With garden fresh cucumbers, onions, and sour cream, this Creamy Cucumber Salad is a cool, refreshing summer salad great for cookouts or light dinners.
I’m doing my summer MIA thing again. I know. I swore this would be the summer I finally shared the recipe for this Creamy Cucumber Salad, though, since I make it every single summer and never shared it! It also took me four years to share the Watermelon Punch recipe.
It’s just not easy for me to get everything done in the summer. I do have a few more recipes coming up in the next few weeks, though, then I might disappear again for two weeks until school starts back up. I’m still hoping to make it to the ocean before it’s too late!
Enough about my summer, and more about this cucumber salad! I have always preferred cucumber salad with sour cream over all the other cucumber salads out there, especially the cucumber in vinegar salad without any sour cream kind that one of my closest friends loves. I just figure if your going to do that you might as well just make pickles.
In my Creamy Cucumber Salad recipe, I use sour cream which I thin out with vinegar, then add sugar and dill. It’s creamy and tart, and can easily be adjusted with more or less vinegar and sugar. I used to add salt and pepper as well, but I forgot this time. For the most part I have stopped adding salt to most of my recipes, preferring to let people add it if they want it when they are eating.
How do you make Creamy Cucumber Salad?
Peel and thinly slice cucumbers, chop onions fine and set aside while you prepare the dressing.
In a medium mixing bowl combine sour cream,
vinegar,
sugar and dill.
Mix well with a whisk. Taste and adjust the dressing if needed.
Fold in the cucumbers and onions.
Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for for at least one hour before serving.
I make it with cucumbers right from my garden. Unfortunately, my garden isn’t doing too well this year, so it’s a good thing cucumbers are available everywhere right now! We do have a bunch of tomatoes, but they are still green. I’d better make my favorite fried green tomatoes next!
Here are some more of my favorite summer salads:
Mozzarella Tomato Artichoke Salad
Bacon Ranch Green Onion Pasta Salad
and a few from some fabulous food bloggers:
Easy Caprese Pasta Salad from Masala Herb
Summer Corn Salad from Cooking with Carlee
Watermelon Salad with Cucumber Feta and Mint from My Kitchen Love
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- 3 pounds sliced and peeled cucumbers (weight after peeling)
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
- 18 ounces light sour cream
- 3/4 cup white distilled vinegar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried dill weed (or 2 teaspoons fresh chopped dill)
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Peel and slice the cucumbers, put aside. Chop the onion fine and continue to the dressing.
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In a medium size mixing bowl combine the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, and dill, stir well. Taste and adjust the vinegar and sugar if needed.
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Fold in the cucumbers and onions, mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
Taste the sour cream mixture and adjust the vinegar and sugar to taste before adding the cucumbers.
Jeff says
December 12, 2017 at 1:42 pmI’’m making this for a Christmas side dish. Reminds me of my Aunt’s from years ago. Sounds delicious and I can’t wait!!
Bernadette says
December 13, 2017 at 9:16 amGreat, I hope everyone likes it!
Barb C says
April 28, 2019 at 7:11 pmHow much of each of the ingredients ?
Thank you
Bernadette says
April 28, 2019 at 7:51 pmCan you see the printable recipe card? If you can’t, please let me know because that is a serious problem. The ingredient amounts and instructions are listed there, and you can change the number of servings using the arrow by the “servings” number, which will then automatically change the ingredient amounts.
Ann Onnen says
April 26, 2018 at 9:35 amI have made this for years and it is a family favorite! Someting I do to reduce excess water in cukes that tends to water down the dressing…after slicing cukes and onions, I alternately layer cukes, then onions in a large bowl, salting each layer as I go. Place a flat plate on top of layers and weight down with something heavy to compress cuke/onion layers. Set aside for a few hours, or as long as you can, occasionally draining water off. Works really well to keep dressing from becoming watered down. Also, only add dressing right before seving.
Bernadette says
April 26, 2018 at 12:30 pmHi Ann, that’s a good idea! I usually make this salad last minute in the summer, without having planned to, really. I usually always have sour cream and we grow cucumbers, so I can put it together when we have people over. Next time I plan ahead to make it, I will try it this way. Thanks!
Donna says
May 4, 2018 at 9:47 pmThis is my most favorite salad but I agree that’s too much vinegar I would start with one or 2 tablespoons of vinegar first and then I would add more if I thought I need more
Michelle says
June 16, 2018 at 8:21 pmMy mom used to always make this but she would use mayonnaise instead of sour cream. I made it tonight and the dressing tastes the same as she used to make even though I used sour cream. I can not wait until tomorrow to dig in!
Celia says
June 17, 2018 at 11:35 amHaving a German mother, there is no such thing as too much vinegar. However, I found it a little too sharp. Next time I may try cider vinegar instead. Otherwise, very nice. (BTW, again being German, whole milk sour cream is good. 😁)
Bernadette says
June 20, 2018 at 10:10 pmI’m mostly German as well. I only used reduced fat sour cream because my husband has to watch his diet.
Steph says
July 4, 2018 at 2:21 pmThis is awful. 🤢 So disappointed. Even did 1/2 the vinegar by reading the comments. Did mayo, extra sour cream, salt pepper and it still it’s nasty!
Bernadette says
July 4, 2018 at 5:40 pmI’m sorry you didn’t like it. I’ve never tried it with mayo, so I can’t speak to that, however I’ve learned over the years that this recipe is very subjective, people either love or hate it.
Alicia M Beauchamp says
January 30, 2019 at 11:27 amI have only ever made this recipe with 5 ingredients TOTAL!! Peeled and sliced cucumbers (salted and patted dry) thinly sliced sweet onions, sour cream and salt and pepper!! That’s it!! NO vinegar, NO sugar. You can also add a bit of dill for a little pop of flavor! Also, you CAN add a tiny bit of ANY type of vinegar if you like it, just add it into the sour cream before combining with the rest a teaspoon at a time until you like the flavor! I’ve tried it with plain white vinegar, red-wine vinegar and Apple cider vinegar, but I always end up just excluding the vinegar all together!
Give that a try, you may just love it!!
Mari says
July 8, 2018 at 11:07 pmMy midwest family used Apple Cider Vinegar and we loved it that way.
Bernadette says
July 9, 2018 at 9:11 amGreat idea using apple cider vinegar. I’m glad you liked it.
Elizabeth says
August 5, 2018 at 10:03 pmMy grandmother (maiden name Ludwik- Sounds like Ludevick) is German and I have fond memories of her when I eat this dish. My mother (now 86yrs old) taught me how to make it like Grandmother did. Your recipe is the same.
❤️❤️❤️❤️ This dish. Others that don’t like it, haven’t eaten much German cuisine. Sour kraut pork chops, German potatoes salad, German cabbage and sausage soup….vinager, sour food. We German’s ❤️❤️❤️ it!. Yummm! 😋
Bernadette says
August 5, 2018 at 10:18 pmI’m first-generation American on my fathers side, he was born in Germany and became a U.S. citizen when I was 3 or 4. My parents divorced when I was 7 and I haven’t had any contact with him since. I didn’t even know this is a German recipe! I thought I didn’t like most German recipes, I guess I should research more!
Sofia Vargas says
August 28, 2018 at 12:25 pmThank you for publishing this! I’m a beginner in this thing called “cooking”/”baking”, and this recipe was easy to follow and tasted like I’ve been making the dish for years! Thanks!
~Sofia Vargas
Bernadette says
August 28, 2018 at 1:40 pmThat is great to hear! I learned slowly over the years, I do need more experience in baking, though.