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!

Asian Cucumber Salad in a Glass bowl with serving spoons.

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. 🙂

Asian Cucumber Salad made with rice vinegar, sesame, ginger, garlic and soy 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! #cucumbersalad

Ingredients in Asian Cucumber Salad

  • Cucumbers: Thin-skinned cucumbers like English, Turkish, and Persian cucumbers work best here!
  • Rice Wine Vinegar– We use “seasoned” rice vinegar for the best flavor! Feel free to substitute rice wine vinegar or rice vinegar (most acidic), and see recipe notes for adjusting sweetness.
  • Toasted sesame oil– make sure your sesame oil smells fresh – I always store this in the refrigerator because it goes rancid quickly after opening. Rancid sesame oil will not smell good and may affect the flavor of the salad!
  • Soy Sauce- or sub Gluten-free liquid amino acids or Coconut Aminos
  • Sweetener– maple syrup, agave, honey, sugar, or sweetener of choice
  • Fresh garlic clove – for punchy flavor
  • Fresh ginger root– grated, not too much!
  • Scallions– for savory oniony flavor, or sub with ¼ cup chives.
  • Chili Garlic Paste (Sambal Olek), or substitute with Sriracha or Gochujang paste.
  • Toasted Sesame Seeds – for nutty flavor and nice texture.
types of cucumber to use in cucumber salad

What kind of cucumbers should I 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.

Expert Tips

  1. Score the cucumbers with the tines of a fork before slicing allows the dressing to cling to them, making each bite more flavorful!
  2. Salt the cucumber beforehand helps release liquid, also creating a more flavorful salad as the dressing doesn’t get as watered down.
  3. Acidity. Rice Vinegar (most acidic) Rice Wine Vinegar (medium acidity) and Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar (least acidic, sweetest) all have different acitiy levels. That is why you MUST adjust sweetener to taste at the end.
  4. Toasted Sesame Oil. Has a smoky nutty flavor, different than untoasted regular sesame oil. It goes rancid quickly, store in the fridge and make sure it smells good. If it smells bad, your salad will taste like that too. 🙂

Cucumber Salad Instructions

Score the cucumbers. This helps the dressing cling to the cucumbers.

scoring the skin with a fork, elevates the salad

Salt the cucumbers and place them in a strainer for 15-20 minutes or up to a few hours.

strain the cucumber liquid

Prep the remaining ingredients. Chop up the scallion, garlic, and ginger.

Asian Dressing Ingredients

You can directly add these to the salad bowl with the strained cucumbers and toss. Simple!

Asian Cucumber Dressing Ingredients!

Combine. Place the strained cucumbers into a large bowl. Grate the ginger and garlic right into the salad bowl.

Grate the ginger

Add the remaining ingredients: rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, maple syrup (or other sweetener), chili garlic sauce, and sesame seeds. Toss well.

add red chili paste for more spice

Taste and season. If it tastes overly acidic (sour) add a little more sweetener to balance it. Add more chili garlic paste for more spice. Find your perfect balance! See notes about the vinegar.

Asian Cucumber Salad in a glass bowls with wood salad servers.

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 them in the fridge overnight.

What to serve with Asian Cucumber Salad

Asian Cucumber Salad made with rice vinegar, sesame, ginger, garlic and soy 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! #cucumbersalad

 Variations

  • Thai Version: add crushed roasted peanuts, fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice or tamarind (instead 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.

 

Asian Cucumber Salad in a footed white bowl.

More Favorite cucumber recipes!

This recipe for Asian Cucumber Salad is made with rice vinegar, sesame, ginger, garlic and soy 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! #cucumbersalad

Enjoy the Asian Cucumber Salad– please leave your feedback and/or adaptations below; everyone loves reading these! Hope you are having a lovely week. All is well here, hope it is with you too. xoxo Sylvia

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Asian Cucumber Salad made with rice vinegar, sesame, ginger, garlic and soy 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! #cucumbersalad

Asian Cucumber Salad Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 208 reviews
  • Author: Sylvia Fountaine | Feasting at Home
  • Prep Time: 25
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4-5 1x
  • Category: Appetizer, Asian, easy recipe, Make-ahead, meal prep, salad, Side Dish, summer recipe, vegan
  • Method: tossed
  • Cuisine: Asian
  • Diet: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Print Recipe

