Cucumber Radish Salad is an incredibly tasty salad full of fresh tastes. With slices of radishes, cucumbers, and red onions for a cucumber radish salad BURSTING with refreshing flavors and zero guilt.
Looking for an amazing anytime salad full of fresh ingredients? Try slices of radishes, cucumbers, and red onions for a cucumber radish salad BURSTING with refreshing flavors and zero guilt.
Personally, I have an obsession with salads – I love the beautiful flavors, colors…ease of making them. But recently, I realized, for a side dish blog, I have very few radish side dishes here. And the whole irony is that there is radish in the logo (so cute, right?).
This Radish salad summer side dish recipe will remedy that, and the added bonus is that I get to eat it when I am done! Just look at those chunky cucumbers, and radishes all smothered with fresh herbs………wow.
Why you will love making this side salad.
Uncommon vegetables: Radishes are not a common veggie to just consider when you go to the store. They can be spicy to some, peppery almost, and are so unique.
Radishes also give such a nice crunch in a salad and are easy just to eat as finger food with vegetable dip on a holiday platter, so while widely ignored, they are an amazing and unique vegetable option.
Quick to make: Totally light and easy, this salad is done in mere minutes with only the prep of the vegetables taking most of the time.
Let the vegetables shine: This particular recipe isn’t creamy – it’s made with homemade dressing but without the dairy like our other creamy cucumber salad has.
This allows the light, crisp taste of cucumber to be the show’s star. However, if you want a creamy-based dressing, we have that version below too!
Simple Salad Ingredients
Here is a grocery list (ingredient list) to see if you have everything on hand. If so, proceed through the instructions and learn how to make this awesome and refreshing spring salad!
- English cucumbers– quartered English cucumber pieces.
- Radishes– sliced thin, so not too overpowerful.
- Red onion– red onion can be particularly strong in fresh salads, often taking over the flavors. To let other vegetables shine, simply cut and place red onion pieces into cold water for 30 minutes, dump water, dry onions, and continue to place in salads. This takes away some of that initial bite.
- Fresh dill– there isn’t much like fresh dill. It smothers the cucumbers and radishes not only in beautiful colors but beautiful flavors.
- White sugar– we like to add white sugar to ours to cut the vinegar; it’s also fine to add a bit of honey or molasses for the same reason.
How to make Cucumber and Radish Salad Recipe.
Spring salad, summer BBQ, or fresh holiday side, this salad is a perfectly easy dish.
To kick off a few new radish dishes, which I seriously hope you enjoy, I dissected one of my favorite cucumber salads on this blog to create a new version- Radish Cucumber Salad with Homemade Dressing.
The homemade marinade, the fresh dill, and the chopped-up red onions make for a powerful and tasty side salad.
- Add cucumber slices, quartered radishes, and chopped red onion to a bowl.
- Mix vegetables together well.
- Add fresh dill herbs to a mixing bowl and combine well.
- For the homemade vinaigrette: In a separate smaller bowl, add olive oil.
- Add apple cider vinegar and sugar and mix well. This is your marinade dressing for your salad. If a creamy dressing is preferred, please see the notes below. Season dressing with salt and pepper.
- Pour oil and vinegar mixture over sliced cucumber and radishes and toss until all vegetables are well covered. Let fresh flavors mingle and marinate for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid settling. No need to add to the fridge as oil tends to harden in cold environments – the countertop is fine.
Topping Suggestion
- Add crumbled feta cheese or blue cheese to this salad!
- Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice.
How to remove excess water from Cucumbers
Cucumbers are one of the more watery vegetables. Before making a salad that contains them, it’s worth the extra step to pull out extra water.
Please note that this doesn’t have to be done if you are going to eat the salad instantly
Removing moisture is easily done by planning ahead and salting the cucumbers. Simply slice up cucumbers, toss in about 1 tsp salt, and let rest in a bowl or colander. The salt will then pull out excess water and absorb it. This process should sit for a minimum of 1 hour up to 3 full hours.
