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Home » Salads by Diet » Low Carb

Italian Cucumber Salad

Made by Anastasia - Serves: 4 Filed Under: Low Carb, Make Ahead Salads, Paleo, Salad Index, Summer Salads

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Our Italian Cucumber Salad is full of refreshing, crunchy flavour that is extremely packable for outdoor entertaining or for weekday lunches.

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ITALIAN CUCUMBER SALAD IN A WHITE BOWL WITH FRESH BASIL ON THE SIDE
ITALIAN CUCUMBER SALAD

What is the Secret to this Salad 🤫?

As cucumbers are mostly made with water it can result in water logged salads. 

The solution to this is to salt your cucumbers and drain off the excess liquid. Your dressing will taste even better as it is not diluted and it will intensify the flavour of your cucumbers. 

Ingredients and Substitutions

This Italian Cucmber Salad is super simple to put together, it is really just baby cucmbers and some onion tossed together. What makes it exceptional is the fresh italian dressing that we have tossed them in.

Why use Qukes or Cukes?

I prefer qukes for this salad as they are super crunchy and crisp, their skins are mild and they are chock full of refreshing, sun sweetened flavour. 

They are the babies from Persian or Lebanese cucumber varieties and are picked when very small making them young, tender, great for salads and perfect for snacking on.

Other Cucumbers to Use 

If you can’t find cukes then small seedless cucumbers are best try Persian, Lebanese, English or Kirby cucumbers.

I do not recommend regular cucumbers with tough skins and their water filled seeds as this will make your salad soggy and dilute the tasty dressing.

To prepare regular cucumbers cut them into 1 inch / 2.5 cm batons.

Red Onion

We have used red onion in this salad first of all because it is mikder than white or brown onions and for a ppopmof magenta colour. Swap for french shallots/eschallots as they are also mild. if you have to use white or brown onions then I recommend rubbing thme in some salt and rinsing them in cold water to tone down thwir pungency.

Fresh Italian Dressing

Now this womderful fresh herb dressing is reallynthe magic in this salad, and is well worth the extra few minutes it takes to blitz it together.

What Can I Serve with It?

A super delicious Italian Cucumber Salad is ideal to serve with any Italian style meal - try it with any pasta, veal parmigiana, steak pizzaiola or chicken osso bucco or fruitti di mare.

Pairs with everything g from meats, poultry, fish and seafood.

You Will Need

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE ITALIAN CUCUMBER SALAD WITH TEXT

How to Make It

1PREPARE CUCUMBERS & ONION
Wash cukes and pat dry, trim the ends, cut them in half lengthwise, then in half again to make quarters. 
Place them in a colander and season with a couple of pinches of salt.
Allow to sweat for 30 minutes then pat them thoroughly dry.
In the meantime, slice red onion in half and remove the papery skin from the onion half. Slice the onion into thin slices.

TRIMMING ENDS FROM CUKES ON WOODEN BOARD WITH RED KNIFE
WASH & TRIM CUKES
SLICING CUKES IN HALF ON WOODEN BOARD WITH RED KNIFE
SLICE CUKES IN HALF
SLICING CUKES IN QUARTERS ON WOODEN BOARD WITH RED KNIFE
SLICE CUKES IN QUARTERS
TOSSING SALT THROUGH CUKES IN COLANDER
TOSS SALT THROUGH CUKES IN COLANDER
SALTED CUKES IN A STAINLESS STEEL COLANDER
LET STAND FOR 30 MINS
THINLY SLICING RED ONION ON WOODEN BOARD WITH RED KNIFE
THINLY SLICE RED ONION
WEATING CUCUMBERS IN COLANDER
SWEAT CUCUMBERS
PATTING SWEATED CUKES IN COLANDER WITH KITCHEN TOWEL TO DRY
PAT CUKES DRY

2BLITZ VINAIGRETTE
Wash your parsley and basil stems, then shake to remove excess water and pat dry.
Pick the leaves from the stems, then roughly chop them. You will need one tablespoon of basil leaves and two tablespoons of parsley leaves.
Place all your vinaigrette ingredients in a small food processor or high-speed blender, season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Blitz the ingredients until the herbs are broken up and the dressing is well combined.
Taste and adjust seasonings according to your personal preferences.

