A bright, cool, crisp light Ginger Cucumber Salad. Made with just a handful of simple ingredients. Fresh & flavorful recipe for summer’s bounty.
Originally posted 7/5/16. Updated 3/22/24.
A Summer Bounty of Cucumber
I love cucumbers. They’re easily my favorite vegetable. I love them plain, with a a sprinkle of salt, sliced served with dips or in endless variations as the star ingredient in salads.
Cucumbers are one of the cheapest veggies when they’re in season. Surrounded by farms in Lancaster County, I often find them at 3 for $1. You can bet we’re eating cucumber everything over here.
Want more of my favorite cucumber recipes? Check out my (super simple anyone can make) Cucumber Sushi, Salmon Cucumber Appetizer, Gyro Dip & Lebanon Bologna & Cream Cheese on Cucumber.
This Ginger Cumber Salad. Beyond simple to make. So crisp, so refreshing, such a light lovely bite to eat on a summer day.
Ingredients & Instructions
You’ll notice that the recipe calls to seed the cucumbers. This always seems to be cause for conversation.
Here’s how I decide when the seeds are going to stay and when they’ve got to go….
If I’m slicing cucumbers as a snack, or there going into a garden salad or any salad where they’ll be eaten within a few hours, the seeds usually stay.
If the cucumbers are getting mixed with any creams (think sour cream, Greek yogurt), going into a dip or will be sitting for more than a few hours, the seeds need to go. There’s a whole lot of watery mess waiting to seep from those seeds.
I often half this recipe and eat it for a quick lunch. Seeds certainly stay in that scenario.
Ginger can be tricky to grate. I love the flavor of it but I don’t like big bites and strings of it in my salads. I’ve found the simplest method for mincing ginger is to put it thru my garlic press. If you plan ahead, you could also freeze the ginger and grate it on a microplane.
Love the warm & spicy flavor of ginger? Check out this recipe for Mandarin Orange Ginger Dressing. This bright, bold, citrusy dressing would also go wonderful with cucumbers.
When serving this salad, I realized how plain in appearance it really is. Most of my other cucumber salads are served with tomatoes, cheeses, peppers, herbs and other bright fruits and veggies. Don’t be fooled by this salads simplicity, though. While it’s appearance may lack in brightness, the taste most certainly does not.
Summer eating is best when it’s light, fresh, flavorful & laid back. This Ginger Cucumber Salad certainly fits the bill!
Hope you enjoy!
Amanda ♥
Ginger Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cucumbers
- 3 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced or grated
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Peel, seed and dice cucumbers. (To seed cucumbers – cut in half lengthwise and use spoon to scoop out seeds)
- Slice cucumbers into a mixing bowl.
- Toss with white wine vinegar, sugar, ginger & salt. Salad is best after chilled for a few hours but can be eaten immediately.
- Enjoy 🙂
Notes
Sometimes the simplest things are often the best! Really lets the star ingredient shine. Cucumber is not my #1 favourite veggie, but I do really enjoy it and I think I would LOVE it in this salad with the ginger. Great tip about the seeds, too 🙂 Such a guilt free lunch!! I’d even eat this as an afternoon snack!
Yes, sometimes simple is best! Especially with fresh, local produce – we only get to enjoy those flavors for a few short months every year. Hope you’re having a fab week 🙂
Me and my daughter are BIG fans of cucumber and this Ginger cucumber salad looks and sounds awesome. I will sure give it a good. Love how simple yet super intriguing this salad is! So much yes to this bright, cool & crisp salad! Wish you a fun weekend with your family.
Thanks so much Anu! Hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend as well 🙂
I love fresh, crisp cucumbers. Simplicity is best…this simple and easy cucumber salad is a perfect summer side! I love the pairing with ginger! I had a simple poor man’s dinner last week that cost me just about $1 to make, but it really hit the spot, and I wouldn’t have traded it in for a $30 restaurant meal.
Thanks Thao! I love cucumbers and eat endless variations of simple cucumber salads all summer. I totally hear you on some of the best dinners being made at home & on the cheap. I often leave restaurants very disappointed – so many places are way overrated & overpriced. Miss chit-chatting with you – hope everything is wonderful…xoxo
We love cucumber and I just can’t wait to try this salad out. Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe!
Thanks so much Kushi – hope you love it 🙂
Cucumber salad is so underrated – I’m a big fan and I love making a really vinegar-y kind to bring to potlucks and BBQs during the summer. What kind of cucumber do you use? I find that English cucumbers are usually a lot less seedy. I’m also wondering if cucumbers that are allowed to grow too large have extra large seeds inside of them. I know this is true about zucchini and that’s why they have to be picked before they’re too big. Rant over, lol. This simple recipe with ginger added in sounds really easy and refreshing!!!
Hi Jessica! Poor cucumbers are just underrated all together 🙁 I love really vinegary cucumber salads – that’s my usual go to. English cucumbers are a lot less seedy, but I usually grab what’s freshest & cheapest at my local farm stands, which is usually the big old basic cucumbers. I often use kirbies for salads – I get them for 5 for a quarter when the getting is good! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Yum! Cucumbers are some of my favorites as well! This salad sounds so good!! I used to get so frustrated trying to mince ginger until I started just keeping it in the freezer! Great tip!
Thanks so much Alaina! I love all things cucumbers – one of my favorite summertime foods 🙂 Freezing ginger really is a game changer – it’s horrible to mince any other way. Thanks for stopping by!
Made this last night, but had to run out. Looking forward to having some when I got home. Told hubby what and where it was in the fridge. Came home to find he had eaten it all!! Guess I have to make it again…and hide it!
Hehehehe…glad your hubby enjoyed it!
Good thing it’s a quick recipe to make 🙂
Thanks so much for stopping by Janet!
I’m assuming that when you say to peel, seed, and dice the cucumbers then say to slice the cucumbers in the next line of the recipe that one of the instructions is wrong? Otherwise the cucumbers will be in reeeeally tiny pieces…