Cucumber Tomato Salad Recipe – Love and Lemons

This cucumber tomato salad is a refreshing summer side dish! A tangy vinaigrette brightens juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, onions, and herbs.

This cucumber tomato salad recipe is the simplest summer side dish! Making it is as easy as tossing sliced cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, crisp onions, and herbs with a tangy 5-ingredient dressing.

I make some version of it every week in the summer, changing up the herbs to use what looks best in my garden or tossing in fun add-ins like avocado or cheese. Bright and refreshing, it pairs well with almost any meal, from fresh summer pastas to veggie burgers off the grill.

Whether you make it as written or make it your own, this recipe is a great one to have in your summer rotation. It’s a quick, delicious way to enjoy the season’s best produce. I hope you love it as much as I do!

How to Make Cucumber Tomato Salad

You can find the full recipe at the bottom of this post, but for now, here’s a quick overview of how it goes:

Ingredients

This cucumber tomato salad starts with simple, fresh ingredients:

• Tomatoes – Use whatever kinds look best at your farmers market or grocery store. I love to make this salad with heirloom tomatoes, but cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or vine tomatoes all work well too.
• Cucumber – I typically make this salad with English cucumber. English cucumbers have small seeds and very thin skin, so I don’t peel or seed them for this salad. You can use any other variety you like, but if it has thicker skin or larger seeds, you may want to peel and/or seed it.
• Onion – Red onion is my go-to, but white onion also works.
• Fresh herbs – Any kind you like! I often reach for fresh basil, mint, parsley, and/or fresh dill, but oregano, cilantro, and thyme would be lovely too.

Dressing for Cucumber Tomato Salad

I complete the salad with a super simple vinaigrette dressing made from fresh lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I love the combination of the sharp vinegar and bright, fresh lemon juice, but if you’d like to simplify the dressing ingredients, you could use just one or the other. Other vinegars would work well here too. Any of these types would be a good substitute for the red wine vinegar:

• distilled white vinegar
• white wine vinegar
• sherry vinegar

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Recipe Variations

This simple recipe is delicious as written, but it’s also super flexible. Feel free to change it up! Have fun tossing in flavorful add-ins like these:

• Mini mozzarella balls
• Cubed or crumbled feta cheese
• Diced avocado
• Olives
• Chopped bell pepper
• Thinly sliced celery

Add fresh veggies like celery and bell pepper to the salad along with the tomatoes and cucumbers. Add other mix-ins to the salad after it chills, along with the olive oil and herbs.

More Summer Salads to Try

If you love this tomato cucumber salad, try one of these fresh summer salads next:

Cucumber Tomato Salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 20 minutes mins

Serves 4

This cucumber tomato salad recipe is one of my favorite summer side dishes! Featuring juicy tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, onion, herbs, and a tangy dressing, it’s refreshing, delicious, and simple to make.

• 1 large English cucumber, sliced into thin half-moons (2½ cups)
• 2 large tomatoes, about 1½ pounds, chopped
• ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, parsley, dill, and/or mint
• Flaky sea salt

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• In a large bowl, toss together the cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and several grinds of pepper. Chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

• Transfer to a serving bowl, leaving any excess juices behind. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with the herbs, and toss. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, season to taste, and serve.