Creamy Cucumber Salad is one of the most refreshing, easy to make salads! The creamy dressing is made with fresh herbs and is the perfect side salad for a lot of other recipes such as German Chicken Schnitzel, Frikadellen, or Tuna Croquettes.
My Oma’s German Cucumber Salad is a reader’s favorite. But if you’ve been to Germany, you know that you’ll often find two kinds of cucumber salad: creamy and non-creamy. Thankfully, she taught me how to make both kinds.
Today we’re going to make the older German cucumber salad – classic creamy cucumber salad.
Creamy German cucumber is actually quite different from the sweet and sour version. It’s composed of a creamy base and a variety of fresh herbs: parsley, dill, and chives. They are finely chopped and make for a savory and delicious cucumber salad.
Ingredients
Vegetables and Herbs
- cucumber
- fresh parsley
- scallions
- fresh dill
Dressing
- sour cream
- white wine vinegar
- sugar
- salt & black pepper
How To Make Creamy Cucumber Salad Recipe
Prepare the Veggies
- Peel and slice the cucumber very thinly. For this recipe, you don’t remove the seeds.
- Use a knife and chop the parsley and dill very finely. Slice the scallions into small pieces.
Making The Dressing
- Use a large bowl and whisk sour cream, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar.
- Add the parsley, dill, and scallions to the dressing. Use a whisk and combine well.
- Add the thinly sliced cucumbers and combine well.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store for at least 15 minutes in the fridge. Serve anytime.
Tips for Recipe Success
- The dressing will at first appear quite thick and creamy and if you taste test you might be tempted to dilute the dressing. There is no need to do that!
- Roughly 95% of cucumbers is water. The salt in the dressing will help to draw the water out. This will then naturally dilute the dressing and you’ll end up with a perfectly balanced creamy dressing.
- You can certainly use Garden Cucumbers, but I recommend the longer, skinnier English cucumbers (also called hot-house cucumbers). This variety is readily available in most supermarkets, it’s seedless and perfect for this salad.
- If you want to have fewer calories, you can use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
To peel or not to peel?
The answer is simple. It’s up to you!
I usually serve creamy cucumber salad with peeled cucumbers because that’s my family tradition. If you ever go to Germany and you order ‘Gurkensalat mit Sahne’ (creamy cucumber salad), you’re just as likely to be served peeled cucumber as unpelled.
Storing The Creamy Cucumber Salad
This salad can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days. Use an air-tight container. If you’re just storing it from lunchtime to dinner time you can simply cover it with plastic wrap and keep it refrigerated.
Recipe Variations
Sometimes, you’ll find this salad with red onion included. But I don’t recall ever seeing an authentic German recipe for cucumber salad that included red onions.
So if you’re looking for classic creamy German cucumber salad, then omit the onions. But if you like a little bit of extra color and texture, there’s no harm in adding some onion.
If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, by all means, go ahead and substitute dried for fresh herbs. Use one tablespoon of dried dill and one tablespoon of dried parsley in case you don’t have fresh herbs.
More Simple Salads
- Chopped Greek Salad
- Blueberry and Goat Cheese Salad
- Watermelon Salad – This is a perfect, refreshing summer salad.
- Classic Pea Salad
- German Potato Salad
Creamy Cucumber Salald
Ingredients
- 2 large cucumbers preferably English
Fresh Herbs
- ¼ cup parsley fresh
- ¼ cup dill fresh
- 1 large scalliion
Dressing
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Peel the cucumber and slice them very thin (don't remove the seeds).
- Use a large mixing bowl and combine sour cream, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar. Use a whisk and whisk until very well blended.
- Add the chopped parsley and dill to the dressing. Combine well.
- Mix in the cucumbers and top the salad with the sliced scallions.
- Chill in the fridge for a mininum of 15 minutes (better if you can chill it for longer).
Nutrition
