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 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.
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
- Score the cucumbers with the tines of a fork before slicing allows the dressing to cling to them, making each bite more flavorful!
- Salt the cucumber beforehand helps release liquid, also creating a more flavorful salad as the dressing doesn’t get as watered down.
- 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.
- 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.
Salt the cucumbers and place them in a strainer for 15-20 minutes or up to a few hours.
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!
Combine. Place the strained cucumbers into a large bowl. Grate the ginger and garlic right into the salad bowl.
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.
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.
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
- Fast & Easy Seared Tuna (Ahi or Yellowfin Tuna)
- Broiled Miso Salmon
- Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
- Japanese Teriyaki Chicken
- 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
- Korean Beef Bulgogi
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.
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 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
More from Feasting at home
Watch the video
Asian Cucumber Salad Recipe
- 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
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, 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
- 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).
- 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.
- Season. Taste and adjust salt, sweetness, and spice level to your liking. Find the balance- see notes.
- 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
This recipe is an absolute must for gatherings. Depending on the type of rice wine vinegar you use, it maybe be somewhat sweeter or less sweeter than others. The textures and complexity of the recipe make this simple recipe taste complex, and playing with your sweeteners makes each iteration of it taste and feel different.
It’s also a great introduction to Asian cooking, where integrating Umami into the pallette and using what I call “wet spices” is a very different method of cooking compared to the typical American pallette which seems very simplistic by comparison.
I found this recipe months ago, and it opened up a “Pandora’s Box” to Asian cooking and now I’m making soy garlic wings, pad Thai, and a whole assortment of Asian dishes that my friends and family love.
Thank you.
Awesome to hear Jostin and thanks for circling back and rating it for us! 🙏 Very appreciated. Yes, you are right- using seasoned rice wine will taste very different from unseasoned which as no sugar, so you may need to adjust based on taste.
What do they mean by ‘drain’??
When you salt the cucumbers they will “sweat” juices and you want to drain that off so it doesn’t dilute the dressing.
Simple and very tasty
Great to hear and thanks for circling back and rating it Charles, very appreciated!
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!