Cucumber tomato salad is so refreshing! Enjoy this crunchy and easy recipe as a summer side dish or add some protein to it and upgrade it to a quick and healthy main.
It's a simple recipe with eight fresh ingredients and it'll be your best ally during these scorching hot summer days.

Check out our best vegan salad recipe collection!
Bite-size tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions combined in a salad seasoned with olive oil, salt, and vinegar are among the most popular summer salads in Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy.
While you can find those ingredients all year round, this salad is perfect as a summer recipe (or in early autumn) when tomatoes are at their best.
This cucumber tomato salad recipe is similar to a Greek salad. If you've ever been to Greece, you would have noticed that they serve tomato, cucumber, and onion salad everywhere.
However, in a classic greek fashion, they add feta cheese to it to give that salty, umami flavor booster that is so good.
You can add feta if you like. Or you can substitute other add-ins for the feta. Try:
- crispy fried tofu
- air-fried tofu
- spicy oven roasted chickpeas
- crispy air-fried chickpeas
- homemade croutons
- canned chickpeas
- kalamata olives
- diced avocado
For the dressing, you can do like the Greeks and Italians and season with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, without pre-mixing the ingredients in a vinaigrette.
Or you can use a homemade salad dressing, such as our mustard vinaigrette or Italian dressing. We hope you'll love this salad as much as we do and bring it to the next potluck.
Ingredients
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are the star of this salad, and having tasty, meaty tomatoes will make all the difference. That's why the Greeks and the Italians don't drench their tomato cucumber salads in dressings. Because their tomatoes rock!
If you are lucky and have a farmer's market nearby, go there. They'll probably have delicious organic tomatoes on offer during the summer months.
Try to use a mix of different tomato varieties if you can. We love the different colors, textures, and flavors you get by mixing heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, gold tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, and even delicious San Marzano tomatoes.
Get ripe tomatoes but firm to the touch. Make sure they are not overripe. Remember that tomatoes taste best when served at room temperature.
Cucumber
You can use any fresh cucumber variety such as English cucumber, garden cucumber, or Persian cucumber.
Keep the peel on, peel the cucumber in stripes, or remove the peel altogether. We like to keep it on.
Red Onion
Red onion is another essential ingredient. It adds character to this salad with its bold, sharp, and almost spicy taste.
Make sure your onion is fresh. It should be very firm to the touch. Also, if the raw onion is a little much for you, try soaking it in cold water for ten minutes before adding it to the salad.
Olive Oil
Good quality extra virgin olive oil is best in salads. It's heart-healthy, has a high amount of antioxidants, and gives the salad a rich, fruity flavor with earthy notes.
If you don't have good quality extra virgin olive oil, use a salad dressing instead. For example, a mustard dressing or an Italian vinaigrette is perfect for this salad.
Vinegar
Vinegar adds acidity, which lifts the taste of the veggies, and add freshness, which is essential in a summer salad.
You can use balsamic vinegar for a rounder and sweeter taste. Or opt for red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or freshly squeezed lemon juice for a sharper taste.
Salt & Pepper
Add sea salt or kosher salt to bring out the flavor of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to add a fragrant aroma. Also, pepper and tomatoes are perfect together.
Fresh Herbs
You have several options when it comes to herbs. We recommend fresh basil, fresh flat-leaf parsley, or fresh dill.
Optional Add-Ins
Customize this salad with your favorite add-ins. We recommend crispy fried tofu, air fryer tofu, spicy oven-roasted chickpeas, crispy air-fried chickpeas, crunchy croutons, air fryer croutons, canned chickpeas, Kalamata olives, mozzarella balls, diced avocado, chopped lettuce, grated carrot, and chopped celery.
Instructions
Step 1: Chop the Veggies
Cut the onion in half, peel it, then cut it into thin slices. Separate the onion layers by pinching them with your fingers.
Optional: if you like a milder onion flavor, soak the onion in a bowl with cold water for 10 minutes.
Wash, dry, and chop the tomatoes into bite-size chunks.
If you use small round tomatoes, cut them in half. If you use larger round tomatoes, cut them in half, then in wedges. If the wedges are too big, cut each wedge in half. If you use long and narrow tomatoes, cut them in discs or wedges.
Wash, dry, cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then in half again, and dice it.
You don't have to peel the cucumber, but if you want, you can do so.
To a bowl, add chopped tomatoes and cucumber, thinly sliced onion, and finely chopped parsley (or basil).
Step 2: Add the Dressing
Add extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Mix well, taste, adjust for salt, and serve.
If you'd like a tomato cucumber salad with a bolder flavor, or if your tomatoes aren't the tastiest, make a quick mustard vinaigrette dressing or a simple Italian dressing.
For the mustard dressing: to a small bowl (or in a mason jar), add extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, or grated garlic.
Whisk (or shake) well the dressing ingredients and pour over the cucumber tomato salad. Mix well before serving.
For the Italian dressing: to a small bowl (or in a mason jar), add extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup, dried oregano, dried basil, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
Whisk (or shake) well the dressing ingredients and pour over the cucumber tomato salad. Mix well before serving.
Variations
Italian Cucumber Salad
You can make a delicious Italian cucumber salad simply by adding a grated carrot and a chopped celery stalk.
The carrot's sweetness and the celery's crunchiness make this cucumber tomato and onion salad even tastier.
Greek Cucumber Salad
Greeks have their salad with feta. Also, they chop the tomatoes and cucumbers into larger pieces and sprinkle everything with a generous amount of oregano.
