Mediterranean Cucumber Salad Recipe

This Mediterranean Cucumber Salad is my go-to salad recipe for summer lunches and side salads with dinner.

You may think that having a recipes website means that I cook every single day. I wish! As much as I love to cook and need to create new recipes to share with you, I just can’t. Balancing my day job and this website often means that home-cooked meals are relegated to weekends. (Actually, most of what you see from me lately has been created on Friday and Saturday nights.)

This means that dinner for my wife and me is often leftovers, a local meal delivery service we use, or a quick meal of salad or sandwiches. But the one thing I’m always good at is making sure we’re eating our veggies. This is where this big cucumber salad comes in.

I tend to create salads on repeat. I’ll make them again and again until I get tired (or my wife hints she could use a change.) They are all equally delicious, but this is hands down one of the salads I’ve created.

I grew up traveling to Israel a lot as a kid and always loved that salads didn’t always include lettuce. There is just something amazing about a good chopped salad where each bite gets the perfect amount of each ingredient and flavor.

So without further ado, here’s my recipe for my go-to chopped Mediterranean salad recipe with the perfect amount of Mediterranean flavor.

Persian Cucumbers Versus English Cucumbers

Whenever I’m making a tomato cucumber salad, I always reach for Persian cucumbers. Actually, I just prefer them overall. If you’re not familiar with Persian cucumbers, please let me introduce you.

When you visit your typical American grocery store, you’re probably purchasing an English cucumber. The English cucumber tends to be wrapped in plastic wrap and is about a foot long. A Persian cucumber, on the other hand, is shorter and thinner. It has less water and the seeds (if any) tend to be smaller.

When it comes to cucumbers in this recipe, it’s a preference and what you can find. Just like the fresh herbs you choose. For reference, here is what they both look like. The first photo above is an English cucumber and the second (below) is the Persian cucumbers I used for this recipe.

What does a Mediterranean salad contain?

Ingredients

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes (10 oz)
• 7 Persian cucumbers 
• ¼ cup fresh mint
• Ground fresh pepper to taste
• Juice of one small lime (or lemon juice)
• 6 oz crumbled feta cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ lbs greek olives or oils of choice
• Pinch of quality sea salt (if needed)

How to Make Mediterranean Cucumber Salad

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

1. First, wash all your vegetables. 
2. Slice your Persian cucumbers lengthwise in half then in half again, then dice into half inch cubes. 
3. Slice your cherry tomatoes in half on the diagonal. The diagonal slicing is just for show. I think it looks pretty. If you don’t care, I won’t hold it against you.
4. In a large bowl, combine your cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and feta.
5. Make your dressing. In a small bowl or mug, combine the olive oil, rice wine vinegar, and lime juice. Whisk well. 
6. Add the crumbled feta cheese to your cucumber salad.
7. Tear or slice your mint leaves and add to the larger bowl. 
8. Mix in your dressing slowly. You may want to use all of it, or just part. 
9. Mix and taste. Add a twist or two of ground fresh pepper. You may not need salt at this point because of the saltiness of the olives and feta. But if you do, use quality sea salt. Moldova is my go-to.

Recipe Notes:

Olives: If you want to slice your olives in half, go for it! I typically do. But the olives I bought for this recipe were grilled. I thought they were just too pretty to cut in half. 

tomatoes and cucumbers: Even though this recipe calls for Persian cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, use what you have. Or what you like. I’ve been making a big effort lately to shop from my fridge more and reduce food waste. It’s also great for your wallet.

Variations of Mediterranean Cucumber Salad

There are so many different variations you can take on a traditional Mediterranean salad. From adding additional herbs such as dried oregano to swapping out green olives for black olives, or the other way around. The possibilities are endless.

A few of my favorite tweaks to this cucumber salad include:

• Add finely chopped red onion
• Add roasted red peppers, (Try Trader Joe’s Tk)
• Hold the feta and instead use the cucumber salad as a bed for grilled Halloumi
• Add a delicious piece of sautéed salmon on top for added protein
• Add a grain such as quinoa, farro, or whole-grain pasta 
• Play around with the herbs you use. Try using fresh basil or fresh parsley instead of mint. Dill is also a great herb in chopped salads.

The key to any salad like this, whether it’s Mediterranean, Israeli, or just chopped, is to make it your own. Whether that means it’s more of a tomato salad (with some cucumbers) or a cucumber salad (with some tomatoes), it’s about the fresh ingredients and what flavors you’re craving at the moment. So get creative! 

What to Serve with Mediterranean Cucumber Salad

Air Fryer Rib Eye Steak

Easy Crab Cakes

Sizzle Steak

Copycat Texas Roadhouse Steak

Have questions or recommendations? Leave them in the comments below. Until next time: Stay salty, and sweet 😉