This Mediterranean Cucumber Salad is the best side salad to pair with any main dish. Its refreshing flavor pairs well with any grilled food, Greek lemon chicken, seafood or can be served as a part of multiple appetizers.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we’ll send the recipe directly to you!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from The Yummy Bowl.
Mediterranean Cucumber Salad
This is the base recipe for this simple cucumber salad, and you can customize it with all sorts of Mediterranean ingredients, such as olives, salty, creamy feta cubes, artichokes, hearts of palm, and so much more!
Ideal for summer barbecues, your favorite grilled chicken souvlaki or meat and seafood.
Ingredients
As a long time food professional, I love to use fresh local farmer's market cucumbers and tomatoes whenever possible.
You can easily substitute other ingredients such as fresh herbs with dried herbs, different oil and seasonings.
JULIA'S TIP: Long cucumbers tend to be less watery and have better flavor. Too much cucumber juice can dilute the dressing and weaken its taste.
- Cucumbers - Dutch, English, and Persian cucumbers (usually more expensive)-are juicy and skin not bitter. They have thin skins, which makes them great for salad. For the creamy salad, I like to peel the skins anyway, as it just tastes better when soft and creamy.
- Different fresh herbs - For an authentic Mediterranean-style salad , key herbs like parsley, mint, basil, marjoram, sage, and fennel add fresh flavor. You can use just two-parsley and mint are a great combo.
- For healthy fats, I recommend using quality extra virgin olive oil (best for authentic Mediterranean flavor).
- Lemon juice - gives that needed acidity, substitute with apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar. I also like to drizzle a little balsamic glaze over the salad in addition to the existing dressing.
📋 You can find the full ingredient list in the Recipe Card below the article.
How To Make Chopped Mediterranean Cucumber Salad
- Wash and cut all fresh veggies (tip: if your veggies are at room temperature, take the time to chill the vegetables before you start = better flavor!).
Note: If you want the salad to remain fresh longer, you can remove the seeds from the tomato and cucumber, but it is not necessary because I'd make as much as you'd consume on day 1.
- Mix the salad dressing in a small bowl or mason jar.
- Place cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, mint, parsley in a large mixing bowl, toss in the dressing, adjust the seasoning and serve!
- Or chop it very fine and serve as a dip!
- I like to serve this salad with Greek dishes like souvlaki, lemon potatoes and Greek Chicken.
If you like fresh and easy salad recipes please take a look at my similar recipes such as Cabbage and Cucumber Salad With Dill and Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad.
Tips
- Cucumbers. Use Garden pickling, English, or Persian cucumbers. Peel thick-skinned garden cucumbers to avoid bitterness; leave the skin on for English cucumbers. If they're too watery, halve and seed them before slicing.
- Herbs. Finely chop mint or swap it with basil or cilantro if you prefer.
- Tomatoes. Grape, Roma, or Cherry tomatoes work best. Larger tomatoes like heirlooms are great too-just dice them small. Buy tomatoes with stems for better freshness and flavor.
- Extra Tips. Add a mix of arugula, romaine, or spinach for extra greens. Toasted nuts like pecans, walnuts, or almonds can add crunch and nutrition. Toast them at 350°F for 10 minutes, watching closely to avoid burning. Enjoy!
Freezing And Storing Instructions
- Store the leftover dressed salad in the fridge and consume it within 1 day (same day). I use these glass meal prep containers to store leftovers - they keep everything fresh for days.
- Undressed salad will taste fine if stored in the fridge for 1-2 days but for best results (and fresh flavor) I highly recommend combining everything right before serving.
🍅 Have too many cherry tomatoes? Make marinated salad or freeze them for later!
Easy Salad Recipes
For more easy gluten-free Fresh Salad recipes check out my SALAD as well as ALL APPETIZER recipe index here.
Before You Head Out
If you gave this recipe a try, I'd be so thankful if you could leave a ★★★★★ rating and review below. It helps other readers, supports my work, and means the world to me. Thank you for being part of The Yummy Bowl family. Happy cooking! ❤️
Recipe Card
Mediterranean Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
Method
- Wash and cut all fresh veggies (tip: for best flavor chill the vegetables prior)
- If you want the salad to remain fresh longer you can remove the seeds from the tomato and cucumber but it is not necessary because I'd make as much as you'd consume on the day 1.
- Mix the salad dressing in a small bowl or mason jar.
- Place cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, mint, parsley in a large mixing bowl, toss in the dressing, and serve! Optional add ons include salty feta cheese, trio of olives, bell peppers, artichokes.
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on the products used.
Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.
Common Readers Questions
You don't need to peel the cucumbers for a salad, it is optional. But depends on the type of cucumbers used - Dutch, English, or Persian cucumbers have thin and not bitter skin that makes them perfect to use in salads.
Smaller, homegrown cucumbers can have thicker skin that is advisable to be removed but not necessarily as well.
The best way to have the freshest cucumbers for consumption is to wash and cut them right before you are going to eat them.
Whole cucumbers will remain fresh for a week or two in the fridge however sliced cucumbers only for a couple of days.
The cucumber skin is not poisonous itself however you do need to wash them with soapy water before use as you would with any vegetable or fruit bought from the store or market.
Mass production retailers do use different methods for growing their produce so it is necessary to make sure no toxins or bacteria are left on a cucumber before you consume it.
More Favorite Mediterranean Recipes
Join TYB
Insider
Get access to exclusive recipes,
weekly meal plans, printable
grocery lists, and AD-FREE
browsing designed to make
mealtime easier.
Ronnie J
So when you say 'easy salad recipes', how easy are we talking? Everyone's version of easy is different. I've seen some that say 'easy' and you need like 20 ingredients.
EllieMay Clarkson
Loved the Mediterranean Cucumber Salad recipe, Julia! I threw in some olives and feta cheese from the optional add-ons and it turned out amazing. Anyone else tried adding avocado? Thinking it might be a nice creamy contrast to the cucumbers.
Lisa H
I was thinking the same thing about the avocado!! I'm going to give it a try when I make this tomorrow!
Leah E Marty
Just made this I can't wait to serve it to my husband with Italian grinder for dinner. I added yellow pepper. Tastes awesome! Will make it again!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
thank you so much Leah, it's delicious with so many dishes!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
A delicious and super refreshing side salad for any main course!