Old Fashioned Cucumbers and Onions in Vinegar

When it comes to making cucumber salad, my gran knew what she was doing. She taught me all about making old-fashioned cucumbers and onions in vinegar. That’s why I lovingly sometimes call this dish, Grandma’s Best Cucumber Salad. It’s made with crispy slices of cucumber and onion in a simple dill vinegar dressing!

Grandma’s Best Cucumber Salad makes the best side dish, especially in the hotter months. This is the perfect recipe for a picnic, potluck, or barbecue. Serve it up with burgers, chicken snack wraps, and more!

My grandma used to call this summer cucumber salad “cheap and cheerful”.

She loved the taste and the gorgeous colors in this salad. The green from the cucumber, the purple or red onions, and the delicate fresh dill.

If you love simple summer salads, then you definitely need to try this classic pasta salad, grape salad, and broccoli salad.

For more ways to use up fresh cucumbers, I highly recommend dipping some slices in this creamy dill dip.

Cucumber and Onion Salad

My grandmother always had a problem figuring out how to use up all of the cucumbers from her garden, actually my grandfather’s vegetable garden, in the summertime.

She often ended up making lots of cucumber salads and this one is one of her favorites, and as a result, my favorite too!

Old-fashioned cucumbers and onions with vinegar, also called cucumber vinegar salad, contains a light dressing with the right amount of sweetness and tang.

But I’m also giving you another option to make it using a creamy dill dressing. So good and only a few simple ingredients.

These are perfect ways to use up all of our cucumbers! Unfortunately, I don’t have the time, or the need for that matter, to pickle like my grandmother used to every summer.

Ingredients

• Cucumbers: Keep reading for more about which cucumbers work best.
• Onion: I like using red onion when making old-fashioned cucumbers and onions in vinegar for the additional color it gives the salad and its crisp bite. However, you can use just about any onions.
• White wine vinegar: Use any vinegar such as apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, and white vinegar.
• Sugar: Just a touch to balance out the acidity of the vinegar.
• Fresh dill: Fresh herbs give a nice burst of flavor to this simple salad.
• Salt and black pepper

Check the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and quantities for each one.

What Are the Best Cucumbers for Salad

Generally, there are a few types of cucumbers that work well to make the best cucumber salad!

No matter which kind of cucumber you’re looking to buy to make this easy cucumber salad, choose cucumbers that are firm and ideally don’t have any visible marks or soft spots.

Slicing Cucumbers

Regular, slicing cucumbers are shorter, fatter, and heavier than English cucumbers. They have seeds and have a much thicker skin.

This is the kind of cucumber my grandfather grew and my grandmother used to make the best cucumber salads.

The thick peel can sometimes be bitter so peeling is best, but sometimes my grandmother would leave a few thin lines of the peel on the cucumbers so they looked prettier when serving.

English Cucumbers

English cucumbers are generally a little sweeter than common slicing cucumbers. They’re longer, thinner, and lighter. They have thinner skin and are usually sold wrapped in plastic to protect the skin from being easily damaged.

As a result of the thin skin, they don’t need to be peeled. They have fewer seeds that are easily edible.

This is the kind of cucumber I use most frequently when making either a creamy or vinegar cucumber onion salad.

Persian Cucumbers

Persian or mini cucumbers are thin-skinned and only grow to be between five to six inches long. They’re almost seedless, have a mild, sweet flavor, and don’t need to be peeled before eating.

Persian and English cucumbers can be used interchangeably in any recipe I have ever seen.

Pickling Cucumbers

Pickling cucumbers are shorter and thicker than slicing cucumbers as a rule. They are yellow to dark green in color, have thin skins, and are bumpy with black spines so they will look better pickled inside a glass jar.

Pickling varieties can be eaten fresh and slicing varieties can be pickled, but you wouldn’t want to use pickling cucumbers for anything other than picking if you have a choice, in my opinion.

How to Make Cucumber Salad

Let’s quickly walk through how to make the salad. You will find detailed instructions further down in the recipe card.

Step 1: Prep the Cucumbers and Onions

Peel your cucumbers if that’s how you like them. I try and use the English cucumbers so I don’t have to.

Slice all of your cucumbers in half LENGTHWISE.

Using a spoon, scrape out seeds and watery pulp from inside of the cucumbers. Pat freshly scooped cucumber surface with a paper towel and then slice. Then, thinly slice the onion.

