Try this Creamy Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream and Mayo for your next weekend barbecue. Serve it up with all of your favourite sides and some Sweet Hawaiian Dinner Rolls!
What is this Cucumber Salad like
- Difficulty – Although making a cucumber salad is relatively easy, be sure to follow the recipe closely and read the recipe tips in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Taste – This is a light and fresh salad. The red onions give it a bit of a punch as well as the sour cream keeps is cool and fresh.
- Serving – As a side dish, this will easily serve six people. In the recipe card, you can easily change the servings and it will automatically adjust your ingredients for you.
Ingredients
- Cucumber – I used medium sized cucumbers for this recipe.
- Onion – Red onions work best for this recipe as they are tart and it goes really well with the cucumber.
- Sour cream – Sour cream is used as the base for the salad. Sour cream is rich, tangy and creamy. It makes a refreshing dressing.
- Mayonnaise – A small amount of mayonnaise is used to add to the sour cream to make the dressing.
- Dill – I used dried dill for this recipe. Dill has a very distinct flavour and it a bit tangy as well as slightly bitter.
- Salt – Salt is used in this recipe to sprinkle over the cucumbers to draw out the water to prevent the salad from going soggy. As well, a small amount of salt is added to the salad dressing.
- Black pepper – This is added to the salad dressing.
- Fresh parsley – Fresh parsley is added to the the salad dressing as well as a small amount to garnish the salad.
NOTE, The full recipe and instructions is found at the end of the post in the recipe card.
Instructions
- Peel cucumbers – Peel and slice the cucumbers. Keep a small amount of the skin on the cucumber when you peel them. Using either a sharp knife or a mandolin, slice the cucumbers.
- Salt cucumbers – Lay all the cucumber slices out on paper towels and sprinkle over salt. Leave the cucumbers for around 30 minutes.
- Make salad dressing – Make the dressing by combining the sour cream, mayonnaise, dried dill, salt, black pepper and fresh parsley. Stir to combine.
- Arrange salad – In a large bowl, combine the cucumber slices, red onion slices and salad dressing. Stir well to combine and chill for 15 minutes.
- Chill and serve – Garnish with extra dill and fresh parsley before serving if desired.
Recipe Tips
- Peeling and slicing cucumbers – It’s best to half peel the cucumbers for this salad as it gives a good texture. Choose young cucumbers because they contain less seeds and often less water content. Slice the cucumbers thin. Use a mandolin if you have one. If not a sharp knife works really well.
- Salt the cucumbers – IMPORTANT! Don’t skip this step in the recipe. If you don’t get the excess water out of the salad, it will go watery. Make sure to follow the steps to get the excess water out of the cucumbers.
- Prep ahead cucumbers – The cucumbers can be prepped the day before.
- Prep ahead salad dressing – You can make and store this dressing up to 48 hours before serving. Just store in the fridge.
- Assemble before serving – This salad is best assembled, chilled for 15 minutes and then served immediately. The cucumbers will lose their crispness over time as well, some water will leak into the salad if it’s left too long.
Substitutions
- Sour cream – The best substitute for sour cream is Greek yogurt. You can always use plain yogurt as well, just keep in mind it will be more watery.
- Dried dill – Fresh dill will work prefect for this recipe. Alternatively, you could use dill seeds or tarragon for a unique flavour.
- Fresh parsley – Opt to use fresh dill, fresh mint or even fresh basil.
What to Serve with Cucumber Salad
This Creamy Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream and Mayo makes a great summer side for to go with many dishes. Here would be a few of our top picks!
- Oven Roasted Rotisserie Style Chicken
- Grilled Barbecue Chicken Skewers
- Traditional Style Barbecue Pork Tenderloin
- Barbecue Beef Kebabs
- Fluffy White Dinner Rolls
- Garlic Fingers
Frequently Asked Questions
Cucumbers contain a lot of water. The best way to prevent cucumber salad from going watery is to add salt to the cucumbers and allow it to draw out the water from the cucumbers.
Place cucumbers in an airtight container after they are sliced. Place a paper towel between the cucumber layers and place in the fridge. They will keep crisp up to 2 – 3 days.
If you are serving this at a party or potluck, I wouldn’t recommend it sitting out for any more than two hours.
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Creamy Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream and Mayo
Ingredients
- 3 medium cucumbers half peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 small red onion peeled, halved and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon dried dill
- 1 tablespoon salt for salting the cucumbers
- 1/2 teaspoon salt for the dressing
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Small bunch of fresh parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Peel and slice the cucumbers. Keep a small amount of the skin on the cucumber when you peel them. Using either a sharp knife or a mandolin, slice the cucumbers.
- Lay all the cucumber slices out on paper towels and sprinkle over salt. Leave the cucumbers for around 30 minutes.
- Make the dressing by combining the sour cream, mayonnaise, dried dill, salt, black pepper and fresh parsley. Stir to combine.
- In a large bowl, combine the cucumber slices, red onion slices and salad dressing. Stir well to combine and chill for 15 minutes.
- Garnish with extra dill and fresh parsley before serving if desired.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Notes
- Peeling and slicing cucumbers – It’s best to half peel the cucumbers for this salad as it gives a good texture. Choose young cucumbers because they contain less seeds and often less water content. Slice the cucumbers thin. Use a mandolin if you have one. If not a sharp knife works really well.
- Salt the cucumbers – IMPORTANT! Don’t skip this step in the recipe. If you don’t get the excess water out of the salad, it will go watery. Make sure to follow the steps to get the excess water out of the cucumbers.
- Prep ahead cucumbers – The cucumbers can be prepped the day before.
- Prep ahead salad dressing – You can make and store this dressing up to 48 hours before serving. Just store in the fridge.
- Assemble before serving – This salad is best assembled, chilled for 15 minutes and then served immediately. The cucumbers will lose their crispness over time as well, some water will leak into the salad if it’s left too long.