To make a delicious greek cucumber salad add diced feta or crumbled feta on top of the salad just before serving it; season with extra virgin olive oil, wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and plenty of dried oregano.
Avocado and Cucumber Salad
Add a ripe, diced avocado to our cucumber tomato and onion salad to make it creamy and nutritious.
If you like to give this one a Mexican spin, then dress it with our cilantro lime dressing.
Lettuce and Cucumber Salad
This is another salad that is popular in Italy. It's a simple salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and onion. To make it, add a few leaves of chopped Romaine lettuce to our Italian cucumber salad recipe.
It's crunchy, colorful, and delicious.
Arugula Cucumber Salad
If you love the fresh, mildly spicy, and slightly bitter taste of arugula, try serving our tomato onion cucumber salad onto a bed of arugula—season with some extra olive oil and balsamico.
Crispy tofu and cucumber salad
Want to boost the protein content of this salad to turn it into a main meal but don't feel like adding feta cheese?
Then try adding our delicious pan-fried tofu or crispy air-fried tofu to the salad. Healthy and wholesome plant-based protein combined with fresh veggies is a winner meal.
Bell Pepper Cucumber salad
I learned this variation from Marcella Hazan, and I think that it is a great variation.
Do the same salad as above, but before seasoning it, add a cleaned and diced yellow bell pepper. It will add crunch, sweetness, freshness, and color.
Serving Suggestions
Suppose you are wondering what goes with cucumber salad. In that case, I'd recommend trying homemade rosemary focaccia, a slice of freshly baked crusty bread, and a creamy, dreamy chickpea hummus to turn this into a light, nutritious, and fulfilling meal.
If you want to serve the salad as a side dish, we can recommend one of our easy vegan dinners. Among those are:
Questions
You could chop up the ingredients for this salad up to half a day in advance, but I recommend seasoning it just before serving it so that you won't compromise its flavor and texture too much.
If you make it in advance, store it in the refrigerator. The tomatoes might release some water while they sit in the fridge; that's normal. You can discard this extra water.
Take it out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving it. Remember that tomatoes are best served at room temperature.
It depends! If the cucumber is organic and very fresh, then there's no need to peel it.
Storage
Store tomato cucumber salad leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours; however, it won't be crunchy and delicious as when it's just made because the vinegar and the salt will pull water from the tomatoes and cucumbers.
You might have to drain excess liquid and season the salad again with fresh olive oil and vinegar.
Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before eating it. Tomatoes taste best at room temperature.
More Salad Recipes
If you like this tomato-cucumber salad, you might also enjoy our other easy salads:
- Tofu salad: a protein-rich salad with crunchy tofu and a creamy tahini sauce
- Vegan pasta salad: a picnic favorite and meal-prep-friendly lunch idea
- Chickpea salad: an easy recipe perfect for a lazy vegan meal
- Quinoa salad: nutrient-dense and vibrant salad with crunch and color
- Panzanella salad: an Italian classic made with leftover stale bread
- Fennel and orange salad: sweet and crisp, this autumn and winter salad is lovely as a holiday side dish
- Italian salad: simple, quick, and perfect for most main meals.
Or any of these 25 vegan salad favorites with our most loved salads all in one list!
For many more side dishes ideas, check out our sides category page.
Recipe
Cucumber Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound tomatoes ripe but firm to the touch
- 1 large cucumber
- 1 medium red onion
- ¼ cup parsley or basil
Simple Dressing
- 3 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- 2 tablespoon vinegar white wine, red wine, balsamico or apple cider
- ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Mustard Dressing
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Italian Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons vinegar any
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil or mint
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
STEP 1: CHOP THE VEGGIES
- Cut the onion in half, peel it, then cut it into thin slices. Separate the onion layers by pinching them with your fingers.
- Optional: if you like a milder onion flavor, soak the onion in a bowl with cold water for 10 minutes.
- Wash, dry, and chop the tomatoes into bite-size chunks.If you use small round tomatoes, cut them in half. If you use larger round tomatoes, cut them in half, then in wedges. If the wedges are too big, cut each wedge in half. If you use long and narrow tomatoes, cut them in discs or wedges.
- Wash, dry, cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then in half again, and dice it.You don't have to peel the cucumber, but if you want, you can do so.
- To a bowl, add chopped tomatoes and cucumber, thinly sliced onion, and finely chopped parsley (or basil).
STEP 2: ADD THE DRESSING
- Add extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Mix well, taste, adjust for salt, and serve.If you'd like a tomato cucumber salad with a bolder flavor, or if your tomatoes aren't the tastiest, make a quick mustard vinaigrette or Italian dressing.
- For the mustard vinaigrette: to a small bowl (or in a mason jar), add extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, or grated garlic.Whisk (or shake) well the dressing ingredients and pour over the cucumber tomato salad. Mix well before serving.
- For the Italian dressing: to a small bowl (or in a mason jar), add extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup, dried oregano, dried basil, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.Whisk (or shake) well the dressing ingredients and pour over the cucumber tomato salad. Mix well before serving.
Notes
- crispy fried tofu
- air-fried tofu
- spicy oven roasted chickpeas
- crispy air-fried chickpeas
- homemade croutons
- air-fried croutons
- canned chickpeas
- kalamata olives
- diced avocado
- crumbled or diced feta
- small mozzarella balls
Nutritional Values
If you liked this tomato cucumber salad, you might also like:
Milena Ciambrone
Easy and very refreshing, many thanks for sharing
Nico
Thanks Milena! For taking the time to comment, we're happy you like the recipe 🙂