German Cucumber Salad is a low carb, healthy side dish that comes together easily with just a handful of ingredients. Made with fresh cucumbers, red onion, sour cream, vinegar, and dill it’s a refreshing side dish for a hot summer night.
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Growing up, my mama would always slice up cucumbers to go along with summer dinners.
I’d turn my nose up at them, because ew, green things. Kids don’t eat green things, Mom. Why do you even try? 😉
I was actually in my 30s before I started enjoying cucumbers that were not pickled.
Makes me sad to think of all the time I missed chowing down on these crunchy, refreshing, low carb vegetables! Cucumbers are life, man.
I still peel and slice cucumbers and serve them with a sprinkling of salt for a simple summer side dish, but you’ll more often find my cucumbers in this German cucumber salad recipe.
It’s creamy, it’s refreshing, and it goes great with just about anything. Plus, it’s an easy way to actually get my kids to eat something green without complaint! 😉
Our Greek Cucumber Salad and Cucumber Salmon Bites are a couple of other favorites around here.
Ingredients:
Cucumbers – We prefer to use English cucumbers for this recipe, due to the sweeter flavor, lack of seeds, and thinner skin. These are also often called burpless cucumbers – that thinner skin makes them a little less gassy.
Sour Cream – While you can use either mayo or sour cream in this cucumber salad, we opted for sour cream. You can also equal parts mayo and sour cream…give both options a try and see what you prefer!
Red Onion – You’ll want to slice this thin for the best texture and flavor. If you soak your red onion in water, it will take away some of the bite. We don’t do this as we like the flavor, but it’s an option if you’re sensitive to onion.
Apple Cider Vinegar – Just a touch to help balance the richness of the sour cream.
Sweetener – This ingredient is entirely optional. We like a hint of sweetness and add in just a teaspoon to balance the flavors. Skip this entirely, use real sugar if that’s all you have, or use our favorite monkfruit sweetener.
Fresh Dill – An absolute must for adding loads of fresh flavor.
How To Make Keto Cucumber Salad:
Slice & Salt: Slice two English cucumbers nice and thin using either a sharp knife or a mandoline.
Line a baking sheet with a tea towel and lay the cucumber slices out on the towel. Sprinkle them with salt and let them sit for 30 minutes.
This will help the cucumbers to release some of their water so that your salad doesn’t end up too runny.
Pat the cucumbers dry, wiping away any excess salt, and toss them in a big bowl.
Slice up some red onion, mince some garlic, and chop some dill.
Combine: Add the cucumbers, onion, garlic, and dill to a large bowl along with some sour cream and apple cider vinegar. I put in about a teaspoon of sugar substitute for just a hint of sweetness, but you can skip this entirely if you prefer.
Serve: Stir everything together to get it nice and combined, taste and adjust the seasonings (more dill? more garlic? more pepper?) and serve!
It doesn’t get much easier than this German cucumber salad recipe, right?
Serving Suggestions:
This German cucumber salad is the perfect summer side dish, going great with just about any protein you can grill. We like to make a big bowl and pull it out at dinner time all week long.
Here are a few dishes that this goes great with:
Asparagus Stuffed Chicken: Chicken breast stuffed with cheese and asparagus and wrapped in bacon.
Steak Bites: Always a hit in my house!
Lemon Baked Cod: Such a simple dinner, but packed with flavor.
Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast: The easiest way to get greens in my kiddos! 😉
Crockpot Pork Tenderloin: This turns out so tender and juicy in the slow cooker!
Blackened Mahi Mahi: This fish is ready in about 10 minutes and is packed with flavor from our homemade seasoning.
FAQ:
English cucumbers tend to be much longer and thinner, with a delicate, thin skin, and less seeds than a traditional cucumber. The flavor is a bit more mild and less bitter due to the smaller seeds.
We salt our cucumbers to release extra moisture from them before adding them to this salad. Before serving, pat them dry and wipe up any excess salt. This helps to keep them crisp and flavors them nicely as well.
Cucumber salad is generally a mixture of fresh cucumbers, thinly sliced onion, and a creamy dressing. Some cucumber salads use a vinaigrette rather than a creamy dressing.
Give this German cucumber salad recipe a try and let me know what you think! For more recipes, be sure to follow me on Facebook!
German Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 English cucumbers
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 red onion sliced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon sugar substitute
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with a tea towel.
- Thinly slice the cucumbers and lay on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with the salt.
- Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature to allow the cucumbers to release their water.
- Pat cucumbers dry, wiping away an excess salt, and add to a large mixing bowl with the red onion and garlic.
- Whisk together the sour cream, vinegar, dill, sugar substitute, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing mixture over the cucumbers and toss to coat.
