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 decided to try raised beds this year. Hubby made some out of pine. We did one 4X12 in strawberries. The rest are 4X4’s onions, carrots and spinach, in one, trying yukon gold potatoes in two and pole limasin another. We have a small garden that we plant squash, tomatoes, peppers,okra and greenbeans in. I took out an old flower bed that was more trouble than it was worth and planted a couple of grape vines and zuchini and peppers. All is quite an experiment and only time will tell.
Can’t wait to make this salad. I had a garden last year thanks to my wonderful father-n-law. We had a bumper crop of yellow squash, a few watermelons but our tomato plants and bellpeppers did not make. Later in the summer I had a good bit of okra, a few cucumbers, but the long hot and very dry summer made it hard to keep everything watered enough. I am going to attempt your raised bed garden this year since my in-laws are getting older and have a few health issues that will keep them from managing more than their own garden. I love reading southern plate. I love your “old southern” style way of talking – it brings back so many wonderful memories of my grandparents and great aunts and uncles. What a blessing being raised in the south!
Love this salad! My cousin’s wife makes this exact salad and we all love it. I have to remind myself to start making it b/c it is so easy! We will plant tomatoes in our topsy turvy very soon to enjoy this summer!
This salad looks great! We started planting a square foot garden in January and it’s doing very well. So far we’ve gotten 3 radishes and enough swiss chard for 2 very small servings. I can’t wait till I can make a whole salad out of it! Or can some!
I love this salad. My momma always made this with yellow bell peppers too. We would also boil some frozen cheese tortellini, rinse with cold water and add that in too. Yummy! It’s a meal in itself
Christy,
We have a ‘garden’ but we’ve scaled down from last year. We were gardening in a bed in the backyard that was right agains the west-facing wall of our bedroom. It was really too hot there; the only thing that would grow well were jalapenos. This year, we’ve planted a few tomatoes, an orange bell pepper and a couple of jalapenos in the side of our front yard. They seem to be doing well so far; one of the tomatoes has a few babies already – I call them my tomato babies. I go out and talk to them pretty much every day…you know, just to encourage them. Hubbie thinks it’s a little cuckoo, but I do it anyway!
Love the blog! Looking forward to the cookbook!!
My garden this year is a medium size Mulberry tree……can’t wait for it to grow bigger…I already have about seven berries…OK, well, it’s a start!
I make that salad but with Hellmann’s Mayo…shall have to try the Kraft recipe.