Once done, drain any excess water and dry the cucumber with a paper towel. Avoid the temptation to rinse cucumbers as that reintroduces the water.
While there might be a bit of salt left on the cucumber, just remove that from the recipe to compensate.
This step is especially important when adding a creamy dressing as the dressing + a watery cucumber aren’t so appetizing the next day.
Cucumber Radish Salad Variations
This delicious salad is perfect, but can you ever go wrong with more seasonal veggies? Here are a few ideas for a more robust salad.
- Serve chunky radishes and cucumbers on a bed of Arugula or Kale.
- Add small cubes of watermelon for a sweet bite.
- Diced Avocado is a complementary veggie for this side salad.
- Chunks of Tomatoes bring in color and texture.
Add Sour Cream Dressing
Some love what is known as Polish Cucumber and Dill Salad, which contains a creamy dressing over a vinaigrette.
If you want a creamy salad, leave out vinaigrette ingredients and whip together sour cream, fresh dill, vinegar, minced garlic, kosher salt, sugar, and freshly ground black pepper. Then toss in radishes, cucumbers, and red onions for the finish.
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- Two teaspoons of chopped fresh dill
- One tablespoon of white vinegar
- One teaspoon of minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Other simple ways to cream up a fresh cucumber salad are half a cup of sour cream + 2 tablespoons mayo or unflavored Greek yogurt with the above spices.
Recipe FAQ’s
Can I make this cucumber radish salad ahead?
Yes, cucumber and radish salad can be made ahead of time. The only concern is that cucumbers contain some moisture, and your salad may need to be slightly drained before serving. Just toss and mix.
Can you use dried dill for fresh?
Nothing takes the place of fresh herbs; however, if needed, 1 tsp dried dill is the same as one tablespoon of fresh dill.
What vegetables go well with radish cucumber salad?
Freshly quartered ripe tomatoes are a great additive.
Can you freeze this cucumber salad?
No.
Can the sugar be left out of this recipe?
Yes, but it’s a tiny amount and helps balance the vinegar. It won’t affect the overall carb count too much. The overall carb count of adding it would be about ten carbs if you were to eat ALL the salad and ALL the dressing as one serving.
Topping Suggestion
Add crumbled feta cheese or blue cheese to this salad!
Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice.
Related Side Salad Recipes
Looking for more incredible side salad ideas?
- Our Old-fashioned macaroni salad recipe is a creamy throwback recipe that goes amazing with burgers.
- Tiktok gets it right with this BBQ Salad recipe!
- Bring those heirloom tomatoes home for a colorful heirloom tomato salad recipe.
- Plus, use leftover cucumbers in this cucumber tomato avocado salad recipe.
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Cucumber Radish Dill Salad
Ingredients
- 2 English cucumbers quartered
- 12 radishes sliced thin
- 1/4 chopped red onion
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2.5 tsp white sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add sliced cucumber, quartered radishes, chopped red onion and fresh dill herbs to a mixing bowl and combine well.
- In a separate smaller bowl, add olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sugar and mix well. This is your marinade dressing.
- Season dressing with salt and pepper.
- Pour oil and vinegar mixture over cucumber and radishes and toss well until all vegetables are well covered.
- Let flavors mingle and marinate for another 30 minutes (counter top or fridge is fine), stirring occasionally.
- Serve Radish-Cucumber salad immediately or continue to refrigerate (covered) until ready to serve.
- Mix salad well before serving to prevent too much dressing settling on bottom of bowl.
- OPTIONAL: Add additional sea salt and cracked pepper before serving.
Video
Notes
How to make a Creamy Salad Dressing
If you want a creamy salad, leave out vinaigrette ingredients and instead whip together sour cream, fresh dill, vinegar, minced garlic, salt, sugar and pepper. Then toss in radishes, cucumbers and red onions for the finish. Simply combine the ingredients below and add to salad.- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: The nutritional data provided here is auto-calculated and intended for your convenience only. As it’s generated via automation, its accuracy may be compromised. For precise nutritional insight, please compute the values utilizing the actual ingredients in your recipe through your chosen nutrition calculator or application.
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