This simple, easy Cucumber Salad with Lime pairs with so many things! Cool and refreshing, serve it alongside grilled fish or meat, or tuck it to into tacos, buddha bowls or simply spoon it over a bowl of nutty quinoa during the busy workweek. Make a big batch and let the flavors marinate in the fridge. A delicious, seasonal companion to just about everything! 
I love how cucumbers come into season right when we need them most. Cooling and refreshing, they are just what our bodies crave on these hot summer days. Mother nature, she’s a smart one, she is. 😉
This refreshing Cucumber Salad is a welcome reprieve to the summer heat, and this time of year, cucumbers are aplenty! This salad is designed to be made in a big batch, then served throughout the week, alongside what you are already making. Pair it with grilled fish or meat, tuck it into tacos, spoon it over buddha bowls, or simply serve it over a warm bowl of quinoa for quick and healthy meal, so tasty! I find myself reaching for it when I need a quick afternoon snack – flavorful, low-calorie and no carbs, this salad is one of my favorites!
And the nice thing is the salad gets better and better as the cucumbers have time to marinate in all the flavorful juices. So tasty, so healthy, so fast and easy, this adaptable Cucumber Salad is perfect for these hot summer days. Do yourself a favor and make it! you will loooooooove it!
What I love about this Cucumber Salad:
But the best part is- it is very adaptable! Borderless. What first started off as very Mexican in my mind, later felt very Middle Eastern with swapping out of lemon for the lime. Substituting dill for the cilantro and lemon for the lime will take it up to Scandinavia. Adding mint can make it feel very greek. So many options here friends!
What you’ll need for Cucuumber Salad:
- Cucumbers: Small Turkish or Perisan cucumber or English Cucumbers work best here and allow you to keep the skin on. Waxy cucumbers can be used but should be peeled.
- Red Onion (or sub pickled red onion or green onions!)
- Fresh herbs– cilantro, scallions, dill, mint or flat leaf parsly
- Lime juice
- Olive oil
- Salt, pepper and spices.
Cucumber Salad Variations:
- Nordic: sub dill for the cilantro and sub lemon for the lime. Leave out the jalapeño.
- Greek: Try mint and parsley with lemon juice, and no jalapeño.
- Middle Eastern – use lemon instead of lime, sprinkle with Zaatar.
- Mexican: add a pinch of chipotle powder for smokiness (start very light)
You may also like:
- Creamy Turkish Cucumber Salad
- Nectarine Salad with Cucumber, Basil and Goat Cheese
- Easy Authentic Cucumber Tzatziki
- Fennel Cucumber Salad
- CUCUMBER GAZPACHO
Enjoy the Cucmber Salad and let us know what you think in the comments below!
xoxo
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Cucumber Salad with Cilantro and Lime
- Prep Time: 15
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Salad, vegan, summer salad
- Method: Sliced
- Cuisine: Global
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Cucumber Salad with Cilantro Lime can be adapted to pair with most any ethnic cuisine. Here it’s seasoned with cilantro and lime but scroll down to the notes and discover all the possibilities. Cool and refreshing, this vegan cucumber salad is a delicious, healthy accompaniment to just about everything!
Ingredients
- 2 large English Cucumbers (or 6 Persian cucumbers) thinly sliced (skin on) see notes.
- 1/4 of a red onion, very thinly sliced (or sub pickled red onion, or scallions)
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced (optional, see notes)
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (or use lemon)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo Chili flakes (optional, or regular chili flakes)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, or Italian parsley, or dill (1/2 cup chopped, more to taste)
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a bowl, and gently toss. Taste, adjust salt and acid. You want this to taste flavorful!
See recipe notes below for other flavor combinations.
This version above is a good “all around” salad- paring well with American, Middle Eastern or Mexican Food.
I love using a mandolin for the cucumbers and onion, for an extra thin slicing.
