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This Thai cucumber salad is fresh, crunchy, and totally irresistible! Sliced cucumbers, green onions, and cilantro are tossed in a savory sesame dressing (with a kick of heat!) for just the right flavor balance. Ready in 15 minutes, it’s the veggie-packed side dish you’ll be making again and again.
save this recipe!Your New Favorite Side Dish
Thai food is always a yes in my house—I can never turn it down! I mean, I love a great Thai curry and have shared several renditions on my blog (Thai curried chickpeas, anyone?), so I decided that it was time to make a cool, crispy, and refreshing Thai side dish.
And with that, Thai cucumber salad quickly became one of my favorites! It’s a jam-packed dish filled with nutritious greens and a sweet but slightly spicy sesame dressing that always hits the spot.
Reader rating
“Thanks Sarah. I’m starting to feel like a groupie with all your recipes that have made my regular rotation. This is a pretty common salad, but when I saw a recipe from your site I tried that one first. No need to play around with others because this is perfect. Your recipes have not let me down yet.” —Anthony
Here’s What You’ll Need
- Cucumbers: For the base of the salad, we’ll use 2 large seedless cucumbers (aka English cucumbers). Feel free to use mini cucumbers (aka Persian cucumbers) for an extra crunch and a smaller bite.
- Fresh Herbs: Sliced green onions add a savory flavor without the strong bite that white or red onions would. And you gotta have cilantro! It gives this salad that characteristic Thai flavor, though fresh mint would also work well here.
- Rice Vinegar: We’ll use rice vinegar to give the dressing a slight tang and Thai flavor!
- Sugar: I know sugar in a savory salad sounds weird, but it balances the vinegar and gives the salad an almost undetectably sweet flavor.
- Toasted Sesame Oil: It’s always great to have a bit of oil in dressing for richness, so we’re using deliciously nutty toasted sesame!
- Seasonings: I like to use ¼ tsp of crushed red pepper flakes for a slight bite, but you can use more or less depending on your preference! Finally, every dish needs a bit of garlic. Add 1 to 2 minced cloves.
Making This cucumber salad Is A Breeze
Salads are usually pretty easy to make, especially when they don’t involve cooking or meat. This Thai cucumber salad is no different.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients until the sugar dissolves.
- Prep the salad by chopping the cucumbers, green onions, and cilantro.
- Assemble the dish by tossing the dressing with the salad.
Plays Well With
Thai cucumber salad can be served in many ways. It can certainly act as a light main course, but it pairs exceptionally well with these dishes.
- Khao Soi (Noodle Soup!): The salad’s refreshing, cool flavor helps balance the soup’s spiciness.
- Vegan Rainbow Spring Rolls: Use the salad as a side dish or to actually fill the spring rolls!
- Thai Coconut Curry With Tofu: In 30 minutes, you can have your entire dinner ready to go! It’s a way healthier takeout alternative.
Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe (Peanut-Free)
Ingredients
Dressing
- ¼ cup rice vinegar, 60 mL
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, 5 mL
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
Salad
- 2 large seedless cucumbers
- 4 green onions
- ¼ cup cilantro
- Optional: handful of chopped peanuts or almonds
Instructions
- Dressing: Whisk together all dressing ingredients to dissolve the sugar.
- Salad: Slice cucumbers into ¼ inch rounds. Thinly slice the green onion. Finely chop the cilantro. Toss it all together, optionally adding a handful of chopped peanuts or almonds.
- Assemble: Drizzle dressing over cucumber salad and gently toss combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Oh. My. Goodness. This is a fabulous recipe, super easy and just popping with bright summer flavor. My bestie gifted me a bunch of Japanese cucumbers from her overflowing garden. I had nearly everything in the pantry and fridge. The only changes I made to this recipe were 1) I didn’t have white sugar so used Demerara and it was delicious. You might have to stir the dressing a bit longer to get it to dissolve. 2) My cilantro was finished so I had to omit it but I can tell it would have been wonderful in this dish. Thanks for this great recipe–I will take it to my next potluck and revel in the glory it is sure to earn 🙂
YAY! So happy you liked it, Laurita! It’s one of my favs for summer! 😀
I rarely change things up the first time I make something especially your wonderfull recipes but my wife doesn’t like raw onions so I replaced the scallions with pickeled red onions that I have on hand all the time lately. We both dislike cilantro so I left it out. I added a chopped red banana pepper from my garden, some chopped peanuts and roasted sesame seeds. The final product was just right!
So happy you found a way to make it that you both liked! 😀
Thanks Sarah. I’m starting to feel like a groupie with all your recipes that have made my regular rotation. This is a pretty common salad but when I saw a recipe from your site I tried that one first. No need to play around with others because this is perfect. Your recipes have not let me down yet. BTW I made mushroom gyros again last week!
Aw I’m so happy to hear it, Anthony! Enjoy!! 😀
I love this recipe because it’s so basic and can be changed up so easily! I found this recipe last year on your site and have made it many times. My garden has lots of basil this year so I used half cilantro and half basil. The only thing I always change is the sugar in the dressing (I only use about 1 teaspoon). Thanks for the good and healthy summer recipe!
Oh I bet it’s delicious with basil! So happy you loved it! 😀
I have tried to eat more vegetarian in my weeks, but struggled with recipes I enjoyed. Not only are these recipes simple and open ended, but really and truly delicious. I appreciate you.
My husband seemed skeptical when I showed him this recipe but after he tasted it he said Mmmm and I could eat all of it. I will definitely be making this again! He said it’s a 5/5
Big smiles over here, thanks for trying it!