Cucumber tomato salad is a great refreshing summer salad with a tangy citrus vinaigrette dressing mixed with fresh herbs.
It’s summer and you walk into the kitchen and see fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. You think about the refreshing flavors mixed with tangy vinegar and black pepper. It can’t be spaghetti night?
There is something about cucumber tomato salad that screams summer with a hint of citrus and vinegar.
But, we are adults now so let’s step up a classic with some skills we picked up over the years.
Fresh lemon juice and zest with basil drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette dressing will hit the spot with this recipe.
There is some prep work so keep reading, trust me it’s easy!
How To Make Cucumber Tomato Salad
Make a list of these ingredients
- Cucumber
- Cherry tomatoes or roma tomato
- Fresh basil
- Olive Oil
- White wine vinegar
- Lemon
- Salt & black pepper
Quick tip before starting
Cucumbers are well known to mess up a salad because they release so much water. Getting a seedless cucumber will help this. But, using my salt method with almost eliminate excess water. You want to avoid this because all the water will cause your salad to be bland.
Making the cucumber tomato salad
- To start. you want to thinly slice the cucumbers. Using a cheap vegetable slicer will do the trick in no time and keep the slices super even.
- Next, in a bowl salt the cucumbers heavy and cover. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. At the 30 minute mark drain the water in the bowl. At 1 hour remove the bowl and rinse the salt from the cucumber. Lightly pat them dry.
- Cut up the tomatoes. If using cherry tomatoes simply cut them in half.
- Then, chop up the basil and measure out 1/2 cup.
- In a large bowl, add the cucumbers, tomatoes and basil. Now, zest the lemon over the bowl.
- Next, in a small bowl add olive oil, white wine vinegar and squeeze the lemon you just zested. Give it a blend or a good stir then add to the salad bowl.
- Mix everything well then serve.
Storing the recipe
As mentioned above the cucumber will release some water along with the other vegetables. This salad will last about 2-3 days depending on how fresh the ingredients were to start. Place in a covered bowl with a lid and that is good enough for storage. This is not a recipe to be frozen.
What to serve with cucumber tomato salad
Cucumber Tomato Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 lemon, juiced (only 1 lemon needed for the recipe)
Salad
- 2 English cucumbers, sliced (3 regular cucumbers)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1 lemon, zested (only 1 lemon needed for the recipe)
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- To start. you want to thinly slice the cucumbers. Using a cheap vegetable slicer will do the trick in no time and keep the slices super even.
- Next, in a bowl salt the cucumbers heavy and cover. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. At the 30 minute mark drain the water in the bowl. At 1 hour remove the bowl and rinse the salt from the cucumber. Lightly pat them dry.
- Cut up the tomatoes. If using cherry tomatoes simply cut them in half.
- Then, chop up the basil and measure out 1/2 cup.
- In a large bowl, add the cucumbers, tomatoes and basil. Now, zest the lemon over the bowl.
- Next, in a small bowl add olive oil, white wine vinegar and squeeze the lemon you just zested. Give it a blend or a good stir then add to the salad bowl.
- Mix everything well then serve.