Creamy Cucumber Salad

Creamy Cucumber Salad with sour cream is cool, crisp and takes minutes to make. This quick and easy summer salad recipe is a classic side dish that goes well with just about anything. Serve it with beef, pork, chicken or seafood for the perfect complement to any meal.

When I was growing up, this sour cream cucumber salad was on the table very frequently during the summer months. Sometimes, my mom would make it and sometimes my grandmother would, but either way, it was always cool, creamy and completely delicious.

We had it with ribs, steaks, burgers -- you name it. That's the great thing about this easy side salad -- it goes well with pretty much anything. And, you can make it in just a few minutes.

Now personally, I like the taste of cucumbers, and it doesn't matter how they're prepared. I can eat them plain -- well, with a little bit of sea salt. I also think the cukes add some awesome crunch to tossed salads, and I love them with a bit of vinegar and olive oil. And pickles? Wonderful! 

Only 6 Ingredients

You only need 6 ingredients for this old fashioned creamy sour cream cucumber salad.  It's made with sour cream, no mayo -- and without dill. I love cucumber dill dip, and dill dip but I don't like dill in cucumber salad! Strange but true!

• Cucumbers -- use regular cucumbers or English
• Sour cream -- sub Greek yogurt if you want
• Vinegar
• Sugar
• Sea salt and pepper

How to Make Creamy Cucumber Salad

First, you peel the cucumbers and slice them nice and thin. If you're using English, hot house or Persian cucumbers, you don't need to peel them. I usually peel the cucumbers anyway, no matter what kind I have.

You can use a mandolin slicer if you prefer. I don't, since I personally don't like super thin cucumbers in this salad.

Then, you sprinkle a little bit of sea salt and pepper over the cukes. You can use regular salt if you want, but I love sea salt, especially pink  Himalayan salt, so that's what I use. My kids love helping out with the seasoning, so I usually let them do this part.

Note -- Many recipes call for salting the cucumbers to remove extra water before adding the sour cream. If you're eating the salad right away, you don't have to do this. My mom and grandma never did, so I skip this part.

However, if you want to make the salad ahead of time this step prevents the salad from becoming too watery as it sits. Just salt the cucumbers, allow them to drain in a colander, then rinse, and stir in the dressing.

Then, mix the sour cream, vinegar and sugar in a separate bowl until creamy. After that, you just stir the dressing with the cucumbers, and you're done! We never add onions to our cucumber salad, but you can add thinly sliced red or yellow onions if you like.

This quick and easy cucumber salad has been around forever, but you all know by now that I have a huge soft spot for classic retro recipes. I like to serve them every now and then just so that my kids can taste the dishes that their parents and grandparents grew up with, and in this case, I also just love how it tastes.

How easy is this?! Anyone else grow up with this creamy cucumber salad? I've seen some recipes that call for dill, which sounds good too, but that's not how my mom and grandma made it.

How to Store

Store the salad tightly covered in the refrigerator. Cucumbers release a lot of water, so leftover salad may get runny even if you salt the cucumbers as I mentioned above. Just drain the excess liquid before serving.

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Published by Dee

Creamy Cucumber Salad with sour cream is cool, crisp and takes minutes to make. This quick and easy summer salad recipe is a classic side dish that goes well with just about anything.

4.84 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 0 mins

Total Time 10 mins

Course Salad, side

Cuisine American

Servings 8 servings

Calories 46 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 large cucumbers washed, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ tablespoon vinegar
• ½ teaspoon sugar

Instructions

 

• Place the cucumber slices in a medium bowl, and season with salt and pepper
• In another bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar and sour cream together
• Stir sour cream mixture into cucumbers until well coated
• Refrigerate until ready to serve

Notes

Best when served right after making. To make ahead of time, you can remove excess water by salting sliced cucumbers and draining liquid in colander for 30 minutes. Then, rinse, and add sour cream mixture.

Add thinly sliced yellow or red onions if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 46kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 1gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 304mgPotassium: 187mgFiber: 1gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 208IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 34mgIron: 1mg

Keyword creamy cucumber salad, sour cream cucumbers

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More Easy Summer Side Salad Recipes

• Easy Three Bean Salad
• Instant Pot Potato Salad
• Cucumber Tomato Salad
• Watermelon Feta and Blueberry Salad

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Recipe first published in 2016 and updated in 2021