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

Units Scale
  • 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, more to taste
  • 1 fat garlic clove, grated, or finely minced
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (or sub rice vinegar, see notes)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce (or substitute Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or Coconut Aminos)
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (do not regular sesame oil)
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or agave, honey, or sugar), more to taste, see note.
  • 1–2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (Sambal Olek) or sub sriracha, more to taste
  • 1–2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Score and Salt Cucumbers. Using the tines of a fork, score the cucumbers lengthwise- this will help the dressing cling to the cucumbers. Slice the cucumbers thinly and place them in a bowl, and toss with the salt (to help them draw out their liquid). Let this stand 10-15 minutes while you gather the remaining ingredients. Strain (but do not rinse).
  2. Combine. Place the strained cucumbers in a large bowl with scallions, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sweetener, garlic-chili paste, and toasted sesame seeds. Mix well. 
  3. Season. Taste and adjust salt, sweetness, and spice level to your liking. Find the balance- see notes. 
  4. 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

Flavor Balance. If your dressing tastes too acidic or sour, add more sweetener to taste. This will help balance it out. Rice Vinegar is more acidic than Rice Wine Vinegar. Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar is the least acidic and is sweetened. So, depending on what you are using, the amount of sweetener needed will change. 

Toasted Sesame Oil– Tastes wonderfully smoky and nutty. It can go rancid pretty quickly, so store it in the fridge after you open it and make sure to smell it before using; it should smell pleasant. Regular sesame oil will not have the same flavor here, and I don’t recommend it.

Optional Additions (See variations in post body)- fish sauce, 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

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Comments

  2. I used half a tablespoon of sesame oil and it was still overpowering for my family. I would do 1/4 a tablespoon next time.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the feedback Sage. Yes, feel free to cut back. Sometimes I wonder if some sesame oils taste different than others… to my taste, it tastes subtle, but maybe it is the brand I use? Or that I am just used to it.

      Reply

  3. Just tried this with our abundance of cucumbers, it really hit the spot! I love the simplicity and versatility. Next time I’ll try the Thai version.

    Reply

  4. What a wonderful way to enjoy a glut of cucumbers. This is a great recipe and one I’ve used several times now. It makes a delicious side to a variety of different dishes. Also works well with red onions when out of scallions. Big thumbs up from all the family!

    Reply

  6. Love it. Could not find my sesame seeds today so this time I substituted toasred pinole nuts. About 1/4 cup along with some crushed chopped basil. Double yum.

    Next time will add som lemongrass and see how it goes.

    Reply

  9. yummy, perfect salad to go with tonights peanut noodle dish and egg rolls!!! Thanks for a great recipe, love it! I didn’t have scallions so used red onion and used black sesame seeds. Beautiful and delicious, thank you!!!

    Reply

  10. Once again, a 5-star recipe from this site. I’ve made this several times now. It’s very, very good. Thank you!

    Reply

    1. So glad you enjoyed Monique. So refreshingly addicting this time of year!

      Reply

      1. Made this with 1 bag of the tiny cu umbers and I was in a hurry so I didn’t do the salt thing. And I couldn’t find gochugaru or chili past so I added a fair amount of red pepper flakes. Delicious, would probably be better if I mixed the sauce and let it sit overnight then added it to cucumbers next day. Either way, will make this again.

        Reply

  13. Absolutely delish! It was a big hit with the seared ahi tuna and I will add this to my fave recipes for sure!

    Reply

    2. I added thinly sliced red pepper and thinly sliced mushrooms. Very good combo of vegetables and the dressing is delicious.

      Reply

  14. At first I was confused because there are no measurements given but my palate answered all of those questions! I actually had enough “dressing” left in the bowl to make a second batch for today. A REAL winner!

    Reply

    1. Hey Suzanne- the recipe card is at the bottom of the post with exact measurements- sounds like you didn’t need it though-bravo!

      Reply

  20. Delicious and will make again! I did use this recipe as a guide, used all ingredients except for scallions and sesame seeds because I didn’t have and I eyeballed the amounts. It worked out and highly recommend!

    Reply

  22. Delicious! The dressing alone is so good I could drink it. Ate the salad with your miso eggplant and some jasmine rice for a perfect healthy and easy dinner! Thank you so much for this recipe!

    Reply

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