb pie recipe but none of us have made it in years. Maybe we need to pull it out and get it on the site!
My mom use to make this but without the onions. I read in comments about rubarb recipe. I have a simple one. Just take rubarb(washed well) cut up into pieses anout a inch long. Put into a pot and add enough water to get rubarb to start to boil. Ten stalks about 2 cups water. Bring water to boil add rubarb. After it softens stir and boil till starts to get stringy. Add about a 1/2 cip of sugar and boil till it gets thick. Sweeten to your liking. Serve and enjoy. You can add sliced strawberys to your liking and about a 1/4 cup of corn starch mixed with cold water till corn starch is thick. Add to sweetened rubarb and bake in a pastry pie shell.
325° oven till crust is lightly browned. Strawberry rubarb pie. If you want no strawberries just leave them out. Yum
Thanks for sharing your delicious rhubarb recipe, YUM!
I hadn’t made these for a while, and forgot ratios of ingredients– your post is easy to follow and perfect. I don’t peel the cucumbers, just wash well. Thanks!!
Love it, one of my kids favorites and so easy! Try cucumbers with tajin seasoning too! Just sprinkle some on some sliced or diced cucumbers and enjoy! Sooooooo good! It’s also really good on fresh fruit.
Google rhubarb cake. I was not a rhubarb fan, but rhubarb cake converted me.
My mother made this recipe for years and now I have done the same. I double the water and use 2 T of sugar. One comment and request. I’m on an anti-plastic campaign after seeing a documentary about the plastic island in the Pacific Ocean. Could we find other ways to marinate than using a plastic bag?
Sure, you can absolutely marinate it in a glass bowl if you would prefer. Or glass jars.
Use a glass bowl with fitted lid that seals.
Yes , you can use a glass mason jar……..
Hi, use a plastic bowl with a lid. Still plastic but reusable!
Great idea Lynn!
My mom would make this yummy cucumber salad every summer, all summer long. That was many many moons ago. Your recipe is as close to my mom’s as you can get! I’m going to make this for Memorial Day. Brings back so many memories.
So glad this beings back happy memories for you! That is what FFR is all about! So so happy you like this recipe!
This is excellent as I love the vinegar flavor. Another spice I found good is adding mustard seed and some garlic cloves then you really have something. lol.
I love it with the sugar. My mom used to make this when we were kids. What a treat, and great memories to boot!
We love these kind of comments! We love it when our recipes bring happy memories to our readers! Thank you for sharing!
Excellent! Tastes great & so easy to make.
My mother made this all the time when we were growing up, minus the sugar which frankly doesn’t appeal to me – I dislike sweet pickles. For that reason: 3 stars. Without sugar, 5 stars! A great side dish, and a nice addition to other kinds of salad.
My mother always made this without the sugar also. I love the vinegar taste with the salt and pepper.
Same here. No sugar and with salt, pepper and Walla Walla sweet onions too. Mmm!
I grew up with these and still make the cucumbers, no sugar!! But you may want to finish them off in a day or two. The longer they sit the stronger the vinegar taste. I do sometimes add sliced or chopped tomatoes. Tried onions a couple of times, but don’t care for them, so I don’t add anymore. In mine I add cucumbers, with generous seasonings of salt, pepper, onion powder and a couple tablespoons of minced garlic.
Put all in a decent size bowl that has its own top, add cider vinegar. Put quite a bit of cider vinegar in, trying to cover the cucumbers. Put lid on shake vigorously. Put in refrigerator, shake often. When you want them for a side, pull out of the fridge and put bowl on the table. YUM YUM!!!
Hi Lynn- Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions! I love the idea of using garlic and tomatoes. I bet that adds such a good flavor. YUM!
I was hoping to find a recipe without the sugar… maybe I can use sugar substitute
Have you tried Stevia? Stevia works great in this recipe, but it is much sweeter than sugar. According to the Stevia website, you only need 1/2 teaspoon of powdered Stevia or Stevia liquid concentrate to replace 1/2 cup of sugar. https://www.stevia.net/conversion.html
The sugar offsets the acidity of the vinegar. I usually find adding the sugar doesn’t actually sweeten it. I add a little sugar to my tomato sauces and chili. Never sweetens it.
Your exactly right about the sugar! It definitely adds to the flavor and my mom always added the sugar. I don’t like sweet pickles either as another comment was made and feel these still taste like vinegar, onion and cucumbers. Also can use white vinegar too. Delicious!
Very good!!! I added diced tomatoes! Made exactly by the recipe.
Thank you!
Can I use malt vinegar to soak cucumbers in?
Do not ever put radishes in it ruins the batch totally.
This looks delicious! It almost reminds me of a type of greek salad if you add tomatoes and feta! Thank you for sharing, I can’t wait to make this at home! Sounds so refreshing.
I used Truvia instead of sugar. Fantastic.
This recipe reminds me of Sunday dinner at grandma’s.
Easy to make and very good in taste