Italian Cucumber Salad
This quick and easy Italian cucumber salad recipe only needs 4 ingredients: fresh tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion in an Italian dressing. This salad is fast, fresh, and so flavorful.
Whenever the weather is warmer I’m just itching for fresh food and sunshine. Depending on when you read this it may be a little early for produce from your own garden but thanks to the marvels of our modern grocery stores, I can get all I need to whip up this salad in a jiff. This serves as a delicious side dish bursting with garden flavor and can be kept in the refrigerator for several days.
My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
When you see how quick and easy it is, this may very well end up being your favorite salad of the summer! My quick and easy Italian tomato cucumber salad recipe is made with just 4 ingredients: fresh tomato, crisp cucumber, red onion, and Italian dressing. All we’re going to do is chop up the vegetables, add them to a bowl with the Italian dressing, give it a good stir, then refrigerate the salad for several hours to let the flavors meld together.
It’s fresh, it’s fast, and that Italian dressing means it’s also so flavorful. You can’t go wrong with this Italian cucumber tomato salad and it’s the perfect dish to bring to your next potluck or picnic. Now, let’s take a closer look at the ingredients and instructions. But don’t blink because you might miss them!
Recipe Ingredients
- Tomatoes (I’m using Roma tomatoes, but cherry tomatoes also work well).
- Red onion
- Cucumbers
- Italian dressing
How to Make Italian Cucumber Salad
Chop or slice your cucumber.
I’m leaving my skin on but you can peel it if you prefer.
Place that in a large bowl.
Do the same with your tomato.
Toss that in there too.
If you want you can just use a can of diced tomatoes and drain them.
Chop up your onion.
Add that in.
Pour the whole bottle of dressing into the bowl.
Ugh. I made this last week and ate every last bit of it. As soon as I press send on this post I’m heading to get the stuff to make it again!
Lawdy it’s good.
Stir.
Cover with a lid and place in the refrigerator for several hours to marinate.
Serve as the perfect side to BBQ, grilled burgers, or whatever your heart desires!
I just plop it in a bowl and dig into it all on its own!
Storage
Leftover salad will last, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- You can use any raw veggie you like here really, just go with what you like. Be sure to wash them well before using them though.
- You can also use either original or zesty Italian dressing. However, I’m a big fan of Kraft Italian dressing because, in my personal opinion, it tastes exactly like what they use at Olive Garden.
- Want to make homemade Italian dressing? You’ll need ingredients like white or red wine vinegar, olive oil, freshly grated parmesan cheese, sugar or honey, Italian seasoning (dried basil, dried parsley, and/or dried oregano work as well), and garlic powder.
- Add a garnish of freshly chopped parsley or leaves to your .
- For an extra Italian touch, add some chopped olives.
- Salt and black pepper to taste.
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve Italian cucumber salad?
Serve your salad as a side dish with any kind of main meal, such as:
- BBQ Chicken Breast in Oven
- Slow-Roasted Beef Brisket in the Oven
- Grilled Chicken Tenders (No Grill Needed)
- Meatloaf Burgers
- Butter Roasted Chicken Recipe
- Slow Cooker Angel Chicken Pasta
It also wouldn’t be an without a serving of on the side as well, right?
Can I make Italian cucumber salad in advance?
Yes, I’d recommend making it up to 24 hours in advance to let all those flavors marinate together.
Here are some more summer salad recipes:
Tomato, Onion, and Cucumber Salad
Recipe for Caprese Salad with Chicken and Avocado
Ingredients
- 3-4 chopped Roma tomatoes or your choice (about 1.5 cups)
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 2 cucumbers, chopped
- 1 bottle Italian dressing or your choice
Instructions
- Place all vegetables in a large bowl. Pour in the entire bottle of dressing and stir.3-4 chopped Roma tomatoes or your choice, 1 large red onion, diced, 2 cucumbers, chopped, 1 bottle Italian dressing or your choice
- Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving.
- Can be kept in the refrigerator for several days.
I’m an angel and if someone breaks my wings
I continue to fly on a broomstick…I’m very flexible.
Submitted by Iplayoutside the box. Submit your quote here.
We have this salad almost every nite in the summer. Nothing better than fresh tomatoes, fresh cukes and onions (I actually prefer the sweet onions such as Vidalia but never met an onion I didn’t like). I make my own vinagrette though…But this is a hit all summer long. We never tire of it! Goes great with whatever we grill..we grill almost every nite in the summer. We are planting our garden right now..and also including an obscene amount of tomatoes 😉 Our grandsons love to help Pa’Paw pick the garden every afternoon. Oh and I am so totally making this tonite for supper now! Thanks for the idea.
That looks like a taste of spring. A bit too early here in Ohio for gardens. The only thing I might add is some bell peppe but I know your family won’t do peppers. I am not going to have a real garden , but I shall set out a half dozen tomato plants and probably a couple bell pepper plants and a zucchini or two. My two sisters and I each purchase a different variety of tomato plant in a six pack and then we split them so each gets two plants of three varieties, I wish the greenhouse did that. There is nothing better than a homegrown tomato. I pick them sun warmed, rub them off, and eat it on the spot. My neighbor laughs at me and says a dog might have peed on it , but I have been doing it all my 63 years and “I ain’t dead yet!” Just as a sidenote-I take the same veggie mix as you have listed and stir it into a carton of cottage cheese and my family loves that as a warm weather dish. Add some cold chicken and a roll and lunch is served in ten minutes.
Christy,
This is also a familiar salad in Greece, Albania and Macedonia, I guess it coould be considered a Mediterranean salad. They put a diced white cheese in theirs which is somewhere between mozarella and feta. I think they get their vegetables to market faster than us, so everything tastes so much fresher there than what we can buy here. Thanks for the post. I live in town and do not garden.
I love this stuff! Especially when garden tomatoes and cucumbers come in! After eating the veggies, turn the bowl up and drink the leftover dressing! That’s bad, I know, but oh so good!
add some black olives they are the bomb in this salad
I have lettuce ready for picking right now. Carrots and cucumbers are coming up. One roma tomato. I have the worst time with tomatoes! I might try a squash plant, but every year the vine borers get mine. We made a raised bed last fall so that might thwart the ones in the soil, but I’m not going to bet on it!
Christy,
As usual right on target with this recipe! Spring has sprung!
I do this and use Greek vinagraette with mozzarella – also can add toasted homemade croutons for panzanella –
u rock! gotta go to the store – my topsy turvies are blooming but not producing yet! 🙂
Thanks for sharing – love your page & site!
OMG The added mozzarella sounds awesome to add to this salad!!!!!
I have no idea what a topsy-turvey is—please educate me.
Hi Elaine –
Topsy turvies are hanging tomato plant containers where the tomatos grow from the bottom being watered on the top – really works great for me – have 2 with 2 plants each and they grow here 6′ or so – lots of tomatos which we love! :)you can google them or get them here at home depot – even walgreens! This recipe is really gr8 stuff too! Love this site!
Have a gr8 day!
I am in SC and my husband has planted Silver Queen corn, cucumbers, okra, green beens and of course tomatoes. I LOVE summer time when the veggies ripen. 🙂
ditto