Tomato, Onion, and Cucumber Salad
A Southern staple at barbecues, family gatherings, and reunions, we love the juicy and refreshing experience of eating this fresh tomato, onion, and cucumber salad!
If I had to describe the flavor of this salad in one word, I’d say refreshing. This is the embodiment of everything a body craves on a hot summer’s day. Well, everything a body craves that doesn’t come with a little paper umbrella in the glass! This simple and easy tomato, onion, and cucumber salad recipe features juicy chunks, slices, and tossed in a delicious vinegar and sugar dressing.
I recommend making this colorfully crisp and tangy summer salad in advance to let it fully marinate in the dressing. Then serve it at your next summer gathering and prepare to win over your friends and family! You can also have fun with this salad and add some interesting additions, which I mention in the Recipe Notes section below.
Recipe Ingredients
- Two freshly ripe tomatoes (can be whatever you have on hand – heirloom tomatoes, grape tomatoes…)
- Two cucumber
- One purple or red onion (or , the choice is yours)
- Sugar
- Water, and…
- White vinegar. Go for the cheap kind here, make me proud!
Cut up your tomatoes.
You can cut the in chunks, slices, or dice them. I’m doing chunks because it’s pretty that way.
Peel and cut your . However, if you prefer you can also skip peeling your .
Cut up your onion.
I slice mine and then cut the slices in half, still leaving pretty big pieces.
This way, those of you who don’t care for the raw onions can pick them out easily enough.
Dump all of that into a bowl. You can also opt to sprinkle these vegetables with and right now before adding the dressing.
Now we have to make our dressing.
For this, all we are going to do is combine equal parts water, vinegar, and sugar and stir it up.
I start with 1/2 cup of each but you can do more if you like. I wouldn’t do any less though.
This is me adding my sugar to the vinegar and water mixture.
Stir that up good.
Recipe Tip
Don’t worry if your sugar isn’t dissolved all of the way because we’re going to let all of this marinate in the fridge for a spell before we eat.
Pour this over your veggies and stir.
Cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.
It will make more juice but I like to go give it a good stir after an hour or so.
Save some for me!
Storage
Store this tomato, onion, and cucumber salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.
Recipe Notes
- If you like, add some fresh herbs to your salad. Dried or and oregano will give this salad recipe a Mediterranean feel, while I also like sprinkling fresh dill or parsley on top.
- Other fun additions to make to this salad include crumbled feta cheese, chunks of avocado, bell pepper chunks, and mozzarella balls.
- Instead of white vinegar, you could also use either red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. If you’re going for a Mediterranean-inspired , you can opt for too.
- Another option is using halves instead of chunks.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with tomato, onion, and cucumber salad?
Serve this refreshing salad with any grilled or barbecued meat and a side of crusty bread. My suggestions include grilled chicken tenderloins, pork chops, or slow-roasted beef brisket.
Can you make this salad ahead of time?
Yes, I recommend refrigerating the salad for a few hours before serving to let the vinegar sink into the vegetables. So you could definitely make this in advance the night before.
You may also like these other sensational salad recipes:
Cucumber Salad Creamy and Delicious
Fresh Fruit Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing
Low Carb Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
Ingredients
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 purple or red onion
- water
- white vinegar
- sugar
Instructions
- Peel and slice cucumbers, and chop tomatoes and red onion. Combine all in a large bowl.2 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 1 purple or red onion
- Mix up a dressing of equal parts vinegar, water, and sugar. I start with 1/2 cup each of my dressing ingredients.water, white vinegar, sugar
- Pour the vinegar dressing over the vegetables and refrigerate (ideally overnight).
Video
Be more concerned about your character than your reputation because your character is who you are and your reputation is just what others THINK of you.
~Submitted my Southern Plate Reader, Emily. To submit your quote, and make someone’s day a little brighter, click here.
I used to be in charge of making this growing up with tomatoes and cucumbers right from my parents garden. Never added anything to it though, it was always just the veggies. Might have to suggest that to my mom. 🙂
Oh, try it just once Angela. I think you will love it!
thats what this salad is called? Ive had this a MILLION times at TWU (Texas Woman’s University) and I never knew what it was called! It is very yummy although the one at TWU has olive oil in it…I think…regardless it is very delicious!
Yep, that’s what we call it!
Hi Christy, love, love your site! I make this salad all summer long, but I use
Lite Zesty Italian bottled salad dressing from Krogers. It is yummy and very low calorie and taste awesome. This is popular at our church potluck get togethers and vanishes very fast. You gotta try it.
I will have to try it that way. Thanks for the tip Judy!
hey Christie, this is a bit along the lines of the tomato hot slaw. i hope you make it soon. it’s used to be a popular recipe in Hsv (Mullins Restaurant has the slaw dog). it was always taken to church outtings, picnics, back in the 60’s. It’s time to bring it back …. i always say you can’t start summer without the tomato hot slaw.
I will definitely have to make that soon Susan!
I have the fire and ice recipe, but mine uses japaleno peppers. Use enough to make it kinda hot (that is if you like it that way). Anyhow it’s a very good recipe, so easy to make and even easier to eat!
Thanks for the tip Doris!!
I just purchased your cookbook yesterday. I took it with me to the eye doctor today, and my eye doctor asked if he could look at it. I hesitated, but, finally allowed him to hold it. He loves to cook so he was quite intrested. I’ m savoring it slowly, I hate to come to the end. I hope it sells millions.
Thank you so much Mary!! I am tickled to hear that you are enjoying it.
Christy, I made this two summers ago for lunch when I was attending a writing project at Auburn. Many people commented on how pretty it looked, so I brought some to share the next day. IT WAS A HIT! Thank you so much for your sweet spirit and willingness to share your life and recipes with all of us. You are truly a blessing.
Thank you so much Shay!!