Cucumber Mediterranean Salad

This Cucumber Mediterranean Salad is light and refreshing. It’s inspired by Mediterranean flavors, like lemon, extra virgin olive oil, fresh parsley and mint. And if you garden? This Mediterranean cucumber tomato salad is a great recipe to use some summer home-grown veggies!

Why You’ll Love This Mediterranean Cucumber Salad

• This salad is simple – simple ingredients, and simple techniques. Just need to do some chopping!
• If you have a home garden, this is a great recipe to feature a lot of your homegrown produce!
• Even if you don’t garden, the fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and herbs are a great way to eat seasonally in the summer.
• It tastes light and refreshing, with fresh flavors of parsley, mint, and lemon.
• This Cucumber Mediterranean Salad pairs beautifully with grilled chicken, salmon, shrimp, and a carb of your choosing. It even makes an excellent topper for hummus or avocado toast!

Featured Ingredients

• Cucumber: This recipe calls for a seedless English cucumber, but you can use 3 cups of any chopped cucumber. Persian cucumbers go great! If your cucumbers have a lot of large seeds, I’d suggest de-seeding the cucumbers before chopping.
• Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes go great in this salad. Alternatively you can de-seed and chop roma or any other tomato you have. Unfortunately canned tomatoes don’t work the same in this recipe!
• Fresh Herbs: Fresh Italian parsley and mint add beautiful, fresh Mediterranean flavors to this salad!
• Olive Oil: Olive oil is a Mediterranean staple. I suggest using the best cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil you can find.
• Lemon: Another Mediterranean staple, lemon pairs wonderfully with the fresh veggies and herbs in this salad.

How to Make Cucumber Mediterranean Salad

1. Chop cucumber, tomatoes, and fresh herbs.
2. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and stir to combine.
3. Serve immediately and enjoy.

Storage

This Mediterranean Cucumber Salad is best when its consumed fresh the day of making. However, it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Recipe Q&A

Can I substitute dried herbs?

No. With such few, simple ingredients, using fresh herbs makes this recipe.

I don’t like mint, is there anything I can use instead?

You can substitute fresh basil for fresh mint in this recipe. That said, the mint is really delicious and not overpowering here. I encourage you to give it a try!

Can I substitute bottled lemon juice?

Yes – you can use a tablespoon of fresh lemon or bottled lemon juice, whatever is more accessible to you.

Is this gluten free?

All ingredients in this Cucumber Mediterranean Salad are naturally gluten-free.

How do I de-seed a cucumber?

If you’re using English cucumbers or Persian cucumbers, you don’t need to de-seed them for this recipe!

If you’re using other cucumbers with larger seeds, to de-seed:

1. Slice cucumber in half length-wise.
2. Use a spoon to scrape the juicy, seedy insides out. Discard the seedy innards.

How do I de-seed tomatoes?

Cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes don’t need to be de-seeded. For all other tomatoes, to de-seed:

1. Slice tomato in half length-wise.
2. Use a spoon to scrape the juicy, seedy insides out and discard.

Is this a good meal prep recipe?

Yes! It’s only really good for the first three days, but with no lettuce to worry about wilting, this salad would be great for meal prep.

Serving Suggestions

This salad is a delicious side dish and pairs great with many proteins and carbs! I love to whip up this salad to go alongside some air fryer or grilled chicken or fish and serve it with some bread, rice, or roasted potatoes.

Some specific pairings include Pesto Crusted Salmon and Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs. It also is a great dish to round out a lunch of Air Fryer Tortilla Pizzas or Chicken Pesto Wraps!

You can also serve this salad for brunch as a topper for toast topped with hummus, avocado, or ricotta.

Or as a Mediterranean hummus appetizer! Top fresh hummus with a couple heaping spoonfuls of this salad for a refreshing dip!

More Cucumber Recipes:

• Cucumber Mint Agua Fresca
• Pineapple Cucumber Smoothie
• Cucumber Pico de Gallo
• Carrot and Cucumber Salad (Asian-Inspired)
• Cucumber Chickpea Salad
• How to Freeze Cucumbers

More Delicious Salad Recipes:

• Burrata Caprese
• Watermelon Basil Salad
• Quinoa Kale Salad
• Fresh Beetroot Salad
• Greek Lentil Salad

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