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Cucumber Dill Salad is the cool, crisp side dish every summer table needs, paper thin cucumbers and red onion tossed in a creamy Greek yogurt dill dressing, and the salting trick in this recipe is what keeps it crunchy instead of watery, a lesson I learned the hard way one sweltering July cookout. If you are team sour cream, our creamy cucumber salad with sour cream is the richer cousin.
Fifteen minutes of hands on work, a little chill time, and the crispest creamy cucumber salad you have ever made.
Cucumber Dill Salad Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 0 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 4 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 38kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Cool, creamy, and tangy with fresh dill in every bite
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, same effort as our classic cucumber salad
Quick Answer
Slice English cucumbers as thinly as possible with a mandoline, toss them with kosher salt, and let them drain in a fine mesh strainer in the refrigerator for one hour. Stir together Greek yogurt, chopped fresh dill, white vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, and black pepper. Squeeze the drained cucumbers dry in a clean towel, toss them with thinly sliced red onion in the dressing, then chill for one hour before serving.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Salting pulls out the water. Cucumbers are nearly all water, and an hour of salted draining removes it before it can turn the dressing into soup.
- Drying the slices is the crunch insurance. Wringing the drained cucumbers in a towel means the dressing clings to crisp slices instead of sliding off wet ones.
- Greek yogurt keeps it light. It brings the creamy tang of sour cream with a fraction of the fat, so the salad tastes fresh instead of heavy.
- Sugar and vinegar balance the tang. A teaspoon of sugar and a splash of vinegar turn plain yogurt into a proper sweet and sour dressing.
- Thin slices soak up flavor. Mandoline thin cucumber drinks in the dill dressing during the final chill, so every bite is seasoned.
- The final hour of chilling melds it all. Resting lets the dill bloom and the onion mellow into the creamy dressing.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The salting trick guarantees a crisp salad, never a watery one.
- Greek yogurt makes it lighter than classic creamy salads at just 38 calories a serving.
- It is the refreshing counterpoint to rich cookout sides like our classic potato salad.
Key Ingredients
Crisp vegetables and a handful of dressing staples, that is the whole list.
- English cucumbers: Thin skinned with tiny seeds, they slice beautifully and stay crisp. No peeling needed.
- Greek yogurt: The creamy, tangy base of the dressing, lighter than mayo or sour cream with a protein bonus.
- Fresh dill: The signature flavor. Fresh is worth it here, dried dill fades into the background.
- Red onion: Thinly sliced for sharp, colorful crunch in every bite.
- White vinegar and sugar: A little tang and a little sweetness balance the creamy dressing perfectly.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This salad takes well to easy remixes.
- Swap the Greek yogurt for sour cream for a richer, tangier dressing.
- Add halved cherry tomatoes and crumbled feta for a Greek inspired version.
- Stir in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and zest for extra brightness.
- Skip the creamy dressing entirely and you are close to our vinegar based cucumber salad, the other summer staple.
How to Make Cucumber Dill Salad
- Slice the cucumbers as thinly as possible with a mandoline, toss them with the salt in a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl, and refrigerate for 1 hour to drain.
- In a large bowl, stir together the Greek yogurt, dill, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, and black pepper, then set the dressing aside.
- Discard the drained liquid, then wring the cucumbers as dry as possible in paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
- Add the cucumbers and red onion to the dressing and toss until everything is coated. Taste, add more salt if needed, then chill for 1 hour before serving.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Use a mandoline for paper thin slices. Even, thin slices drain better and soak up more dressing. Watch those fingertips.
- Do not skip the hour of draining. It is the difference between creamy salad and cucumber soup.
- Wring the cucumbers like you mean it. The drier the slices, the crispier the salad and the thicker the dressing stays.
- Slice the onion whisper thin. It mellows in the dressing while still bringing crunch and color.
- Taste after chilling. Cold dulls seasoning, so a final pinch of salt right before serving wakes it all up.
- Make it the day you serve it. It holds a day in the refrigerator, but the first few hours are peak crisp.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
This cucumber dill salad is built for summer plates, serve it alongside grilled chicken, burgers, brats, or salmon, anywhere you would want something cool and crisp against something hot and smoky.
For a cookout spread, set it out with our classic potato salad and orzo pasta salad so there is a creamy, a hearty, and a fresh option on the table.
It also plays beautifully on a light lunch plate next to our rotisserie chicken salad or before a dinner that starts with our chopped salad.
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The cucumbers keep releasing a little water as they sit, so give the salad a quick stir and drain off any excess before serving it again, the flavor actually deepens overnight.
Cucumber Dill Salad FAQs
Salt the sliced cucumbers and let them drain for an hour, then wring them dry in a clean towel before dressing. Those two steps remove the water that would otherwise leach into the dressing. Chilling the finished salad in a covered bowl, not an open one, also slows any further weeping.
Yes, up to a day ahead, and the flavor is arguably better after a few hours of chilling. Beyond a day the cucumbers slowly soften and release water, so stir and drain before serving. For maximum crunch at a party, prep the components separately and toss them an hour before.
No need. English cucumber skin is thin, tender, and seedless enough to eat happily, and it adds color and structure to the salad. If you swap in regular garden cucumbers, peel them and scoop the larger seeds first.
In a pinch, use one teaspoon of dried dill in place of the two teaspoons of fresh, and let the dressing sit 15 minutes so it rehydrates. That said, fresh dill is the star flavor here and makes a noticeably brighter salad.
This version is one of the lightest creamy salads around, about 38 calories per serving. Greek yogurt replaces the usual mayo or sour cream, bringing protein and probiotics along with that creamy texture, and the rest is basically cucumber.
Anything grilled, burgers, brats, chicken, steak, and especially salmon. It plays the cool, crisp role that coleslaw usually fills, and its tzatziki like flavor also makes it great next to gyros, kebabs, and rice bowls.
Made this Cucumber Dill Salad? I would love to hear how it turned out, leave a comment and a star rating below!
Cucumber Dill Salad
Ingredients
- 2 English cucumbers
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 Tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons fresh dill finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
Instructions
- With a mandolin, carefully slice the cucumbers as thinly as possible and place them in a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Toss with the salt. Place in the refrigerator and let the excess liquid drip off for one hour.2 English cucumbers
- In a large bowl, stir together the yogurt, dill, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, and black pepper, set aside.2 English cucumbers
- Take the cucumbers out of the refrigerator and discard the liquid. With paper towels or a clean kitchen towel, ring out as much of the liquid as possible, these need to be dry.2 English cucumbers
- Add the cucumbers and red onion to the bowl with the sauce, toss to combine and coat everything in the sauce. Taste and add more salt if necessary.2 English cucumbers
- Chill for 1 hour so the flavors can combine.2 English cucumbers
Notes
- This salad needs time for the flavors to marry, so make sure you chill it for 1 hour before serving.
- We use English Cucumber fo this, but you can use regular if that is all you can find.
- The red onions are optional, but I highly suggest using them.
- Substitute fresh dill with dried dill if you cannot find fresh.
- This recipe can easily be doubled to serve more people.
Nutrition
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