The salad with get very “juicy” as it sits in the fridge, and I like to use the flavorful juice over cooked quinoa or rice. It’s really flavorful and refreshing- so make sure to add enough salt and acid. 🙂
Notes
Cutting the cucumbers thicker with keep them stay crisper longer. I actually really like them cut thinly (⅛ inch) and personally don’t mind when they get soft after a few days in the fridge…but this is my own personal preference. If you prefer them to stay crispy, cut them into thicker, ¼ inch slices. 😉
For a Scandinavian twist, sub dill for the cilantro and lemon for the lime. Leave out the jalapeño.
Greek- Try mint and parsley with lemon, no jalapeño.
Middle Eastern – lemon instead of lime.
Mexican- add a pinch of chipotle powder for smokiness (start very light)
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 91
- Sugar: 3.3 g
- Sodium: 295.4 mg
- Fat: 7.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.6 g
- Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 1.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: Cucumber Salad, cucumber salad recipe, mexican cucumber salad, cucumbers salad, cucumber onion salad, cucumber salads
My family is from Barbados and we have been making this recipe for over 100 years. I like it with lime instead of lemon but I do both with and without cilantro. Delicious. We use as a tonic so to say.
Awesome Crystal!
Whole or ground coriander, please?
Use ground coriander!
We served this in a make your own tostadas, taco salads, fajitas buffet – everyone loved the cucumbers (sliced paper thin as suggested)! Thank you so much for this very versatile recipe!
Thanks Leslie- glad everyone enjoyed this!
perfect! I added some sliced green cabbage and tasted great as a snack, would be really good inside some tacos too
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Glad you liked this!
Thanks for the perfect summer salad recipe. I love that you can do so much with this. I spooned some over chunks of seedless watermelon – so good! Sweet, spicy and refreshing.
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Love it! Asian variation: 3 tbsp soy sauce + 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar + 1-2 tbsp maple syrup…splash of toasted sesame oil, and sometimes I add ginger/garlic. Garlic chives or green onion, + cilantro as herbs…
Or use your base recipe and add in some juicy sweet fruit (nectarines, mango or pineapple).
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So funny you should add this right now…posting a recipe today for Asian Cucumber Salad with almost these exact ingredients. We are on the same page Bri. 🙂
add a little love take a fork run it down sides just to break skin surface top to bottom great look plus an area to hold more dressing. ENJOY
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Love this Joseph-totally agree!
Awesome recipe. Everything you have on here is 5 stars!!
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Apprecate this!
Appreciate this!
I am making this today, so simple, refreshing and healthy.
Hi Sylvia, I love the recipe. I’d like to share it, with full credit and a screen grab of one of your photos, on my blog Head Roam, where I’m doing a Cuban-inspired Super Bowl menu. Please let me know if that would be ok, and thank you.
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You can share a photo- but please link back to the recipe itself. Thanks!
I took a punt to find a new way to use up 2 spare cucumbers. I was delighted that my frequently used Indian spice (ground coriander) was part of the dressing. I do think that lime brings a unique fragrance so do try to use that. If you wanted to cut calories virtually to zero, leaving out the olive oil would not detract too much from the result. Overall a great new salad I have learnt today. Thank you Sylvia!
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thanks so much Nasreen!
Another beautiful recipe! And we had the enormous pleasure of making with our first two home-grown cucumbers. It was incredible – the perfect recipe to enjoy the flavours of cucumbers we’d grown ourselves. We served it with your Pad Thai (with Shrimp). Delicious.
Thank you again, Sylvia.
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Thanks so much Laura and glad you enjoyed it!
I made this last night for company along with your Tikka Masala.
Both were a big hit!
I added sliced cherry tomatoes and some diced avocado to the salad, since I had some around. My husband has already asked me to make it again!
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Great to hear Carol!
Goes great with tomatoes!
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Great to hear Declan!
Love the cucumbers as a side dish for tacos and on top of avocado toast. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
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I’m so happy you liked this!
Refreshing and spicy! A perfect way to use cucumbers!
Thanks Josie, glad you liked it. 🙂
Just made it with cucumbers from my garden. Super simple, refreshing!
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