Cucumber Tomato Salad

Name: Cucumber Tomato Salad
Prep time: 2 min
Total time: 2 min
Ingredients: 1 cucumber (sliced and then cut in to halves); 4 tomatoes (cut in to eighths); 1 red onion (peeled and thinly sliced); 1 tbsp olive oil; 0.5 lemon ((juice only)); 2 tbsp mint sauce; 1 pinch sea salt and black pepper; 10 fresh mint leaves (finely chopped)

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Fresh cucumber and tomato slices made up the bulk of this salad that is brought together by a simple but punchy mint dressing. This Cucumber Tomato Salad is the perfect light side dish to a curry, or even served up at a BBQ for something a little different.

A bowl of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and onions in a dressing, next to a purple towel on a wooden surface.

This salad is one of our favourite healthy easy side dishes and it's made weekly during the summer months. We could all do with some more easy side dishes, right? We love a cucumber based salad, as not only is it a cheap ingredient to bulk out a salad with, but it is hydrating too. It's a really simple flavour, so it goes with pretty much everything.

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Why should I try it?
What you will need
Step by step
How to adapt
Salad dressing
What to serve it with
FAQs
Extra tips
More salad recipe
Recipe

Why should I try it?

An easy side salad
Delicious served alongside a curry to lighten it up.
A budget side dish
Can be made in advance

What you will need

Tomatoes - The key to this salad is to use really fresh, ripe summer tomatoes. If you make this out of season, then chances are you are going to have hard and tasteless tomatoes that will pretty much ruin this salad.
Cucumber - We used just your standard English cucumber to make this and we didn't remove the seeds or peel it, because there is just no need and the skin has all the fibre. You could make this with mini cucumbers and cherry tomatoes instead too.
Red onion - This adds some colour and crunch to the dish. However, not everyone can tolerate raw red onion, so you could sauté is a little, or swap it for chopped shallots instead.
Olive oil - Use the best quality that you can, as you really will taste the difference.
Lemon juice
Mint sauce - This gives it a really intense mint flavour, and helps add to the sauciness. Try to use the best quality one you can, otherwise it will be too liquidy and have a strong vinegar taste.
Fresh mint - Although the mint sauce adds lots of mint flavour, you can't beat the flavour of fresh mint.

Step by step

One: Put the cucumber, tomato and red onion in a bowl.

A metal mixing bowl containing sliced cucumber, tomato and red onion.

Two: Add the oil, lemon juice, mint sauce and fresh mint.

Mint sauce and mint leaves added to the bowl.

Three: Add salt and pepper and mix well.

How to adapt

As with all our recipes, we try to make them easy to adapt, so you can put your own little spin on them and enjoy them a different way every time. We sometimes add olives, or mozzarella balls/feta, or if we want to make it in to more of a main meal, then some slices of grilled chicken breast work well.

Salad dressing

A dressing really makes a salad I think. This couldn't be easier, and we have just added some olive oil, lemon juice, mint sauce and fresh mint to the tomatoes and cucumber. You can even make this a creamy cucumber salad by adding a couple of tablespoons of Greek yogurt, crème fraîche or sour cream.

Sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and red onion coated in mint sauce.

What to serve it with

This recipe was actually created as a side dish to a takeaway curry. We were craving a really indulgent curry, but wanted something light to go with it, so I made this. But, we have enjoyed it so many different ways since. It goes really well with something like grilled chicken or ribs, but we have also stuffed it in to a pita bread with some falafel.

Here are some dishes that we have really enjoyed this salad with:

A salad of tomato, cucumber and onion in a red bowl.

FAQs

How to store cucumber tomato salad

You can make this a couple of hours in advance and store in a covered container in the fridge. I wouldn't keep it for much longer than that, as the tomatoes tend to go a bit soft. If you can, keep the chopped salad in the fridge and add the dressing just before serving as this will taste much fresher.

Do you have to use fresh herbs?

The majority of the mint flavour in this salad comes from the mint sauce, so you don't have to use any fresh mint. However, we find that it adds a lovely light freshness to the dish.

Extra tips

There are so many additions you can make to this salad. One of our favourites is to add some olives, or if you want to make it more of a main dish, then some slices are grilled chicken breast are good.
You can make this a few hours ahead of serving it and then leave it in the fridge. The flavours will really intensify if it is left for a little while. Don't leave it too long though, as the tomatoes might go a bit soft from being cut.
You could swap the mint for basil and take out the mint sauce and use balsamic vinegar instead.

More salad recipe

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