Asian Cucumber Salad
This easy Asian Cucumber Salad recipe is the perfect way to use those garden fresh cucumbers! It comes together in minutes, is healthy, light, and requires only a few ingredients. It is a summer side salad that will complement almost any summer menu! Updated with even more flavor!
Oh, cucumbers. I love you so much. Even more now with this Asian Cucumber Salad recipe. Our cucumber plants are doing so well this year that we are swimming in fresh cucumbers, which is perfect for this light, healthy, and fresh cucumber lovers salad!
Ingredients Needed:
- Cucumbers – We prefer Japanese, English, or Kirby cucumbers for this cucumber salad recipe.
- Onion – White is our preferred although a sweet yellow would also work!
- Sesame Seeds – Toasted to really bring out their flavor!
- Seasoned Rice Vinegar – You want to make sure it’s labeled “seasoned” because this rice vinegar is flavored with a little salt and sugar vs. regular rice vinegar.
- Oyster Sauce – This adds just the right amount of umami flavor!
- Sesame Oil – Just enough to bring out that sesame flavor with the sesame seeds.
- Ground Ginger – Just a touch to compliment all of the other Asian flavors.
- Fresh Dill – You can use dried, too but fresh is definitely preferred. See recipe notes.
How to Make Asian Cucumber Salad
This cucumber salad comes together super fast, especially if you have handy dandy mandolin to do all of the supppperrr thin slicing for you! Then it’s a matter of sweating the cucumbers to release their excess liquid. There are a few different ways you can do this, one is just lining the on some paper towels and salting them and letting them sweat for about 30 minutes. Or you can line them in a colander and do the same. Because slicing them so thinly makes so many cucumbers, we usually do a combination of both.
While the cucumbers are sweating, you can toast your sesame seeds (optional) and whip up your dressing. We always like to use Pyrex pour spout measuring cups because they’re the best for mixing and then pouring.
Once all sweated, give them a quick rinse to remove excess salt, and then be sure to shake off excess liquid and, if you feel so inclined, dry with a paper towel or clean kitchen linen.
Add it all to a bowl, and done! SO fresh. SO simple. SO easy to make. This Asian Cucumber Salad recipe is perfect for your summer cucumbers or just some good clean, healthy eating. We make this all of the time as a side to some of our favorite Asian Inspired dishes and for a quick and easy lunch!
Recipe Tips
No, it’s not 100% necessary, but it’ll make everything a lot faster and it’ll ensure super thin and even slices. Plus, it’s a really handy tool to have around, we use one like this all of the time.
Plus, then you can use it to zoodle your zucchini! This means you can make these Garlic Parmesan Zoodles or Shrimp Zoodle Scampi.
It also means nice thin apple crisps for one of my favorite snacks, Homemade Potato Chips and you can get the signature crinkle-cut for some Bread and Butter Pickles.
I personally prefer to use English, Japanese, or Kirby because they are the crunchiest. The standard cucumbers that you get in the grocery store are typically American Slicing. They’re a little less firm, have a slightly higher water content, and often have a kind of waxy coating, which is why they’re best for recipes that require peeled cucumbers. I would avoid using a thicker cucumber with bigger seeds like Lemon or Burpless cucumbers for this recipe.
It depends on the cucumber you use, but I usually just give a good scrub with some water and then slice with the skin on. Just make sure you get all those prickly little spines off of the skin first, especially if you’re using a variety like Kirby.
Sweating the cucumbers, even just for 30 minutes, will help them to release the excess water.
If you’re short on time, don’t sweat it – literally! I sometimes make this salad without sweating/draining the cucumbers and it is still delicious – although it will add water to your dish, which means the rice vinegar is diluted a little.
This salad is great to make in advance. We recommend letting it chill for at least 10 minutes before serving to let all of the flavors meld a bit, and it’s absolutely delicious the next day, too. We do suggest though if you’re going to make it in advance, don’t skip sweating the cucumbers as removing the excess water will help the salad keep longer.
Definitely. If you want to just make a super super quick lunch and you’re going to make a small batch just for you, you can skip the sweating. Just keep in mind, the excess liquid that will be released from the cucumbers will dilute the dressing.
This Asian Cucumber Salad is one of my girls’ favorites! They absolutely adore it, and anything they love a recipe that’s this green, I adore it, too!
Our Other Favorite Cucumber Recipes:
- Bread and Butter Pickles
- Super Easy Dill Pickles
- Israeli Couscous Cucumber Salad
- Chickpea Kale Greek Salad
- Green Goddess Salad
- Dill Tuna Salad Cucumber Boats
- Greek Orzo Salad
- Chickpea Cucumber Salad
Have you made this Asian Cucumber Salad with some of your fresh or farmer’s market cucumbers? I’d love to hear about it! Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram to share your Served From Scratch creations!
Asian Cucumber Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large cucumbers English or Japanese, approximately 6 cups
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 white or vidalia onion about 1 1/2 cups
- 1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce or vegetarian oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted, optional
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
Instructions
- Slice cucumbers as thinly as possible (with mandoline or by hand). Place a colander either in a clean sink or over a bowl. Layer the cucumbers in a single(ish) layer in the colander, or on paper towels or clean kitchen linen, and sprinkle with salt. Let sweat for at least 30 minutes to release excess liquid.
- Use mandoline to slice 1/2 of a large white onion in thin half circles and add to a medium sized bowl.
- Optional: Heat a small saute pan over medium heat. Add sesame seeds and toast for 1 -2 minutes stirring constantly so they don't burn.
- In a small bowl add rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, oyster sauce, and dill and mix well.
- After 30 minutes of sweating, transfer cucumbers to a colander and rinse off excess salt and liquid. Shake off excess water and then gently press with paper towels or a clean dry kitchen linen to remove excess liquid.
- Add cucumbers to the bowl with the onions. Pour over vinegar dressing and mix well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cover and refrigerate for about 10 minutes and then serve and enjoy!
Salad is such a healthy option for any meal. Cucumber too is a great option for a salad filler. Will make this salad tonight for Dinner. This is so simple to make too.
Cucumber is really one of the best salad ingredients! This Asian cucumber salad looks so refreshing. Def one to try! Going to pin for later!
Cucumber salad is a big favourite of mine and I love the Asian flavours in this recipe. So delicious!
That looks really good and I bet it’s a refreshing salad. Thanks for the recipe.
I love Asian cucumber salad but never tried making it at home! Looks and sounds so delicious and I love how easy it is to make!
So fresh and tasty! Can’t wait to put this into my meal plan!
I am a huge cucumber fan and this salad is Awesome!
This reminds me of many meals I have had out, but somehow I haven’t made it at home. So easy, so really should give it a try!
This looks so light and healthy, perfect for summer!
Tracy, you certainly sound as if you look back on your childhood snacking with fond memories and you’ve taken me right back to my childhood self spending my time snapping off fresh rhubarb stalks that got dipped straight into sugar. Heaven. I love the salad – I think cucumber is under-rated severely. It lends itself so well to be a well dressed side salad. Can’t wait to try your Asian flavoured recipe