Asian Cucumber Salad is an easy side dish, with sliced cucumbers & green onions marinated in an Asian-inspired sauce, served cold and crispy!
I grew up eating marinated cucumbers, because my Mom made them quite often, especially in the hot summertime. I’ve shared her basic recipe, called “Mom’s Marinated Cucumbers” here on the blog previously, and hope you will check it out, if interested. They’re really good!
This recipe I am sharing today has a slight Asian twist to it, due in part to it’s use of rice vinegar and soy sauce. Asian Cucumber Salad is simple to make in about 10 minutes, but you will have to allow time for the cucumbers to marinate for the best flavor, so plan ahead! I like to make up a batch in the morning to be able to enjoy later in the day! Let me show you how easy this salad is to make:
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Prepare The Cucumbers
Trim the ends off the cucumbers, and then use a vegetable peeler or knife to remove all the peel. Once peeled, thinly slice (about 1/4″) all of the cucumbers. You can use regular cucumbers OR English cucumbers for this salad.
NOTE: I used one really large English cucumber for these photos, but you can also use 2 large or 3 medium sized regular cucumbers, if desired. There is enough marinade for either way you choose to fix this dish.
Now it’s time to get the cucumbers ready for marinating! Place the cucumber slices and chopped green onions (scallions) into a container with a lid or a large re-sealable plastic bag. You’re going to use all the white parts of each green onion, and SOME of the green tops, okay?
NOTE: I prefer to use a large dish with a lid when marinating these, because sometimes the plastic re-sealable bags can leak (and that’s not good).
Marinate The Cucumbers
It’s EASY to make the Asian-inspired marinade for the cucumbers. Measure rice vinegar, water, reduced sodium soy sauce, granulated sugar, salt and black pepper into a small bowl. Whisk or stir well, until these ingredients are fully combined. Pour the marinade over the sliced cucumbers and green onions, and gently stir until the cucumbers are coated on all sides.
Place a tight fitting lid on the dish (or seal the bag), and place the dish into your refrigerator. For BEST flavor, let the cucumbers marinate in the sauce for several hours to saturate them with flavor (or even overnight, if you want). Stir occasionally, to ensure the cucumbers remain coated with marinade.
Serve The Asian Cucumber Salad
After they’ve marinated for several hours (or overnight), it’s time to serve the Asian Cucumber Salad. Remove the cucumbers with a slotted spoon, letting the marinade drain off the cucumbers before serving.
Transfer the drained Asian Cucumber Salad to a serving dish, and lightly sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve the salad – the cucumbers will be crisp, cold, and full of flavor! They’re so good, I find myself grabbing one or two slices out of the fridge for a quick, tasty snack any time of the day.
You can also use the marinated, drained cucumbers on your favorite mixed green salad, for a crunchy, tasty pop of flavor! They’re delicious when used in this way, as well.
I hope you have the chance to try this simple recipe, and am positive you will enjoy it. Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today. Have a great day, and come back soon, okay?
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Recipe Adapted From: The cookbook “What’s For Dinner?”, by Maryana Vollstedt, published in 1997 by Chronicle Books, page 99.
Asian Cucumber Salad is an easy side dish, with sliced cucumbers & green onions marinated in an Asian-inspired sauce, served cold and crispy!
- 2 large cucumbers *See Note below
- 3 stalks green onions (scallions) sliced (white bulb and some green tops)
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds if desired for garnish
Trim ends off the cucumbers; peel cucumbers. Once peeled, thinly slice (about 1/4") the cucumbers. Place cucumber slices and chopped green onions into a container with a lid, or into a large re-sealable plastic bag.
Measure rice vinegar, water, soy sauce, granulated sugar, salt and pepper into a small bowl. Whisk or stir well, until fully combined. Pour marinade over sliced cucumbers and green onions; gently stir until cucumbers are coated on all sides. Place a tight fitting lid on dish (or seal the bag); place in refrigerator. For BEST flavor, let cucumbers marinate in sauce for several hours to saturate with flavor (or even overnight, if you want). Stir occasionally, to ensure cucumbers remain coated with marinade.
After marinating, they're ready to eat. Remove the cucumbers from the marinade with a slotted spoon, letting the marinade drain off the cucumbers before serving. Transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle cucumbers with sesame seeds for optional garnish. Serve cold, and enjoy!
NOTE: This recipe yields approximately 4 servings as written. The caloric calculation is made using 2 large cucumbers (4 servings total). You can make this dish using 3 medium regular cucumbers, 2 large regular cucumbers, or 1 very large English cucumber, and will still have enough marinade for use in this recipe.
Here’s one more to pin on your Pinterest boards!