Crunchy Asian Cucumber Salad with peanuts and a vivid sesame dressing is simply the recipe to maintain you cool in sizzling summer season months.

When the summer season heats up, this easy Asian cucumber salad is among the aspect dish recipes I sit up for most. (This Black Bean Corn Salad can also be on my listing.)
It’s fast, contemporary, cooling, and alluring.
Plus, it comes with an sudden secret ingredient: honey-roasted peanuts.
Past crunch, their contact of sweetness wakes up the cucumbers and pairs fantastically with the zippy sesame dressing.
It actually makes this one of the best Asian cucumber salad recipe!
If cucumber salads (like this Creamy Cucumber Salad) haven’t historically been prime of thoughts in your summer season potluck wants, it’s time to alter your pondering, pronto.
They’re the right refreshing accompaniment at any cookout. (This Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad is a assured winner too!)

5 Star Evaluation
“Scrumptious!!! A success !! Will Undoubtedly be making this once more!! Thanks for this contemporary recipe!”
— Martha —
Find out how to Make Asian Cucumber Salad
The substances on this recipe couldn’t be less complicated, however they work collectively to create a spectacular salad. (This Wholesome Coleslaw is one other summer season potluck winner made with kitchen staples.)
Minimal substances. Most payoff.
That is summer season cooking at its best!
The Components
- Cucumber. This cool, refreshing ingredient is simply what your potluck wants on a sizzling summer season day. (I particularly love cucumbers in Salmon Salad!) They’re hydrating because of their excessive water content material and are a superb supply of fiber too.

- Honey Roasted Peanuts. The key ingredient! They up the crunch issue (all the time a optimistic with a cucumber salad) and work properly with the straightforward dressing.
- Sesame Oil. This ingredient offers something to which you add it complexity and nuttiness. Simply 1 little teaspoon ups the satisfaction issue of the dressing.
- Rice Vinegar. This tangy element balances the honey-roasted peanuts. It offers the dressing a candy and bitter issue, making it one of the best Asian cucumber salad dressing ever.
- Soy Sauce. No salt is required. Soy sauce has the mandatory umami issue to completely season this straightforward cucumber salad and get up all the opposite flavors.
- Garlic. To provide our dressing some zip.
- Sugar. Only one teaspoon balances the saltiness of the soy sauce and the sourness of the rice vinegar.
- Chili Flakes. You gained’t discover a complicated mix of spices right here. A touch of chili flakes is all you want if you happen to’re wanting so as to add a bit of kick to this easy cucumber salad recipe.
The Instructions

- Slice the cucumbers and place them in a big bowl. Add the peanuts.

- Whisk collectively the soy sesame dressing in a small bowl.

- Stir the dressing into the salad, add a sprinkling of chili flakes (optionally available) and ENJOY!
Recipe Variations
Listed below are a few of my favourite methods to place a spin on this easy Asian cucumber salad recipe:
- Thai-Impressed Asian Cucumber Salad. Add a splash of fish sauce, contemporary ginger, cilantro, and a tablespoon or two of contemporary lime juice.
- Additional Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad. Toss in some further purple pepper flakes and some teaspoons of Sriracha or chili oil to style.
- Asian Cucumber Salad with Seafood. Add some protein to show this salad into a whole meal. Asian cucumber salad with crab, tuna, or cooked shrimp are a number of of my favs.
- Korean-Impressed Asian Cucumber Salad. For a Korean twist, add a number of teaspoons of gochujang chili paste to style and garnish with gochugaru chili flakes, inexperienced onion, and toasted sesame seeds.
- Asian Cucumber Salad with Pink Onion. A reader-favorite strategy to kick this salad up a notch is to observe the directions above however add thinly sliced purple onion to the salad. Yum!
Storage Suggestions
- To Retailer. This salad tastes greatest the day it’s made however could be refrigerated for as much as 3 days. Style and season the leftovers with a bit of further soy sauce as wanted.
- To Freeze. I don’t suggest freezing cucumbers. Their excessive moisture will trigger them to develop into mushy.
Meal Prep Tip
Combine up the dressing as much as 3 days upfront. Retailer within the fridge.
Serving Concepts
Questioning what goes with Asian cucumber salad? Listed below are a number of of my favourite pairings.
- Asian Cucumber Salad with Salmon. Toss with greens and this Teriyaki Salmon for a tasty lunch salad.
- Teriyaki Burgers with Grilled Pineapple—i.e. Hawaiian Teriyaki Burgers. Moist, juicy rooster or turkey burgers topped with a candy and tangy teriyaki burger sauce, grilled pineapple, and onion.
- Soy Ginger Salmon—i.e. Baked Soy Ginger Salmon. A straightforward, foolproof recipe for moist and flavorful baked salmon with honey soy ginger glaze. Easy, wholesome, and delicious!
- Crispy Asian Hen Tenders—i.e. Oven-baked Crispy Asian Hen Tenders. Juicy on the within, crispy on the skin, with a straightforward ginger, soy sauce, and garlic marinade.
- Egg Roll In A Bowl. The BEST egg roll in a bowl recipe! This straightforward egg roll in a bowl with floor turkey and broccoli slaw is a wholesome and low-carb meal.
Really useful Instruments to Make this Recipe
- Sharp Knife. Probably the most important of kitchen instruments. A mandoline is one other nice choice for making uniform cucumber slices.
- Non-Slip Slicing Board. Reduce cucumbers (and every thing else!) extra safely.
- Liquid Measuring Cups. Dishwasher secure, microwave secure, and excellent for measuring and mixing dressing on the similar time.
All-Function Measuring Cups
These liquid measuring cups (don’t measure your liquid substances within the dry sort!) are dishwasher and microwave secure. Good for measuring and mixing dressings and sauces concurrently (you may’t have too many!).
Summer season is right here, and so is Asian cucumber salad season!
Ceaselessly Requested Questions
Japanese cucumbers, Persian cucumbers, and Asian cucumbers are generally bought beneath the identify “mini cucumbers.” All of those will work on this recipe. Search for slender cucumbers with a skinny pores and skin.
English cucumbers are your greatest guess if you happen to can’t discover mini cucumbers. In addition they have skinny skins (so you continue to gained’t want a vegetable peeler), however they include seeds, and I discover them to be extra watery. Due to this fact, it would be best to halve them lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and dry them with paper towels first.
Sunomono, which interprets to “vinegared factor” in Japanese, is a standard cucumber salad from Japan. This recipe is loosely impressed by the basic recipe, which additionally comprises cucumbers marinated in rice vinegar with sugar. See Simply One Cookbook for a recipe.
- 6 Persian or Japanese cucumbers* typically labeled “mini cucumbers”
- 1/2 cup honey-roasted peanuts chopped
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce (or gluten-free tamari)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Crushed purple pepper flakes for serving
- TO STORE. This salad tastes greatest the day it’s made however could be refrigerated for as much as 3 days. Style and season the leftovers with a bit of further soy sauce as wanted.
- TO FREEZE. I don’t suggest freezing cucumbers. Their excessive moisture content material will trigger them to develop into mushy when thawed.
- *INGREDIENT NOTE: You can also swap 2 medium/massive English cucumbers. Earlier than slicing, minimize the English cucumbers in half lengthwise, then with a small spoon, scrape out the seeds.
- Recipe reprinted with permission from The Secret Ingredient Cookbook by Kelly Senyei. The unique recipe calls for two Persian cucumbers, however I’m a fan of the upper veggie ratio, so I added further. Be happy to regulate to your style.
Serving: 1of 4Energy: 140kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 6gFats: 10gSaturated Fats: 2gPotassium: 274mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 88IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 1mg
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