Chopped Cucumber Summer Salad Recipe

Chopped Cucumber Summer Salad is a simple combination of veggies that’s packed with flavor. It’s perfect on its own or as a topping for grilled chicken or fish.

Taking Advantage of Summer Produce

Summer is such a great time for finding fresh herbs and vegetables. Many a local grocery store gets stocked with produce being grown in the area. Farmer’s markets are everywhere and the produce you find there is often awesome and inexpensive.

Some of my favorites are ripe, juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, fresh sweet corn, red and yellow bell peppers and all the herbs (fresh dill, fresh basil, parsley, thyme, cilantro, etc.). I will often buy whatever produce looks good at the time and figure out how to use it later! Fresh ingredients like that just makes everything better.

So, this simple cucumber salad is inspired by simple ingredients that are easy to find – especially in the summer months.

Chopped Cucumber Summer Salad

This Chopped Cucumber Summer Salad has officially become my favorite salad of the summer. It’s such a simple combination of ingredients, but this salad is SO full of flavor. The base of the salad includes:

• Crunchy cucumbers
• Ripe tomatoes
• Sweet onions
• Fresh carrots

I add in fresh cilantro for taste and a pop of color (parsley also works well) as well as some salt and pepper. The “dressing” is very easy. It’s simply a combination of lemon juice and olive oil. Doesn’t get much easier than that!

I will admit, it takes a few extra minutes to finely chop everything, but it’s so worth it. By chopping everything finely, you get all of the flavors in every single bite. Such a delicious salad!

What Are the Best Cucumbers to Use in This Salad?

Fresh cucumbers are the base of this salad. But, will just any cucumber work? While there is a large variety of cucumbers, I do have a preference – the English cucumber.

I like to use English cucumbers as opposed to regular cucumbers for so many reasons:

• They tend to be sweeter tasting and less bitter than regular cucumbers
• They have less seeds
• The skin is thin so there is no need to peel the cucumber
• They have a great crunch

If you don’t have access to English cucumbers, Persian cucumbers are a good substitute. They are a bit smaller than the English cucumbers, but have about the same texture, thin skin and low number of seeds.

How to Make Ahead and Store the Cucumber Salad

Since this is such an easy salad to prepare, it makes it a good recipe to make ahead, if needed. Simply prepare the salad per the recipe. Once completed, place the salad in an airtight container and put into the fridge.

One of the reasons I love this salad so much, is that I find the flavors just keep getting better the more time the ingredients have to marinate together. However, I would only hold this salad for an additional day. Any longer than that, and I find the high water content of the vegetables tends to water down the salad.

I also find that for the best flavor, the salad should be at room temperature or just slightly chilled. So, I take the salad out of fridge 15-20 minutes before I’m ready to serve.

Serve This Salad as a Side Dish or Main Dish

This Chopped Cucumber Summer Salad a delicious and easy side dish with just about any grilled meat or seafood, including this Grilled Boneless Turkey Breast. It’s also fantastic as a topping for grilled chicken or fish. The flavor from the lemon zest and juice is bright and pairs wonderfully with either protein. And, the crunch from all the veggies adds great texture.

This simple salad is a great addition to your summer recipes (although it would be delicious any time of year!). I’m confident it will become one of your favorite salads as well!

Tips and Tricks

• I like the convenience of using pre-shredded carrots.
• English cucumbers have a thin tender skin, so there is no need to peel them. This is convenient and it will also add more fiber to the salad.
• For the cucumber, I find that the easiest way to get it finely diced is to first cut it lengthwise into thin planks. Then, cut each plank into thin strips lengthwise and then cut the strips crosswise into small pieces. This process actually makes the chopping go fairly quickly.
• I love the flavor and brightness that fresh cilantro adds, but if you’re not a fan fresh parsley will also brighten the flavor.
• Make sure you remove all of the seeds from the tomato, this will keep the salad from becoming too wet. To easily remove the seeds, cut the tomato in half lengthwise from top to bottom and then gently squeeze until all of the seeds are removed.
• I like to serve this at room temperature or just slightly chilled. I feel that the flavors are more pronounced if it’s closer to room temp.

Ingredients Needed to Make Chopped Cucumber Summer Salad

Full instructions can be found below in the printable recipe card

• English cucumber – The skin on this variety is thinner and more tender than a regular cucumber, so you don’t need to peel it. I also like the color that it adds to the salad.
• Fresh tomato – Make sure you seed the tomato before dicing it, fewer seeds keeps the salad from becoming too wet.
• Red onion – I like red onion for the color and the milder flavor.
• Shredded carrots – To keep things easy, I buy shredded carrots rather than shredding them myself.
• Cilantro – If cilantro isn’t your thing, you can use fresh parsley instead. Either will add brightness to the salad.
• Lemon – Use a fresh lemon as you need both the lemon juice and the zest.
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Olive oil – I prefer olive oil over other varieties of oil because I like the flavor that it adds to the salad.

How to Make Chopped Cucumber Summer Salad

• Finely dice the cucumber.
• Cut the tomato in half and gently squeeze each half to remove the seeds. Then, finely chop the tomato.
• Finely dice the red onion.
• Shred the carrot if you didn’t purchase pre-shredded.
• Mince the cilantro.
• Zest and juice lemon.
• Combine chopped vegetables, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a medium size bowl.
• Toss to coat with lemon juice and olive oil.
• Serve immediately at room temperature or refrigerate until 15-20 minutes before serving.