This Cucumber Tomato Salad is my go-to, easy summer side salad made with crunchy cucumbers, juicy in-season tomatoes, and marinated red onions. It’s fresh and light, making it perfect for hot weather.
Serve this Cucumber Tomato Salad alongside my Mediterranean Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner for a light, refreshing meal.
Cucumber Tomato Salad
This Cucumber Tomato Salad is the side dish you’ll see me making all summer, especially when my garden is overflowing with tomatoes. It’s refreshing, delicious, and takes just minutes to make. Serve it with anything you’re grilling, like steaks, my Grilled Pollo Sabroso, Grilled Pork Chops, or Grilled Shrimp.
Why This Recipe Works
I love making this salad in the summer when tomatoes are at their peak because it pairs well with many dishes and doesn’t take long to prepare. Here are more reasons you should try it:
- No Cooking Required: No need to turn on an oven–just chop and mix!
- Refreshing: Cucumbers and tomatoes are packed with water and vitamins.
- Customizable: I’ve included some ideas below for other ingredients you can add to make this salad your own.
For a heartier version, don’t miss my Chickpea Salad with Cucumbers and Tomatoes.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients you need for this cucumber and tomato salad. See the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Red Onions are marinated in the vinaigrette, which mellows their flavor.
- Salt and Black Pepper to season the veggies
- Cucumber Tomato Salad Dressing: Red or white wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil
- Persian Cucumbers are small cucumbers with thin skin and minimal seeds, which makes them less watery than regular cucumbers. Garden cucumbers or English cucumbers can also be used.
- Tomatoes: Use ripe, but not mushy, heirloom or beefsteak tomatoes.
How to Make Cucumber Tomato Salad
This easy cucumber tomato salad takes less than 15 minutes to make! While the red onions are marinating, chop the remaining vegetables. See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.
- Marinate the Onions in a bowl with the salt, oil, and vinegar.
- Make the Salad: After 5 to 10 minutes, add tomatoes with their juices and cucumbers. Stir in the remaining oil, and season with more salt and vinegar if needed.
Variations
- Vegetable Swaps: Substitute a shallot for the red onion, cherry or grape tomatoes for the larger ones. If you use a regular cucumber, peel and seed it first.
- Add more veggies, like avocado, or bell peppers.
- Feta: Mix in some crumbled feta.
- Herbs: Garnish with fresh basil, dill, parsley, or mint.
- Briny Ingredients: Add capers or sliced Kalamata or Castelvetrano olives.
- More Flavor: Sprinkle za’atar or grate a garlic clove into the dressing.
- Make It Heartier: Stir in canned chickpeas. Just rinse and drain them first.
Serving Suggestions
Add a Protein: Keep it low-carb and pair this salad with:
More Side Dish Ideas:
For a more filling dinner, adding any of these would be a great compliment:
Make It a Mediterranean Feast:
Serve with one of these main dishes:
Storage
- Make Ahead: If you’re serving this cucumber tomato salad for a party, you can prepare it up to an hour in advance.
- How to Store: It’s best eaten the day it’s made, as it’ll become watery the longer it sits. However, you can refrigerate any leftovers for up to a day.
More Summer Salad Recipes You’ll Love
For more side dish ideas, check out these five delicious summer salads to inspire your next meal!
- Summer Tomato Salad
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad
- Watermelon Feta Salad
- Black Bean, Avocado, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad
If you make this healthy cucumber tomato salad recipe, I would love to see it. Tag me in your photos or videos on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook! And be sure to join the Skinnytaste Community to see what everyone’s cooking!
Cucumber Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- ¼ cup red onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 Persian cucumbers, halved and sliced
- 2 large ripe heirloom tomatoes, or beefsteak, diced
Instructions
- Add onions to a mixing bowl and top with salt, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and vinegar. Let it marinate 5 to 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes with their juices and cucumber.
- Toss well, drizzle with the remaining teaspoon of oil and adjust the salt and vinegar to taste.
I like to toss in a split, seeded, and sliced jalapeño in with the onions while they marinate.
Yum!
Delicious! Made this so many times this summer. Used my garden tomatoes. Perfect just as written. Added feta and some fresh basil when I needed to use it up. Make this salad!
Delicious!!!
Served it as a side during a “fiesta” themed barbecue and it was a great success. Used halved cherry tomatoes. Prepared marinade, cucumbers and tomatoes earlier in the day and kept them in separate containers. Tossed them together just before the company arrived and it was perfect by the time we enjoyed it.
My garden is overflowing with cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. I add peppers, chickpeas and feta to mine.
This is so delicious and easy to make! I have made it with and without tomatoes, simply because my garden isn’t producing tomatoes heavily yet. Delicious either way!
Delicious and so quick and easy! We have cucumbers and tomatoes in our garden, and coming out of our ears! Perfect recipe to use these up!
Looks like Israeli salad to me!
Similar, but no bell pepper or lemon juice and chopped much larger.