Valentina Ablaev
Nothing beats a refreshing fresh cucumber tomato onion salad with a delicious, easy dressing. This recipe makes the perfect side salad, loaded with crunchy textures and flavors. What makes this salad so good is the combination of basic vegetables that come together to create an incredible summer salad.
One thing I love is simple salads. Give me a fresh tomato and onion salad, and I’m happy! The most important part of a salad is not a hundred different ingredients but just a few fresh ingredients. That’s why this tomato cucumber salad is such a classic: it’s simple, yet the flavors shine through. Serve this salad with homemade pelmeni for a well-rounded meal!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This summer salad is perfect for using up all the vegetables you have in your fridge (and your garden, if you’re lucky). This salad is incredibly easy to customize and is always a crowd-pleaser. Take these simple staple ingredients and the base and build on the salad!
Ingredients for Cucumber Tomato Onion Salad:
The fresh vegetables make this salad what it is!
- Tomatoes – for the best flavor, use ripe tomatoes.
- Cucumbers – mini english cucumbers have a great flavor and great crunch.
- Red onion – thinly sliced to add crunch and color to this salad.
- Herbs – fresh herbs are what make this spring salad. We use a combination of fresh parsley, cilantro, and dill.
- Dressing – a simple yet delightful combination of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and fresh black pepper.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Add protein: Bulk up this salad with slices of juicy grilled chicken.
- Add pasta: Add cooked pasta to turn this into a fresh pasta salad.
- Add other vegetables. You can easily add avocado, bell peppers, snap peas, or cauliflower to elevate the flavors or clean out your fridge.
- Spicy. Add chili flakes to this salad just like in our spicy cucumber salad.
How to Make Vegetable Salad
- Prepare salad. To a large salad bowl, add tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and fresh herbs.
2. Make dressing. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Add the dressing to the salad bowl and toss.
Expert Tips:
- Summer salad. This is the best salad to make with in-season produce! Fresh tomatoes and cucumber are what truly take this salad to the next level.
- Get creative with the dressing. Level up this salad by creating a delicious dressing! Try our simple poppy seed dressing or a refreshing, zesty greek dressing.
- Level up your salad. Top the salad with feta cheese, just like in our loaded greek salad.
Serving Suggestions
- From side dish to a meal: Top this vegetable salad with protein to make a filling dish. Top this salad with juicy chicken breast or even oven-baked salmon!
- Full-course meal: This salad is excellent when served with a loaded baked potato, and the finishing touch is chicken on the grill – the perfect summer meal.
Store & Reheat
- Storage. Keep leftover salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freeze. We don’t recommend freezing this salad.
More Salad Recipes
If you enjoyed this tomato cucumber salad recipe, be sure to try our other easy salad recipes; here are some of our favorites:
If you tried this cucumber tomato salad recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below – we appreciate it!
Tomato Cucumber Onion Salad
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe tomatoes diced
- 3 mini cucumbers sliced
- ½ medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp fresh herbs parsley, cilantro, or dill
dressing –
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper or to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and fresh herbs.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.
- Serve and enjoy, friends.
Notes
- Use quality ingredients. This salad really shines when you use in-season tomatoes and cucumbers. The flavor is unmatched!
- Bulk up your salad. Add pasta or chicken to this salad to make a complete meal.
- Prep in advance. Assemble all of the vegetables in the salad bowl and wait until serving to toss in the dressing.
