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
- Thai Fried Rice
- Sticky Gochujang Salmon Bowls
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
- Blueberry Salad
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 mixing bowl and toss with the salt to help them release water. Let this stand while you gather the remaining ingredients.
- Strain the cucumbers using a fine mesh strainer (do not rinse) and place them in a large mixing bowl. 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
Great recipe for a salad people always love. My only question was what it means to “strain” the cucumber slices through a sieve after salting them. Is this to shake off the salt? thanks
The salt draws out the moisture from the cucumbers and the excess drains through the colander. The salad is more flavorful this way!
This recipe is delicious. I will be making this often.
Glad you enjoyed this Erynn! Thanks for taking time to leave a review.
Looks delicious! Is it best to use unseasoned or seasoned rice vinegar in this recipe?
I have Japanese grain vinegar, which I believe is the same as seasoned, and wanted to be sure!
Hi Marisa, Unseasoned rice vinegar. Seasoned is sweetened, so you could try and omit the sweetener in the recipe but I am not sure how the balance would turn out.
When I read this recipe, I was delighted, we just had this yesterday. I have been making this at home, with a couple of changes. I add Mirin to taste and I do not use soy sauce, I am elderly and my lymphatic system forces me to avoid salt. This is my husband’s favorite salad.
So glad you made this work for you Becca! Thanks so much for taking time to let us know, your review is very helpful!
A favourite summer side. I’ll be making it for Canada Day tomorrow!
Thanks for the reminder!
Wonderful! Appreciate you taking time to review Susie!
This is an easy and tasty recipe. The salad is refreshing and packed with flavor. The chili paste I have is very spicy, so I reduced the amount to a 1/4 tsp. Otherwise, followed the recipe exactly, and it was a bit hit!
Glad you enjoyed Lynn! Appreciate you taking time to leave a review. 🙂
This is a delicious recipe and so easy to make. I subbed the chili garlic sauce for gochujang. I also prepared some udon noodles to go with it, and it became an almost perfect copy-cat of the sesame cucumber noodle salad you can find at Whole Foods!
Love it Jess! Sounds delicious.😋
Our new favorite!
Awesome! Thanks for the review. 🙂
My husband and I have been growing cucumbers and looking for recipes to use all of them. This one was perfect! So easy and tasty. We loved it.
Oh wonderful Lauren! So great to have fresh cucumbers from your garden. You may want to check out our post for 25 easy cucumber recipes for more inspiration. Appreciate your review!
My family LOVES this recipe. We usually serve it with either Salmon Bolgogi or Beef Bolgogi. This recipe is fresh and flavorful.
Perfect, so happy to hear this!