Tomato Cucumber Avocado Salad (15 Minute Recipe)

Whip this avocado salad up for any summer party! Loaded with yummy flavors and easy to throw together, it’s sure to please a crowd.

When my friends come over for taco night, I want to be sure I have something ready that’s easy to make and also full of fresh ingredients. Sure, I could make just any regular salad, but what’s the fun in that? Sometimes you don’t want to eat *yet another* ambiguous lettuce mixture. Plus, the colors in this avocado salad brighten up the spread and make it feel like a real fiesta!

With the light, lemony dressing and all of the good whole food ingredients, this avocado and tomato salad is such a crowd pleaser. I could eat avocado and cilantro by the spoonful, so I might be biased. But I think I’m onto something here.

The versatility of this salad is endless. There’s so many options for mixing up the vegetables and making it feel like a whole new salad, like adding bell peppers, carrots, or even corn. How can you go wrong with that?

Ingredients for Cucumber Avocado Salad

Obviously everyone considers the main ingredients in any salad to be the vegetables. However, I’m here to tell you the dressing is the most important part. I said what I said. From the olive oil down to the dijon, all of the ingredients are a match made in heaven.

• Lemon Juice and Olive Oil: Flavor-wise, these two go together like peas and carrots. The lemon juice in particular will also do a great job of keeping your avocado looking fresh and green while your salad is sitting in a serving bowl at the party. When avocados are exposed to the air, they can brown pretty quickly. Citrus juice is the cure. Plus, yum.
• Herbs: We’re using equal parts cilantro and parsley. Together, they add a nice, fresh flavor to the dressing that’s hard to obtain without fresh herbs.
• Garlic and Dijon: These ingredients will round out the flavor of your dressing. Garlic does what garlic always does and we love that around here. The dijon will add a little extra tangy flavor to make it special.
• Veggies: The vegetables in this recipe create a mixture of goodness that’s hard to beat. The textures, the colors, the flavor… need I say more? That being said, you can mix up this part as you see fit to incorporate your favorites.

How to make Avocado Salad

Like any salad, most of the prep work is just in chopping up your ingredients for assembly. It’s easy to put together and you’ll only have like, two dishes to clean afterwards. Follow these steps for the perfect final result!

Step 1: Dressing
After chopping up your herbs nice and small and measuring your ingredients, you’ll want to whisk together the dressing ingredients in a large bowl. Using a whisk will help ensure that the oil and lemon juice don’t separate and everything gets blended together well.

Step 2: Prep
When you’re cutting up the vegetables to prepare for assembly, you’ll want everything to be bite sized and even. This’ll create nice, flavorful bites that aren’t full of just one vegetable. It will also allow the dressing to coat everything evenly so that the salad comes together nicely. (👉 Here’s how to cut an avocado easily and how to cut tomatoes evenly!)

Step 3: Assemble
Time to toss everything together! Try to use a big spoon and folding movements for this part so that the avocado doesn’t get mushed in the process. You’re done!

Recipe tips

Storage: While absolutely delicious the day it’s made, this salad won’t hold up well in the fridge. It gets mushy. I recommend assembling it the same day you want to eat it. With that in mind, if you want to eat smaller portions throughout a couple days, you can always hold off on cutting up the avocado and keep the dressing on the side until you’re ready to eat it.

Change It Up: This recipe is ultra-flexible to whatever ingredients you have on hand. One of my favorite ways to mix it up is to use pickled radish slices instead of fresh!

Why this Recipe Works

• Lemon juice adds that bright, citrusy flavor I always crave in salads and keeps the avocado from browning while it’s sitting out at a gathering.
• The vegetables will fill you up and create a good side to any dish while the dressing is light enough that it doesn’t take away from all the nutrients you’re getting from the veggies!
• Herbs add the texture and flavor to really bring this dish together.

FAQs

Why doesn’t this salad keep well in the fridge?

Avocados just don’t last very long after they’re cut. They start to break down and mush into the liquids. The salts in the dressing will also pull the water from the tomatoes and cucumbers over time, causing them to dry out and become mushy.

Should I peel the cucumber before cutting and assembling?

It’s up to you! It’ll be good with or without the skins, so this is totally personal preference. English cucumber can come in a thin-skinned variety which might be a happy compromise.

What to pair with avocado salad

This works as a stand alone recipe or a great serving salad at any gathering. It’ll also work well as a side to so many favorite meals, especially those of the barbeque or extra savory variety.

• BBQ Jackfruit Pulled “Pork” is a delicious heavy main course that can easily be evened out with your new favorite salad.
• Seitan Burgers are sooo yummy and I’m always looking for a vegetable to pair with them. Avocado salad is the perfect addition.

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @liveeatlearn on Facebook or Instagram!