This Persian Cucumber Salad is bursting with fresh herbs, crunchy walnuts, radishes, and a bright lemon dressing. A refreshing, healthy salad that’s perfect for summer. Vegan-adaptable!
This Persian Cucumber Salad is everything I crave in a summer salad-crisp, refreshing, herbaceous, and full of texture. Crunchy cucumbers and radishes are tossed with toasted walnuts and an abundance of fresh herbs, then dressed simply with lemon and olive oil. Every bite is bright, crunchy, and incredibly fresh!
Toasting the walnuts gives this traditional Persian salad an earthy depth and delicious umami flavor. Together with cool, crisp cucumbers, crunchy peppery radishes, and mounds of fresh herbs this refreshing salad pairs incredibly well with grilled chicken, meat, or fish. A touch of allspice gives the salad a subtle warmth that makes it surprisingly complex for something so simple.
What makes this Persian Cucumber Salad special is the sheer abundance of fresh herbs. Rather than playing a supporting role, parsley, cilantro, mint, dill, and tarragon become part of the salad itself.
Traditional Persian Salad Ingredients
- Walnuts - Lightly toasted for rich, nutty flavor and a satisfying crunch.
- Persian cucumbers - Small, thin-skinned cucumbers with very few seeds and a crisp, mildly sweet flavor. There’s no need to peel or seed them, which makes them especially good for salads. Turkish cucumbers are very similar, and English cucumber is the easiest substitute.
- Radishes - Thinly sliced for peppery crunch and beautiful color. In summer, halved cherry tomatoes are a delicious alternative.
- Scallions - Add a mild, fresh onion flavor without overpowering the herbs.
- Fresh herbs - Parsley, cilantro, mint, dill, and tarragon (or chives) create an incredibly fresh, fragrant salad. Don’t skimp on these-they’re the heart of the dish!
- Feta (optional) - Adds creamy, salty richness and makes the salad a little more substantial.
- Olive oil & lemon - Extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and lemon zest create a simple, bright dressing that lets the fresh ingredients shine.
- Allspice - Just a touch adds subtle warmth and depth, complementing the walnuts and fresh herbs beautifully.
- Salt & black pepper - Season generously to bring all the flavors together.
How to make Persian Salad
How to Make Persian Cucumber Walnut Salad
1. Toast the walnuts. Spread the walnuts on a sheet pan and toast at 350°F for 12-15 minutes, until fragrant and lightly golden. Let cool completely.
2. Assemble the salad. Add the cooled walnuts, cucumbers, radishes, scallions, fresh herbs, and optional feta to a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and lemon juice, add the lemon zest and allspice, and toss well.
3. Season to taste. Taste and adjust with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice. The salad should taste bright, fresh, and lemony. If the flavors seem flat, a little more salt and lemon will usually bring everything to life. The simple lemony dressing enhances the herbs’ flavors.
Tip: If making ahead for a potluck or gathering, just layer the ingredients, keeping the herbs on top (so they stay fresh), and toss with dressing right before serving!
Make Ahead & Storage
- Make ahead: Toast the walnuts, chop the herbs, and prepare the dressing ahead of time, but keep everything separate until close to serving for the best texture. Cucumbers release water as they sit.
- Storage: Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, although the salad is crispest on the first day. If making it specifically for meal prep, keep the walnuts separate and sprinkle them on just before serving.
Serving Suggestions
This salad would be wonderful alongside this Fesenjan Recipe or Persian Chicken.
It would pair nicely with lamb shawarma, Za'atar Roasted Eggplant or falafel. For a light vegetarian meal, serve it with hummus, baba ganoush, warm pita bread, lentils, or a grain dish such as fluffy quinoa or Middle Eastern Rice.
With feta added, I think it can also stand alone as a lovely light lunch.
More Favorite Cucumber Recipes
Persian Cucumber Salad with Walnuts and Herbs
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: entertaining, meal prep, potluck recipes, salad, Side Dish
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Persian
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, high fiber, Low-Carb, Vegan, Vegetarian
Description
Persian Cucumber Salad with toasted walnuts, radishes, fresh herbs, and a bright lemon dressing. Crisp, refreshing, and bursting with flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts, lighted toasted
- 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced (use a mandolin) or sub halved cherry tomatoes when in season
- 5 Persian (or Turkish) cucumbers, thinly sliced ( or sub 1 large English cucumber)
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 cup chopped mint
- 1/2 cup chopped dill
- 1/4 cup chopped tarragon or chives
- 1/2– 1 cup crumbled feta (optional)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Toast walnuts on a sheet pan in a 350 F oven for 12-15 minutes, until lightly toasted. Cool.
