This delightfully refreshing cucumber vinegar salad with dill, red onion, and cherry tomatoes makes a perfect light appetizer or side for any meal. This salad is nice and crisp with the perfect combination of tangy and sweet- it doesn't get any better.
This salad with vinegar and dill balances a heavy main dish well or completes a light lunch. Try serving it with pan-seared duck breast or ham salad sandwiches. Garnish with extra dill, if you’d like.
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Cucumber vinegar salad with dill is a light, refreshing side for any night of the week. It’s everything you want in a salad on a hot summer day: crunchy, sweet, and chilled.
Whether you’re having a friendly lunch or a family dinner, the tangy white wine vinegar combined with sugar amplifies the taste of cucumbers that diners will love. It’s complemented by powerful dill, zesty red onions, and sweet cherry tomatoes.
Topped off with freshly ground black pepper, this unique blend of flavors hits all the right taste buds. For anyone who needs a packed lunch the next day, it’s a delightful dish that feels restaurant-ready in the middle of a workday.
It only takes about 15 minutes of prep time, too! If you haven’t had marinated cucumbers before, I highly recommend this recipe. Try something new, and you might fall in love!
❤️ Why I Love This Recipe
- Incredibly Easy. There are only 3 steps to making this delightfully tasty side salad.
- Unique Flavor. This is unlike any other dish you’ve had before, especially with a short time allowed for marinating your cucumbers!
- Can Be Made in Advance. Mix the marinade well ahead of time to make throwing this together will be a breeze.
🥘 Ingredients
These are all readily available ingredients at most grocery stores. Bonus points if you grow your own dill!
- 1 cup Water
- ½ cup White Wine Vinegar - Vinegar amplifies the taste of the cucumber. You can also try apple cider vinegar.
- ¼ cup Olive Oil - Extra virgin olive oil is excellent for marinades that need fat for transferring flavor and retaining moisture.
- ¼ cup Sugar - Sugar balances out the sharpness of the vinegar.
- 2 teaspoons Salt - Only some of the salt will be absorbed into the cucumbers with the marinade.
- 1 tablespoon Fresh Dill - Chop it up fresh or use 1 teaspoon dried dill to taste.
- 3 medium Cucumbers - Wash and slice into ¼-inch thick rounds. Peeling optional.
- 10 ounces Cherry Tomatoes - Buy 1 10-ounce container and carefully cut each tomato in half.
- ½ large Red Onion - Slice these sharp-tasting onions into half-moons or bite-sized pieces.
- Ground Black Pepper - (at serving, to taste)
Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!
🔪 How To Make A Cucumber Vinegar Salad
There’s not much to it: mix it up and let it sit. You’ll need a knife set, cutting board, a silicone whisk, and a mixing bowl.
- Mix Marinade. Whisk together 1 cup water, ½ cup white wine vinegar, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, ¼ cup sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 tablespoon fresh dill in a large mixing bowl.
- Toss. Add 3 sliced cucumbers, 10 ounces halved cherry tomatoes, and ½ large, chopped red onion to the marinade. Stir to cover the vegetables with the liquid.
- Marinate. Use plastic wrap to tightly cover the mixing bowl, and put it in the fridge until ready to serve. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
- Serve. Portion and add fresh ground black pepper, as desired, when serving.
A sophisticated cucumber vinegar salad that tastes every bit as good as it looks!
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💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- Use a Ziplock bag. To marinate the vegetables, you can use a Ziploc bag instead of a mixing bowl, if desired. When you’re ready to serve them, just drain off the liquid and transfer them to a bowl.
- Make it ahead! The marinade stores well and can be made up to a week in advance if kept in the refrigerator. Just make sure to mix well before using.
- Try different vinegars and herbs. Any vinegar will work in the marinade and will provide their own unique flavor. Find one you love! Basil or parsley also makes a delicious alternative to dill.
- Cut your cucumbers thin. For even more flavor, keep your cucumbers thinly sliced. They’ll have more marinade relative to cucumber.
- Keep it refrigerated. Cucumber vinegar salad is best the day you make it, but it will last in the fridge for up to 3 days if stored in a jar with a lid or another airtight container. *Don’t freeze. The tomatoes will be mushy when thawed.
❓ Recipe FAQs
It’s up to you! It also depends on what kind of cucumber you are using. Persian or English varieties have thin skins that are easily eaten. Some other varieties have thick skin that I find unpleasant to eat.
If I’m using the latter, I will peel them. Otherwise, I like the extra color and crunch the skin adds to the salad.
In this case, we want thin cucumber slices so that the vinegar marinade soaks into the cucumbers easily. Use a food processor, mandolin, or the slicing side of your grater to get perfectly even slices.
😋 More Easy Veggie Sides
- Broccolini Salad
- Cream Cheese Pasta
- Instant Pot Collard Greens
- Southern Fried Corn
- Southern Coleslaw
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📖 Recipe Card
Cucumber Vinegar Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil (extra virgin)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill (chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried dill - or more, to taste)
- 3 cucumbers (washed and sliced ¼-inch thick)
- 10 oz cherry tomatoes (1 10-ounce container, halved)
- ½ large red onion (sliced)
- ground black pepper (at serving, to taste)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the water, white wine vinegar, olive oil, sugar, salt, and dill. Once combined, stir in the cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion until coated.
- Cover the mixing bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow it to sit in the fridge and marinate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
- Remove from refrigerator. Season with fresh ground black pepper to taste when serving, if desired.
Notes
- You may also marinate the veggies in a gallon Ziplock bag, just drain the liquid and pour the veggies into a bowl to serve.
- The vinegar marinade can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for up to a week, be sure to mix well before using.
Tabe says
This was the BEST cucumber salad I’ve ever had! Used white balsamic vinegar cause I didn’t have white wine vinegar and thought it would be fine. It was SO good!
I will definitely make it again!
Anonymous says
, délicieux ,Vraiment rafraîchissante
"delicious, really refreshing"
Carmen says
Very tasty salad! Today was so hot outside, I didn't feel like doing a lot of cooking and this totally worked, thank you.