PICKING BASIL AND PARSLEY LEAVES FROM STEMS ON A WOODEN BOARD
PICK LEAVES FROM STEMS
ROUGHLY CHOPPING PARSLEY LEAVES ON A WOODEN BOARD WITH A KNIFE
ROUGHLY CHOP PARSLEY
ROUGHLY CHOPPING BASIL LEAVES ON A WOODEN BOARD WITH A KNIFE
ROUGHLY CHOP BASIL
ITALIAN VINAIGRETTE INGREDIENTS IN A BLENDER WITH BASIL AND HERBS IN BACKGROUND
ADD INGREDIENTS TO BLENDER
ITALIAN VINAIGRETTE INGREDIENTS BLITZED IN A BLENDER WITH BASIL AND HERBS IN BACKGROUND
BLITZ VINAIGRETTE

3ASSEMBLE SALAD
Place all the salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a pinch of freshly cracked black pepper.
Pour over dressing and toss well to combine.
Taste and adjust seasonings according to your liking.

ITALIAN CUCUMBER SALAD INGREDIENTS IN WHITE BOWL
ADD INGREDIENTS TO BOWL
POURING DRESSING OVER ITALIAN CUCUMBER SALAD INGREDIENTS
POUR OVER DRESSING
MIXING ITALIAN CUCUMBER SALAD
MIX WELL TO COMBINE
ITALIAN CUCUMBER SALAD IN WHITE BOWL WITH FRESH BASIL SPRIGS ON THE SIDE
ARRANGE IN BOWL & CHILL

Can I Make It Ahead?

Absolutely, in fact, the longer you leave the cucumbers to marinate in our delectable Italian vinaigrette the tastier this salad will become. It can be made at least 1-2 hours in advance if you would like it with some crunch or the day before for pickly tangy flavour.

The dressing can be made 4-5 days in advance and kept in a sealed container in your fridge so that it’s easy to shake when you need to mix it up before making up the salad to serve.

Can I Meal Prep it for Weekday Lunches?

Yes again! Just make it up and portion it in your containers, for some added protein try some meatballs, grilled chicken or tinned tuna or salmon. For vegans try some chickpeas or falafel.

Other Cucumber Salads You May LIke

CUCUMBER WITH DILL SALAD IN LANDSCAPE
VEGAN CUCUMBER
Two small white bowls with feta and cucumber salad.
FETA CUCUMBER SALAD
ITALIAN CUCUMBER SALAD IN WHITE BOWL WITH FRESH BASIL SPRIGS ON THE SIDE

Italian Cucumber Salad – full of crunchy flavour

Our Italian Cucumber Salad is full of refreshing, crunchy flavour that is extremely packable for outdoor entertaining or for weekday lunches.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Salting: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
* Times are an estimate and will depend on your skill level
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: dairy-free, Easy, gluten free, keto, low carb, paleo, vegan
Servings: 4 as a side
Calories: 211kcal
Author: Anastasia
Equipment
  • Small Food Processor or High-speed Blender
Ingredients
For the salad
  • 500 grams cucumbers cukes / qukes 2 packs; 17.64 oz
  • ½ red onion 60 grams, 2.11 oz
  • Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
For the vinaigrette
  • 6 tbsps olive oil
  • 2 tbsps wine vinegar either red or white
  • 2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Metric - Imperial
Instructions
  • Wash cukes and pat dry, trim the ends, cut them in half lengthwise, then in half again to make quarters.
  • If you are using regular cucumbers cut them into 2.5cm / 1-inch batons.
  • Place them in a colander and season with a couple of pinches of salt.
  • Allow to sweat for 30 minutes then pat them thoroughly dry.
  • In the meantime, slice red onion in half and remove the papery skin from the onion half. Slice the onion into thin slices.
  • Wash your parsley and basil stems, then shake to remove excess water and pat dry.
  • Pick the leaves from the stems, then roughly chop them. You will need one tablespoon of basil leaves and two tablespoons of parsley leaves.
  • Place all your vinaigrette ingredients in a small food processor or high-speed blender, season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
  • Blitz the ingredients until the herbs are broken up and the dressing is well combined.
  • Taste and adjust seasonings according to your personal preferences.
  • Place all the salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a pinch of freshly cracked black pepper.
  • Pour over dressing and toss well to combine.
Taste and adjust seasonings according to your liking.
  • Arrange in a salad bowl and keep chilled until ready to serve.

Video

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 201mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 412IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @salads_with_anastasia or tag #salads_with_anastasia!

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About Anastasia

Anastasia is a home cook introduced to cooking at a young age (8 years old) and hasn’t gotten out of the kitchen since! She had her own coffee shop and ran her own catering business for over a decade. Her love of salads developed as she was always the one responsible for making the salads for family get-togethers and friends functions.

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