- Layer. Place the cooled walnuts along with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and toss well.
- Season. Taste, adjust salt and lemon. If it tastes bland, add a little more salt.It should have a refreshing lemony kick.
Notes
Feel free to make ahead, adding the dressing closer to serving time -so herbs stay nice and fresh-looking. Â Always re-taste before serving, adjusting salt and lemon.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 263
- Sugar: 2.1 g
- Sodium: 126.3 mg
- Fat: 25.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.4 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 11.1 mg
This salad is so delicious and flavorful. I’ve made it several times and everyone has loved it. I love all the fresh herbs in this recipe, it’s loaded with nutrients!
So happy to hear this Gina!
Excellent flavors and so refreshing! I used cherry tomatoes in place of radishes, roasted pine nuts in place of walnuts, served it over a few handfuls of arugula and topped it with feta cheese. Lovely presentation.
Sounds yummy!
Excellent!
I did riff on at the salad a bit as I didn’t have a radish but instead used julienned kohlrabi. I don’t like cilantro so left it out and didn’t have dill or tarragon. But walnut with cucumbers and citrus was amazing. Added CSA purslane which married well with citrus flavors
ooo I love purslane! Love the improvising!
This salad is so delicious and so healthy! All those fresh herbs are so nutritious. I’ve made this salad many times, most recently for our Persian New Year Celebration, Nowruz. The salad was devoured and all gone!
Awesome Gina! 🙌
So yummy and refreshing and best of all easy and quick! I kept the recipe vegan but instead of lemon I used a fresh peach. Half in the dressing with a little honey and half chopped up in the salad. Just because I have a line up of ripe peaches on my window sill.
I was also able to use all the herbs from my garden: basil, thyme, mint and parsley. Forgot to take a pic! We ate it too fast!.
Awesome Diana!
Made this. Very good! Always look forward to your Saturday morning recipes
Hi,
I have made many of your recipes and enjoyed them with my family. I was born in Tehran and have been making Persian food for my family for 30 plus years here in Houston. The Persian Salad that you have today is not really a Persian recipe. There are two other veriations. One has cucumber, tomato, and onion all chopped to small peices mixed with lemon juice and salt and pepper. The other one is made with chopped cucumber, Greek yogurt, and dill weed, salt and pepper. Some people put mint instead.
Thanks
Sima
I was wondering about that and appreciate your comment. I love to learn about traditional foods of many cultures and also switching them up some with whatever ingredients are in season.
Appreciate this Sima. I love the idea of that cucumber and greek yogurt with dill. Will have to try that.
Delicious, beautiful, vibrant, and fresh!I’ve made this a few times lately for small gatherings and everybody comments on both how lovely it looks and tastes!
Thanks Tonya! xo
Perfect summer salad. So good and refreshing. Will definitely make again. Thank you for the recipe.
This recipe sounds delicious. However, I’m not able to use citrus (lemon/lime/orange) in my cooking. Is there another dressing that I could make that would be good with this recipe but does not include lemon?
Try subbing with Champagne or AC vinegar. Start with less, and add more to taste.
Made this again at a summer barbeque and was enjoyed by everyone … without fail! Such a refreshing salad anytime of the year.
Awesome, great to hear!
Very refreshing and so fast and easy
Just delicious and so refreshing. Love love the mint in this recipe. Will def do again and again!
In the end I did not put the orange slices and stuck to the true recipe. It was a big hit with everyone. I served it between the soup and the main course and they all said it was a delicious and refreshing course before the main. Thanks again Sylvia.
This looks amazing and perfect to serve at my Christmas dinner. Can I add slices of oranges? Will definitely put on my menu. Thanks Sylvia.
Of course, give it a try! You can always test it first, with a little piece of orange and see what you think!
7 some halved cherry tomatoesmaking this tomorrow when the family comes over, will add a pear as suggested in comments
A lovely interesting salad, worth serving cold( it was a hot day and I had gotten my vegetables out beforehand, next time I’ll make sure to have them fresh out of the fridge) the only change that I made was adding a sliced pear to the salad. Thanks for a great recipe
Just made this recipe today and it’s so fresh, delicious and nutritious!
So happy you liked it and thanks for you comment!
So happy you liked it and thanks for your comment!
Delicious salad! I kept going back for more! I added chopped arugula with the fresh cilantro and parsley, and added dried mint and dill to the dressing. Next time, I’m going full on fresh with the herbs! Thank you so much for your beautiful and healthy recipes.
This sounds like a great seasonal salad for summer. I love middle eastern food and add nuts to everything!