Introducing your new favorite summer salad! This Creamy Vegan Cucumber Salad is made with crisp cucumbers, fresh dill, vegan yogurt, red onion, and radishes. It's ready in under 15 minutes and is light, refreshing, and oh so creamy despite being dairy-free!
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It's the perfect side dish to add a burst of freshness to your favorite summer dishes. I served mine with BBQ tofu made with homemade BBQ sauce.
The dress is made up of vegan yogurt, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and maple syrup. It's light and refreshing!
Ingredients
This vegan cucumber salad recipe is made with vegan yogurt instead of dairy-based yogurt or mayo but is still perfectly creamy despite being dairy-free and egg-free!
Mini Cucumbers: I recommend mini cucumbers for this recipe. You can also use English cucumbers if that's what you have on hand. But if your cucumbers have many seeds, I recommend removing them- this isn't necessary for mini cucumbers.
Red Onion: I prefer using red onion for this cucumber salad recipe. They are spicy and peppery which adds a ton of flavor! If you don't love a lot of raw onion flavor, use half the amount and chop it smaller.
Radishes: Radishes are underrated in my opinion. They have a sharp peppery flavor and a nice crisp texture!
Herbs: Fresh chopped dill and chives are a must!
Garlic Cloves: Fresh minced garlic is optional.
Yogurt Sauce: The dressing ingredients include unsweetened vegan yogurt, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. They are whisked together to create a tangy and light creamy sauce for our cucumber salad. The maple syrup adds a touch of sweetness to help balance the tangy flavors.
Helpful Equipment
You can use a sharp knife to thinly slice the vegetables but if you want to make the process quicker, use a mandoline slicer.
How to Make This Recipe
This healthy salad recipe is made up of simple ingredients that are fresh and bright. It's the perfect recipe to take to your next summer BBQ!
The full recipe can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Begin by thinly slicing the mini cucumbers, radishes, and red onion. Place the sliced vegetables into a large bowl along with the chopped dill, chives, and garlic.
Step 2: Toss to combine.
Step 3: In a separate small bowl, whisk together the unsweetened vegan yogurt, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, a pinch of salt, and black pepper.
Step 4: Pour the prepared sauce into the bowl of vegetables and toss them until they are thoroughly combined. If desired, take a moment to taste the mixture and add an extra pinch of salt and black pepper.
Serve immediately or store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Substitutions
This simple summer salad is completely customizable to what you enjoy or have on hand.
Vegan Yogurt: The dairy-free yogurt adds a tangy and light flavor to the creamy dressing but you can use vegan mayo or vegan sour cream. You could use vegan cream cheese as well but you will probably need to thin it out with a bit of water. Please note that I've only tried this recipe will yogurt and cannot guarantee the same results if you use something else.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Red wine vinegar or white vinegar will work just fine. If you don't like the flavor, you can opt for lemon juice instead.
Vegetables: The only mandatory vegetable is the sliced cucumbers but I don't recommend taking out the red onion, radish, dill, or chives because they contribute to the freshness and flavor of this salad. You can always do less onion if you want to reduce some of that strong flavor.
Serving Ideas
This creamy cucumber dill salad is a refreshing and bright dish that combines crisp cucumber, red onion, and radishes with a tangy yogurt dressing.
It can be served as a salad or an easy side dish.
Side dish: Serve cucumber salad as a refreshing side dish alongside grilled tofu or your favorite plant-based protein.
Wraps and sandwiches: Use the cucumber salad as a filling for wraps or sandwiches. It adds a refreshing crunch and flavor!
Topping for tacos: This crisp crunchy salad makes for a wonderful taco topping. I topped an almond flour tortilla with bbq tofu and leftover cucumber salad for dinner one night and it was incredible!
Tips & Tricks
Choose fresh cucumbers: Opt for firm, crisp cucumbers with vibrant colors. Avoid any that are soft or have wrinkled skin.
Choose a yogurt you enjoy the flavor of! I used unsweetened cashew milk yogurt. Coconut yogurt tends to have a stronger flavor so I would avoid that one. But almond milk or soy milk yogurt will work!
Remove seeds: If you're not using mini cucumbers, I recommend removing the seeds from your cucumber.
Experiment with herbs and spices: Besides dill and chives, consider adding other fresh herbs like parsley, basil, or mint. Red chili flakes would be delicious as well.
Did you know Dijon mustard isn't always vegan? Check out my article Dijon Mustard Substitutes to find out why!
Best served fresh: Cucumbers release water and they will lose a bit of their crisp texture. But it's still delicious and can be enjoyed if stored properly.
Storage
This vegan creamy cucumber salad is best served immediately but can be enjoyed for up to 3 days if stored properly in an airtight container in the fridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
I use and love Forager Project organic cashew milk yogurt. But Kite Hill's unsweetened Greek yogurt is great too!
This recipe is best served fresh but can be made an hour or two in advance. Give it a good toss before serving.
Nope! Not necessarily at all to peel the cucumbers.
Cucumbers have a high water content so it's near impossible to keep them from getting watery. You can sprinkle some salt directly on your cut cucumbers and place them in a colander for 30 minutes to help draw out some of that excess moisture. But I don't find that necessary for this recipe. It's okay that it gets a little watery- it's still delicious and will go fast!
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Recipe
Creamy Vegan Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 4 Mini Cucumbers about 2 cups
- ½ Red Onion about ¾ cup
- 1 cup Sliced Radishes
- 2 tablespoons Chopped Fresh Dill
- 2 tablespoons Chopped Chives
- 1-2 Garlic Cloves minced
- ⅓ cup Vegan Yogurt unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard see note
- 1 teaspoon Maple Syrup
- Pinch of Kosher Salt
- Pinch of Black Pepper
Instructions
- Prep your vegetables by thinly slicing the mini cucumbers, radishes, and red onion. You'll want roughly 2 cups of cucumbers, 1 cup of radishes, and 1 cup of red onion. Add vegetables to a large bowl.
- Finely chop the dill, chives, and garlic and add to the large bowl with the vegetables.
- Whisk together the unsweetened vegan yogurt, dijon mustard, maple syrup, pinch of salt, and black pepper in a small dish.
- Pour the sauce into the bowl of vegetables and toss until well combined. Taste and add an additional pinch of salt and black pepper if needed.
- Serve immediately or store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Notes
Disclosure: This page contains some affiliate links. Please know that I may receive a percentage or commission from a link included on this page, at no extra cost to you. I will only ever recommend a product that I have used and believe has substantial value to my readers.
Nicholas Benedetto says
Vegan? Since when is a salad NOT vegan. When you don't use a vinaigrette dressing.
Liv says
This salad contains vegan yogurt. Regular yogurt is not vegan. Hence why I used vegan in the title. Thank you!