Step 2: Press Water Out

Place cucumber and onion slices into a strainer over the top of a bowl to catch all the water from the cucumbers. Toss them with one tablespoon of salt.

Now, here is the trick. Grab one or two of your largest resealable bags and fill them up with water. Make sure the bags are sealed up tight.

Place bags on top of the cucumber onion mixture and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.

Once ready, remove cucumbers from the strainer, place them inside a large bowl, and discard juices from the bowl.

Step 3: Make the Vinegar Dressing

Boil water in a small saucepan. Then add salt and pepper. When the water comes to a boil, remove it from the heat. Add sugar and vinegar and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

When cool enough place the vinegar mixture into the refrigerator.

Step 4: Prepare the Cucumber Salad

When the vinegar mixture is cold pour it over all of the cucumber and sliced onions.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh dill or parsley.

Leave the cucumber salad to chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Storage

Make ahead: You can make this simple cucumber salad recipe right before serving or ahead of time to let the cucumbers have longer to marinate though the longer the cucumbers sit the less crisp they will be.

Refrigerate: Store old-fashioned cucumbers and onions with vinegar in your fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days for the best flavor.

Substitutions

• Red onions: Swap with thinly sliced shallots or green onions.
• Fresh herbs: Really fresh herbs are the best way to go but if necessary you can substitute with dried ones instead. Use about one heaping tablespoon of dried.
• Dill: Want to try something different? Try the salad with mint, parsley, or basil.

Variations

There’s so much flexibility with this salad! That’s what makes it so amazing. My gran would often add different ingredients to use up fresh veggies she had on hand and switch between a vinegar and creamy dressing so it was always a little bit different.

Summer Cucumber Salad

Have a garden with lots of fresh veggies? Or a CSA delivery with fresh ingredients to use? The summer means lots of fresh produce you can add to create some amazing combinations.

Here are mine and my grandma’s favorites:

• Diced or sliced sweet peppers
• Fresh corn
• Sliced radishes
• Half or whole grape or cherry tomatoes
• Diced avocado

But really, you can use any veggies from your summer garden when making this salad.

Cucumber and Onion Salad With Beans or Cheese

My close friend Julie adds chickpeas to her version of these cucumber dill salads and swears you can also use white beans, light red kidney beans, or any other lighter texture beans.

She also introduced me to cucumber and onion salad with crumbled feta or goat cheese over the top.

The cheese and beans add some protein to the salad, making it a bit heartier.

Creamy Cucumber Salad Recipe

Another signature variation is making it with a creamy dressing instead of just vinegar.

This creamy cucumber salad comes together so easily, what’s not to love? The taste of the sour cream with the apple cider vinegar. LOVE IT.

This one is so popular in my home, that I’m actually including both dressing ways to make it in the recipe card so you can choose.

The recipe uses sour cream or Greek yogurt for the creamy texture. They both have a similar texture but their flavor is a bit different with the yogurt having just a bit more tanginess. Also, Greek yogurt is the healthier option between the two.

I’m not a fan of the yogurt so I recommend you try blending them both together by using three-quarters of a cup of sour cream and one-quarter cup of Greek yogurt.

Creamy Cucumber Dill Salad

Dill goes great in cucumber salad and you can opt for it over other herbs in both the creamy version and vinegar version of this salad.

Dill was my grandma’s traditional herb when making her old-fashioned cucumbers and onions with vinegar.

Expert Tips

• Bitter skin: Peel larger cucumbers with bitter skin so it doesn’t add bitterness to the salad.
• Eat immediately: Letting the salad sit for a bit to absorb the flavor is fine but really this salad tastes best when eaten within the first 24 hours.
• Fresh herbs: Give this salad the most flavor and are more visually appealing.
• Salt and press: For a less watery salad, take the time to press all the water from the cucumbers.

FAQs

How Do You Remove the Excess Water From Cucumbers for Salad?

The easiest way is to salt the cucumbers and let them sit inside your fridge.

After salting the cucumbers in a bowl, place a large resealable bag filled with water, that is sealed up tight, on top of the cucumbers so the surface is covered.

Weighing your cucumbers and onions down helps them or should I say forces them, to release more water than simply salting them.

Grandma’s Best Cucumber Salads Video

Check out our video for making both of these delicious salads!