Creamy Cucumber Salad

Creamy Cucumber Salad is a crazy popular, super easy side dish for cookouts and picnics. Tastes like Grandma's old fashioned cucumber salad with fresh cucumbers tossed in an irresistible dill and sour cream dressing.

Why we love this recipe

• It's the perfect side to accompany baked chicken thighs, baked chicken legs, grilled salmon, broiled salmon, and slow cooker pulled pork.
• The ingredients are readily available in any supermarket any season of the year.
• Cucumber salad with sour cream is a great way to use fresh summer cucumbers, just like my cucumber tomato salad, Thai cucumber salad, and refrigerator dill pickles.
• This recipe is quick to make.
• This creamy cucumber and onion salad is a classic old fashioned recipe. It's an old fashioned cucumber salad that your grandmother probably made. An oldie but a goodie!
• This salad is approved for restricted diets: vegetarian, gluten free, and keto/low carb. Cucumbers have tons of nutritional value and antioxidants.

Key ingredients in creamy cucumber salad

• cucumbers - Very thinly sliced cucumbers make up the bulk of this salad.
• sea salt - Salt adds flavor to the cucumbers and is used as a treatment to remove some of their moisture.
• sour cream - Sour cream is a classic ingredient in this salad, but plain Greek yogurt can work too. The flavor with yogurt is a bit more tart, but equally delicious.
• garlic - A finely minced garlic clove adds warm, bold flavor to the salad.
• fresh dill - Dill is a must for this old fashioned cucumber salad. Fresh is better, but dried will work in a pinch.
• black pepper - Adds a mild bite to the salad.
• white vinegar - Combined with the sour cream, white vinegar adds tang and thins out the dressing.
• red onion - Thinly sliced onion is a spicy, crunchy addition. I love the color of the red onions against the green cucumbers too; it's gorgeous!

Best cucumbers for this salad

I love English cucumbers for this recipe. You don't need to peel them because they're usually greenhouse-grown and wrapped in plastic, so all of the fiber and nutrition is fair game. They are relatively seedless and perfect for slicing. Homegrown cucumbers usually have a lot of seeds, so you'll want to cut these in half lengthwise and remove the seeds before slicing.

How to slice cucumbers for cucumber salad

The right sized sliced cucumbers are key to making this salad amazing. You want them thin, but not so thin that they fall apart. A great trick is to use a mandoline slicer or a food processor (fitted with a slicing blade) to get uniform slices with minimal effort.

How to make cucumber salad with sour cream

You want to remove moisture from the cucumbers or the sour cream dressing will become watery over time. So, start by lining a baking sheet with paper towels. Scatter the sliced cucumbers on the paper towels and lightly sprinkle with sea salt. Do this in two layers. Allow the salted cucumbers to rest for about 15 minutes to remove some of the moisture from them.

While cucumbers are resting, mix together sour cream, garlic, dill, black pepper, and vinegar. Dry the cucumbers, then add them to a large bowl along with sliced red onions and dressing.

Toss until well combined. Serve immediately or store until ready to serve.

Can I substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream?

Yes you can! Greek yogurt is an excellent substitute for sour cream in most cold applications (and one of my favorite kitchen hacks). Greek yogurt is a healthy swap because it can be any fat percentage you prefer. I personally love the flavor and texture of nonfat Greek yogurt ... much better than non-fat sour cream.

More summer recipes we love

• Dill Potato Salad
• Tomato Burrata Recipe
• Strawberry Spring Mix Salad
• BLT Pasta Salad
• Broccoli Bacon Salad