- Serve immediately.
Beverly Coggeshall says
I LOVE THIS ❤️.
Lorri Bernard says
Love this recipe but – there is way too much salt, next time I will omit it or only use a pinch. Thanks for the recipe!
Pam Albee says
Been making this salad all my life – never knew the name. I haven’t followed a recipe, just did what I watched my grandmother do. Only difference is that I never use sugar, and I’ve never missed it. It’s easy, it tastes wonderful and can be made at the last minute if need be – though it’s better to let it sit a bit and let the flavors meld.
Nancy Williams says
A great recipe and was delicious
Amanda says
I love this recipe, but one question. Once I mixed the dressing on the cucumbers the sauce got a little frothy. Normal? If not, know what caused it??
Karly Campbell says
Yep, totally normal!
Aubrey Freemantle says
Question: by ingredient “fresh dill” measured by teaspoon, do I assume you are using dried dill? Or are we supposed to crunch up some fresh dill sprigs in a coffee grinder? I’m not experienced in these things but otherwise your salad looked terrific.
Karly Campbell says
I just chop fresh dill with a knife. You could use dried if you prefer – just add it to taste.
Terri Phillips says
I am diabetic as well as both of my parents. I made this salad for them today and I tried some too. We all loved it. Thank you for your recipe.
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed it, Terri!
Debora Gleason says
I made it up before breakfast & put it in the fridge because we weren’t going to be home all day. What a great salad to pull out of the fridge & eat for dinner around 6 p.m. on a hot summer day!
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed it, Debora! 🙂
Lynn says
Throw a steak on the grill… And perfect summer dinner!
But you REALL HAVE TO USE SOUR CREAM & NOT THE LOW FAT! T ACV will convert the fat to good catbs.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Lynn! I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe.
I just want to clarify that vinegar does not convert fat to carbs…not sure where you got that idea. But for keto, we want fat in our diet and not carbs anyway.
Dee says
This is great!!!! I’ve had it before but never had the recipe, and my attempts have been ok, but not quite the same. Technique counts as much as measurements!!!! Love your low carb recipes and am thrilled to find your site! Sometimes I opt for slightly higher carb count in order to lower fat count, (like in your sausage and cabbage recipe.) But your recipes are consistently delicious and thank you for all the tips and techniques.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks so much, Dee! Really appreciate that! And so glad you enjoyed the cucumber salad. 🙂
Melanie says
Just made this salad tonight as a side dish. Looks wonderful and so easy to assemble. If you have an abundance of cucumbers in your garden, this is a perfect way to use them up.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks, Melanie! 🙂
Baltisraul says
Making this salad today for our 4th celebraton. Only change is I will use dill vinegar I fusioned last summer. I try to use it whenever the recipe calls for dill and vinegar.
Karly Campbell says
Oh my, that sounds fabulous!
Cheyenne Stallings says
Yum! This sounds so good. I was wondering what the serving size was?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Cheyenne! I just divide this into 6 servings, haven’t measured it by volume. 🙂
Rhonda says
Can I get these recipes thru my email?
Karly Campbell says
Yep! You can sign up here: https://buns-in-my-oven.ck.page/e12ae3d77e!
Carol says
I tried making a half recipe and it didn’t turn out very tasty. I made a couple of mistakes – misread my half recipe figures and used way too much salt and sweetener. The main thing was the cucumber tasted somewhat bitter. First time I’ve eaten an English cucumber so don’t know if it’s supposed to taste like that or if I just don’t know how to pick a good one.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Carol! Sorry to hear this didn’t work out for you. English cucumbers really taste the same as regular though usually LESS bitter. The skin is just thinner and easier to digest.
Susan says
Hi Carol, if you cut the end off and rub it in circles around the other cut end you will see some bubbles come out. My grandmother swears that doing this draws that bitterness out. Give that a try and see if you notice a difference.
New says
I just found out I am pre diabetic less then a week ago. Ive been using your recipes and they are amazing!! Thank you
Helen says
OOOHHH MY! This recipe is the bomb! It’s so surprisingly delicious! Instead of sugar, I added Truvia, couldn’ttell the difference! This recipe is a keeper! LOVED IT!
Maria Harris says
This sounds delicious. However, I’m wondering about the salt content.
1065 mg of salt sounds wrong. Is it possible that its an error?
Karly Campbell says
It’s tricky to calculate on this one – the tablespoon of salt goes over the cucumbers to help them release their liquid. Then you drain/pat dry and remove some of that salt. So, technically, you’re not getting all of it, but it’s hard to calculate how much you are eating so I just left it as is. 🙂