This Asian Cucumber Salad is cool and refreshing and pairs well with many things. It’s vegan and gluten-free and is a nice addition to meals and bowls you are already making. Vegan. Watch the video!
I am not these bones, this flesh, this greying hair, I am the fire inside the shell, passing the light forward.
Here’s a simple recipe for Asian Cucumber Salad, that I think you will fall in love with. It’s fast and easy and light and delicious! Cool, refreshing cucumbers are just what I crave during the hot summer months and this salad is no exception. It hits all the flavor notes as well- such a great combo!
And although I went the generic route and called this “Asian”, you can take this Cucumber Salad in many different directions based on what you are serving. For example, to go with a more Thai theme, you could add fish sauce, lime juice, Thai Basil, and crushed peanuts. To give it more of a Korean twist and add Gochujang. Leave out the chili paste and garlic to give it more of a Japanese spin. You get the idea. 🙂
Ingredients in Asian Cucumber Salad:
- Cucumbers: Thin-skinned cucumbers (English, Turkish, Persian) work best here!
- Rice vinegar: we use seasoned rice vinegar for the best flavor!
- Toasted sesame oil
- Soy sauce or use gluten-free liquid amino acids
- Sweetener: maple syrup (or honey) or sweetener of choice
- Fresh garlic clove
- Fresh ginger root
- Scallions
- Toasted Sesame seeds
- Optional: chili paste or chili flakes or sriracha
What kind of cucumbers to use?
Use thin-skinned burpless cucumbers like Persian, Turkish or English Cucumbers, for the least bitterness and best flavor. Waxy cucumbers will work in a pinch but you will need to peel them first.
Instructions
Expert Tips:
- Scoring the cucumber with the tines of a fork before slicing allows the dressing to cling to the cucumbers, making each and every bite more flavorful! A reader recently reminded me of this and it is SO true. Thanks, Joseph!
- Salting the cucumber beforehand helps release liquid, also creating a more flavorful salad as the dressing doesn’t get as watered down. Of course, you can skip this if in a hurry.
So if you have time, salt the cucumbers, and place in a strainer– for 20 minutes or up to a few hours!
Chop up your herbs. Here I’m simply using scallions, but feel free to play with chives, cilantro, or even Thai basil!
Asian Dressing Ingredients:
You can directly add these to the salad bowl with the strained cucumbers and toss. Simple!
Grate a little ginger into the salad.
Grate a little garlic into the bowl.
For a little heat- add Red chili paste or sriracha.
Mix it all up and adjust salt and spice level to your liking.
Storage
The Asian Cucumber Salad will last 3 days in the fridge- if it makes it that long! You can salt the cucumbers ahead, place them in a strainer over a bowl and place in the fridge overnight.
What to serve with Asian Cucumber Salad:
- Fast & Easy Seared Tuna (Ahi or Yellowfin Tuna)
- Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
- JAPANESE FARM STYLE TERIYAKI BOWL
- Seoul Bowl (Vegan Bibimbap!)
- Thai Turkey Burger Recipe w/ Asian Slaw
- Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Szechuan Sauce
- Miso Mushroom Bowl
- Grilled Lemongrass Chicken
- Instant Pot Peanut Chicken
- Indonesian Grilled Sambal Chicken
- Pan-Seared Thai Chicken with Red Curry Paste
Variations:
- Thai Version: add crushed roasted peanuts, fish sauce and lime juice or tamarind (replace some of the vinegar).
- Korean Version: Go to our Korean Cucumber Salad Recipe– add Gochujang, cilantro and extra ginger and garlic.
- Japanese Version: Leave out the garlic and chili paste, try chive blossoms.
More Favorite cucumber recipes!
- 20 Cool & Refreshing Cucumber Recipes
- Persian Cucumber Walnut Salad
- Cucumber Salad with Jalapeno & Lime
- Chilled Cucumber Melon Soup
- Cucumber Gazpacho
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Easy Crunchy Asian Slaw
Enjoy the Asian Cucumber Salad- please leave your feedback and/or adaptions below, everyone loves reading these!
Hope you are having a lovely week. All is well here, hope it is with you too.
xoxo
More from Feasting at home
Watch the video!
Asian Cucumber Salad
- Prep Time: 25
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4-5
- Category: salad, vegan
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Asian Cucumber Salad is made with rice vinegar, sesame, ginger, garlic and soy, cool and refreshing and pairs well with many things. It’s vegan and gluten-free and is a nice addition to meals and bowls you are already making. Watch the video!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Turkish, Persian or English cucumbers (about 5 cups sliced)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4–5 scallions, finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, (for gluten-free use Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or Coconut aminos)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey, or sugar), more to taste
- 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (sambal olek) or sriracha, more to taste
- 1–2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Using the tines of a fork, score the cucumbers lengthwise- this will help the dressing cling to the cucumber. (Feel free to skip if in a hurry.)
- Slice the cucumbers thinly. Place in a bowl and toss with the salt to help them release water. Let this stand while you gather the remaining ingredients.
- Strain the cucumbers, (do not rinse) and place them in a large bowl and add the scallions, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, optional red chili paste and toasted sesame seeds. Mix to combine.
