Cucumber Ginger Salad

Marinated in a spicy ginger dressing and packed with crisp cucumbers, this cucumber ginger salad is a fast summer salad to pull off and perfect for an abundance of cucumbers!

Introducing the best way to tackle that abundance of summer cukes AND enjoy the heck out of eating a salad at the same time!

I never thought a humble little salad could be so addictive, but I’m here to tell you that this cucumber salad is literally impossible to stop eating.

If you find yourself eating it straight from the bowl, just know you’re most definitely not alone in that.

This cucumber salad is slightly Asian-inspired with a rice wine vinegar-based dressing with plenty of scallions, fresh ginger, and a little red pepper flake action for a spicy kick.

If you’re a ginger lover, you’re especially going to want to listen in on this one.

This Cucumber Ginger Salad features…

• Crisp thinly-sliced cucumbers.
• Spicy fresh ginger matchsticks.
• A flavorful marinade based from rice wine vinegar and soy sauce.
• 20 minutes to make and then a quick fridge marinade.

Making the Cucumber Ginger Salad

(scroll down to the bottom of post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Cucumbers
• Ginger
• Scallions
• Red pepper flakes
• Rice wine vinegar
• Olive oil
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil
• Honey or agave nectar

How to Prepare Cucumbers

You will need two medium cucumbers for this recipe. (both seed-in and seedless work)

Trim ends off the cucumbers and thinly slice them. If using a bigger cucumber, we like to cut it into half-moons for easier eating, otherwise standard circles work just fine.

The thinner you can slice the cucumbers, the crispier and better they will be! A mandoline would be a great way to achieve this.

Tips for Perfect Cucumber Salad

1. Cut ginger into matchsticks – we found this size was perfect for getting a good punch of ginger flavor into every bite.
2. Thinly slice cucumbers – as mentioned above, this helps the cucumbers stay crisp.
3. Add red pepper flakes – a pinch of red pepper flakes adds an incredible little punch of heat to these cucumbers that’s cooled down by the other salad components.
4. Marinate salad – for best results and the most flavor, allow the salad to marinate at least 1 hour before serving.
5. Serve salad in marinade – use a slotted spoon to serve cucumbers.

Storing Cucumber Salad

You can make this salad days in advance for easy serving! It’s actually even better after it’s marinated for a day or so.

Store cucumber salad in refrigerator up to 5 days. For best results, we recommend storing it in the marinade so the cucumbers stay super flavorful.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different spin on this salad!

• Add another vegetable – sliced sweet pepper or carrot would both be incredible in this salad.
• Swap out the scallions – we’ve had success using thinly sliced red onion in place of the scallions.
• Dial the heat up or down – feel free to experiment with the amount of red pepper flakes. Use less for a more mild salad or add a little more for a spicy kick.

This salad is just about the easiest thing to throw together last minute, but wow, you really wouldn’t guess that with the amount of flavor we’re packing in here.

The cucumbers are SO perfectly crispy, the ginger adds a punchy flavor, and the marinade is the perfect level of tangy and spicy.

Just saying, if you’re not eating these straight out of the bowl, you’re doing it wrong.

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

Watch this salad made step-by-step on Google web stories!

More summery salads to try next!

• Almond Broccoli Salad
• Italian Avocado Chickpea Salad
• Green Goddess Chicken Salad