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Home / Recipes / Small Meals / Salad / Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad

Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad

10 mins
| Leave a Comment |
5 from 1 vote
Jump to Recipe 03/22/21 | Updated: 03/22/21 | by Nora
Cucumber Tomato Salad Image Pin

Serve this Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad as a side dish at your next summer BBQ! It’s refreshing, full of garden-fresh produce and incredibly quick and easy to make.

The easy homemade vinaigrette makes it feel extra special – a healthy salad the whole family will enjoy!

overhead close up view of white bowl with cucumber tomato salad

I know. Tomato Cucumber Salad. Not exactly revolutionary. But, come on. I’m not a trend setter. I’m not revolutionary. I pin outfits from 2012 and identify with the mom in Young Sheldon. So, this simple salad is right up my alley – quick and easy to whip up and everyone loves it. It’s so basic and old-fashioned and un-trendy that it feels insanely comfortable to me.

I whip this up for my family on a weekly basis once we start harvesting cucumbers and tomatoes because it’s one of our absolute summer favorites!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

ingredients for cucumber tomato salad with text labels
Ingredients for Tomato Cucumber Salad: Tomatoes, cucumber, fresh herbs, red onion and white balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredient notes

  • Tomatoes: Either cherry tomatoes or regular work. For regular tomatoes, you may want to discard some of the seeds if they are very watery. You could also use a variety of heirloom tomatoes for a super pretty salad!
  • Cucumber: I like using English cucumbers for salad, because they have less seeds and a thinner skin. If your cucumbers have lots of large seeds, again, consider scooping them out before slicing the cucumber to add to the salad. A lot of seedy/watery vegetable parts contribute to a watered-down dressing. Also, if your cucumber has very thick skin, consider peeling it.
  • Fresh herbs: Use any soft fresh herbs you enjoy. My favorites in this salad are parsley and basil. Chives or dill are also delicious!
  • Red onion: I love it for a pop of flavor and color in the salad. If you are not a fan of raw onion, leave it out. Other alternatives are sliced green onions or plenty of chives.
  • Vinaigrette: I use my recipe for white balsamic vinaigrette. Feel free to use your favorite vinaigrette instead!

How to make a Tomato Cucumber Salad

Now here is the point you can laugh at me for making such a big deal about this salad. Because this is how you make it:

1. Chop the tomatoes, cucumber herbs and red onion. Now comes the hardest part of this recipe: Adding the sliced and diced veggies to a salad bowl without dropping them all on the kitchen floor… Ask me how I know 🙈

vegetables for tomato cucumber salad in white bowl

2. Toss them in the dressing.

pouring dressing over cucumbers and tomatoes in bowl

What! This is what summer cooking is all about. Being lazy. Being simple. Enjoying the time with your favorite people, eating from the abundance of summer fruit and veggies, and just making memories.

It won’t hurt if one of your kids’ biggest memories of summer is eating the same salad over and over again, trust me 😉

white bowl with tomato cucumber salad on marble surface

Recipe tips

  • It’s a good idea to generally keep all the veggies roughly the same size when you chop them up. It’s also a good idea to chop them small enough to be considered bite-size for your youngest dinner guest. Just saves you extra work at the table later!
  • To be very transparent for a minute here, I would usually just whip up the dressing in the salad bowl and then add the veggies and toss it all – no need to dirty an extra bowl or jar. But because I do this food blog thing here for a living (what!) I kicked my butt into gear and shook up the dressing in a separate jar. I mean, anything for the elusive pouring shot 🤷🏻‍♀️😉
close up photo of tomato cucumber salad

Serving tips

I will say that this salad is best served right after you mix the veggies with the dressing. Both the cucumbers and tomatoes give off a lot of water once they’re in touch with the dressing/salt so you’ll end up with a pretty watery salad if you leave it standing around for long.

We love it as a side for grilled lemon garlic chicken or balsamic chicken, or with a nice steak, but it’s also delicious with a sandwich for lunch (or with spaghetti for dinner!).

Either way, THIS is summer in a bowl. And don’t let anyone tell you it’s not appropriate to make it several days in a row. Because it totally, absolutely, positively is.

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!

Printable Recipe Card
overhead view of white bowl with cucumber tomato salad
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Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad

Serve this Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad as a side dish at your next summer BBQ! It's refreshing, full of garden-fresh produce and incredibly quick and easy to make.
Recipe by Nora from Savory Nothings
made it? tap the stars to add your rating!
5 from 1 vote
Print Add Review

Recipe details

Prep 10 mins
Total 10 mins
Servings 6 servings
Difficulty Easy

Ingredients
 

  • 1 large cucumber halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
  • 1 pound tomatoes sliced (I used cherry tomatoes)
  • 1 small red onion peeled, halved and thinly sliced
  • bunch fresh soft herbs chopped
  • 1 recipe white balsamic vinaigrette

Instructions
 

  • Toss all ingredients in a bowl and serve immediately.
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Notes

Ingredient notes

  • Tomatoes: Either cherry tomatoes or regular work. For regular tomatoes, you may want to discard some of the seeds if they are very watery. You could also use a variety of heirloom tomatoes for a super pretty salad!
  • Cucumber: I like using English cucumbers for salad, because they have less seeds and a thinner skin. If your cucumbers have lots of large seeds, again, consider scooping them out before slicing the cucumber to add to the salad. A lot of seedy/watery vegetable parts contribute to a watered-down dressing. Also, if your cucumber has very thick skin, consider peeling it.
  • Fresh herbs: Use any soft fresh herbs you enjoy. My favorites in this salad are parsley and basil. Chives or dill are also delicious!
  • Red onion: I love it for a pop of flavor and color in the salad. If you are not a fan of raw onion, leave it out. Other alternatives are sliced green onions or plenty of chives.
  • Vinaigrette: I use my recipe for white balsamic vinaigrette. Feel free to use your favorite vinaigrette instead!

Recipe tips

  • It’s a good idea to generally keep all the veggies roughly the same size when you chop them up. It’s also a good idea to chop them small enough to be considered bite-size for your youngest dinner guest. Just saves you extra work at the table later!
  • To be very transparent for a minute here, I would usually just whip up the dressing in the salad bowl and then add the veggies and toss it all – no need to dirty an extra bowl or jar. But because I do this food blog thing here for a living (what!) I kicked my butt into gear and shook up the dressing in a separate jar. I mean, anything for the elusive pouring shot 🤷🏻‍♀️😉

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 171kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 1gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 360mgPotassium: 274mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 666IUVitamin C: 13mgCalcium: 23mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition is an estimate.

More recipe information

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mediterranean

Recipe first published on 08/08/2018. Updated with new photos, better recipe and better text on 03/22/2021.

More salad recipes

  • Shopska Salad
  • The Best Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
  • Roasted Beet Salad with Goat’s Cheese
  • Creamy Cucumber Salad

More summer side dishes

  • Chunky Avocado Salsa
  • Easy Sautéed Zucchini
  • Easy Zucchini Fritters
  • Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries

Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings
About Nora 
When I got married to my professional chef husband, I realized I had to step up my game in the kitchen. Now I share my favorite foolproof family recipes here on Savory Nothings: Chef-approved, kid-vetted and easy enough for everyday home cooks like you and me!   Learn more.

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Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings

Hi, I'm Nora! I wasn't always a good cook, but then I fell in love with a professional chef and learned my way around the kitchen. Now I share all my secrets to effortlessly great food here on my blog, bite-sized for home cooks just like me and you.

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