- Taste and adjust salt and sweetness to your liking. Add more chili paste if you like.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cucumber salad is best served on the same day but will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Optional Additions: (see variations in post body)
- fish sauce, Lime juice, crushed roasted peanuts, Gochujang, cilantro or Thai Basil, red onions, peanut chili crunch, radishes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 89
- Sugar: 6.4 g
- Sodium: 404.5 mg
- Fat: 4.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.5 g
- Fiber: 1.4 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This recipe is excellent. Cool and refreshing and will go well with fish, meat or chicken. A keeper recipe!
Thanks for the review, so happy you enjoyed!
Just made this recipe for dinner tonight. My Very picky 11 year old daughter absolutely loved it. Keeping this recipe!
Awesome Lauren!
I found this recipe while looking for a recipe for seared ahi. It’s chilling in the refrigerator right now, but I did sneak a bite before putting it in and boy is it tasty! I can’t wait for dinner.
Great!
Made this to go with some soy glazed salmon and it was an absolute hit! My parents aren’t usually crazy on Asian style cuisine, but my dad was already asking me to save the recipe for our summer barbecues.
I did sub the rice vinegar for the tiniest splash of white vinegar, but the overall result was still lovely 💖
Great to hear! Appreciate your helpful review!
Great recipe thank you! But oh my – salting fully KILLED it ! Some ingredient measurements would also help.
Hi Ruby, I wonder if you saw the recipe card at the bottom?
Oh my gosh. I absolutely HATE cucumbers. Always have. This recipe had me consuming almost two pounds of cucumber in just a few days and I cannot get enough. I am obsessed. Thank you for the delicious recipe!
That is pretty incredible Crystal! Glad you enjoyed.
Just made this, it came together really quickly and I made a double batch. Everyone in my family agrees that it’s delicious!! Next time I have a lot of cucumbers I will absolutely be making this!
Great to hear! Thank you for taking the time to review.:)
Hi! I followed the instructions exactly and I’m not sure if others have had this same problem – the vinegar in the video and the vinegar in the recipe seem the be off. The recipe asks for 1/4 cup which made the dish way too watery and overpowers the other flavors – you can’t taste them. Then I saw the video and it seems the vinegar ratio was suppose to be 1 tablespoon – like the other ingredients (soy, sesame oil and maple syrup). Was the 1/4 cup an error? Thanks!
Hi Jane- I use ¼ cup of vinegar in the recipe. You can adjust salt and sweetness to taste. Did you sweat the cucumbers first?
Did you use rice vinegar as the recipe called for, or did you have to sub distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar?
Rice vinegar is sweeter and less acidic than white and AC vinegar.
For example, the ACV and distilled white vinegar on my counter are both 5% acidity. The rice vinegar is only 4%.
That may not seem like much, but it’s a 20% reduction in acidity compared to white and ACV, which can massively affect the final taste.
It’s a decent recipe! But something about it tastes off. I halved the recipe. It didn’t hit the Asian cucumber salad spot.
Sorry this didn’t hit the mark for you Rochelle! I wonder if something didnt get converted, when halving the recipe?
Can this be made ahead of time? If so, how many days before enjoying?
It is best made the day of. A couple hours ahead is okay.
So yummy. I pair it with ramen noodles.
That sounds good!
What a ftaste. I just eated the sal. So Wow, what a recipe. So rich flavor. I used two big teaspoons of Gochujang and honey. I didn’t have sesame seeds and scallions so I did wihout them. I had lot of water inside than on picture but it doesn’t matter. It is so tasty. I used apple vinegare in my previous attempts but with the rice vinegar it is much better. Highly recommended. Thank you!
Thanks Frank! Glad you gave it a go. 😊
Totally yummy!!! I can finish 2 whole cucumbers myself! Put gochujang and chilli flakes. So crunchy!
Great Aslinda!
This is absolutely Delicious! Just something to know though, the dish is only gluten free if you make sure to use gluten free soy sauce.
Thank Aliena, glad you enjoyed!
A great recipe for cucumber salad! Didn’t have the energy to toast my sesame seeds first, but was still amazing! I am adding this recipe to my meal preps! Thank you!
Wonderful, so glad you enjoyed Leilani!
I made this recipe a few times now and everyone loves it. So refreshing and tasty!!
Nice to hear!
I love this quote.
“I am not these bones, this flesh, this greying hair, I am the fire inside the shell, passing the light forward”.
Who do I credit if I want to share it?
Also, I enjoyed this recipe.
Hi Linda, I am glad you enjoyed the recipe and the quote is by me (sylvia fountaine), on a good day. 🙂 Feel free to share!
Perfection! I prepared as directed and it is a wonderful, refreshing dish. Paired it with some buffalo tofu sticks and hubby made some seasoned, grilled shrimp. This salad is perfect, and like so many of your recipes, will be on a regular rotation. Thank you!
Thanks for the review Kiersten, so happy you enjoyed!
Made it for dinner tonight. SO good. Can’t say enough about it.
Glad to hear it Erin!
I love this recipe, I can like it spicy so I add extra chiles And add bell peppers👍🏻
Perfect! Thanks for the review Evelyn!
My husband made this to go with halibut and it is the perfect salad with a fish dish. It is really good with the crushed roasted peanuts.
Thanks so much and glad you are enjoying this!
Made it today and it was very well received. Took it easy on the sambal olek as my spouse prefers less heat. Was very good.
Glad you enjoyed this!
Outstanding!