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
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 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
Hi! This looks delicious! Does anyone know of the rough calories for this? Thanks!
The nutritional info is listed at the bottom of the recipe card. 1 cup-89 calories. 🙂
Best cucumbers I’ve ever had
Great to hear Luke! Thanks for the review.
It’s a staple in my household. I love this recipe!
Nice to hear!
Amazing!!!
This is my second time in making it , I put a little more sugar in this time but nonetheless stuck to the recipe. If this is the sort of thing you’re looking for go ahead and try it it’s pretty darn good.
Thanks Doug!
Excellent variant from my older recipes.
Glad you are enjoying Bec!
Just made this, and OMG is it so good! It’s not going to make it to the fridge lol!
Awesome Jamie! I hear you, we never have leftovers!
I used fresh garden cucumbers for this and wished I had used bland store-bought cucumbers instead. The flavour of the dressing is big and tasty, and the cucumbers more or less disappear as a flavour.
Thanks for the feedback Allan. They do give great texture though, don’t you agree?
For the korean version of the recipe how much of each ingredient should i add and how much more ginger and garlic should i add??
Hi Rylee – I would go to our Koren cucumber Salad for precise measurements!
So Yummy and easy to make!
These are delicious! But you might want to make it clear in the recipe that most soy sauces are made with wheat and not gluten free. A friend of mine who had recently been diagnosed with celiac disease ate something at a restaurant that contained soy sauce, because the waitress specifically told him soy sauce was gluten free. He said he suffered the consequences afterwards. There are some gluten-free soy sauces out there made with rice instead of wheat, but they should be clearly marked as such.
Hi Jeremy, I am so glad you enjoyed this! And yes, you are correct; soy sauce contains wheat. In the recipe card, we suggest 2 gluten-free “soy sauce” options, Braggs and Coconut Liquid aminos. 🙂
By red chili paste, do you mean the Thai variety?
Yes, either that, garlic chili paste, sambal oelek or even sriracha!
Thank you! I’ve got sambal on hand!
👍😊
Can you avoid the salt? Or use no salt seasoning?
Hi Lorie, the salt in the recipe helps the cucumber release its liquid. You could rinse it and pat it dry after using it to remove it.
WOW. I have been a fan of simple cucumber salad with seasoned rice wine vinegar for many years, but this takes it to an entirely different level! Absolutely delicious!
Great to hear Amy!
This is my family’s top vinaigrette dressing (as opposed to creamy) for cucumber salad!
If you haven’t tried this recipe do it!
We use gochujang in place of the chili paste. And if im being honest, I’ve never taken the time to toast the sesame seeds, but I can only imagine it would be even better!
Try this recipe, you won’t regret it.
Thanks Naomi! So happy you are enjoying. 🙂
Asian Cucumber Salad
I added the red onion, used the full amount (+a bit!) and it was delicious!!!
Perfect!
Tried this recipe last night and it was a hit! The flavours of sesame, ginger, heat and sweet were the perfect combination. Will be bookmarking this one for all the cukes in my garden! Thanks!
Awesome! It is rather addicting.
What a refreshing summer salad. Sweet and a little heat. I like that you can add other ingredients to your liking but I made it just as stated and it was delicious
Thanks Diana! Really appreciate the review.
This is the most delicious Asian salad recipe I’ve ever tried. Even my picky husband, who doesn’t like anything vinegary, said it was the perfect balance of sweet, hot, and vinegar.
This will be the last Asian cuke salad recipe I’ll ever need.
Thanks!
Btw- I never bother to take the time to leave a review, but this one deserved it!
So happy to hear this Kat. Thank you so much for taking the time to review!
Love this! Added peanuts this time. I look forward to trying other options like Thai basil.
Nice Melanie, good to hear!
So yummy! It’s my go to for a crunchy salad that is good for the diet!
Glad you are enjoying!
we love the Asian Cucumber Salad! thank you
Thanks for the review Diana!
Hi! Thank you for the recipe. I didn’t have scallions, so I added red onion and made it like you posted. It was delicious and we will add it to our summer side dish rotation. It would be great with some chicken kebobs with a teriyaki glaze. I made it for my YouTube channel!
Oh nice Jackie, glad you liked it!
Soooo good! I swapped the scallions for red onion and it was still delicious.
Nice! Thanks for the review Ilene!