This easy Marinated Cucumber Salad with red onions is made with eight simple ingredients and takes under ten minutes to prepare. It is the perfect summer dish for grilled chicken, fish, and ribs.
Celebrate the season by whipping up a batch of these marinated cucumbers to accompany your grilled burgers or brats. They are amazingly easy and lip-smacking good! I love to serve them with grilled pork tenderloin, baked cod, and grilled turkey burgers.
What’s In This Post
Ingredients Needed
- Vinegar: apple cider is a good choice, but you can also use red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, or champagne vinegar.
- Olive oil: extra virgin olive oil
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Black pepper: freshly ground is best
- Celery seed: celery seed is a delicious addition to this salad but optional. Use it if it is in your pantry and you like celery.
- English cucumbers: or use American slicing cucumbers or Persian cucumbers
- Red onion
How to make Marinated Cucumber Salad
Start by slicing the cucumbers and red onions thinly with a sharp knife. Add the cider vinegar, olive oil, sugar, water, salt, black pepper, and celery seed in a large, wide-mouthed mason jar and shake to combine.
Add the sliced cucumbers and red onions to the vinegar mixture. You can also add the cucumbers and red onions to a large bowl. Then, pour the vinegar mixture over them and toss to coat. Refrigerate for one hour up to overnight.
Preparations Tips
- Use English cucumbers for tender skins that don’t need peeling. If using regular cucumbers, peel them to remove the thick skins.
- This cucumber salad is best eaten within the first 24 hours while the cucumbers and onions are still a little crisp. Use a mandoline slicer for uniform-size cucumbers.
- Other vegetables to add include cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, or jalapenos.
- Add herbs like dill, basil, cilantro, or thyme.
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The cucumbers and onions will not remain as crisp, but the salad will still be delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions
If using English cucumbers, do not peel them as they have thin skins. Regular cucumbers, also known as American slicing or Persian cucumbers, have thick skins that need to be peeled or at least partially peeled, so alternate peeled and unpeeled stripes.
I love apple cider vinegar with these cucumbers, but you can also use red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, white wine vinegar, and champagne vinegar. Each one will yield a slightly different flavor, but the marinated cucumber salad will still be delicious.
Marinated Cucumber Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup cool water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon celery seed optional
- 2 English cucumbers thinly sliced see notes
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
Instructions
- Add the cider vinegar, olive oil, sugar, water, salt, black pepper, and celery seed in a large, wide-mouthed mason jar, and shake to combine.
- Add the cucumbers and red onions to the jar. Refrigerate for one hour up to overnight.
Notes
- Use English cucumbers for tender skins that don’t need peeling. If using regular cucumbers, peel them to remove the thick skins.
- This cucumber salad is best eaten within the first 24 hours while the cucumbers and onions are still a little crisp. Use a mandoline slicer for uniform-size cucumbers.
Nutrition
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Sandy
Could you skip the sugar?
Beth Pierce
Yes you certainly can.
Catalina
I love cucumbers and this salad is exactly what I need for dinner tonight!
Sandra
We enjoy this with almost everything!! It is so good! Perfect side dish!
Beti
This is fantastic!! One of my favorites cucumber recipes.katerina
This is my favorite cucumber recipe. So easy, crisp, and delicious.
Allyson Zea
My mom always used to make something similar while I was growing up, I can’t wait to try your recipe!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Allyson!
Erin
My favorite way to eat cucumbers. Delicious every time!
Amanda
This looks right up my alley. I have plenty of empty mason jars too!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Amanda! Enjoy!
Melanie
This is such a quick and easy salad. My daughter loved it!
Marysa
Oh wow does this look delicious! I will have to make some of these. I love fresh cucumbers in the summer, so I’ll have to save your recipe.
Monidipa Dutta
I just stumbled upon your recipe for marinated cucumber salad, and I must say, my taste buds are watering just looking at the pictures! Can’t wait to try it out in my kitchen!
Celebrate Woman Today
I love marinated recipes. I grew up with them. I will attempt your recipe in my kitchen to share the taste of all things marinated!
Marie Cris Angeles
I love cucumber with vinegar but never tried with onion. I will try this recipe to know what the taste of cucumber with onion and vinegar.