This Thai Cucumber Salad is a refreshing and tangy recipe, which is made with crisp English cucumber and red onion. It’s an ideal side dish, ready in about 20 minutes, plus cooling time.
Thai Cucumber Salad Ingredients
- ½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Kosher salt
- 1 English cucumber (12 ounces), thinly sliced (2 ½ cups)
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced (½ cup)
- 1 Thai chile, thinly sliced (seeded for less heat, if desired)
- ¼ cup roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
- ½ cup fresh herbs, such as Thai basil, mint, and cilantro, roughly chopped
How To Make Thai Cucumber Salad
- Make the dressing: In a small saucepan, bring the rice vinegar, sugar, and ½ teaspoon of salt to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let it cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture has the consistency of a thin syrup. Transfer to a medium bowl and let it cool completely.
- Combine and marinate: Add the sliced cucumber, onion, and Thai chile to the bowl with the cooled dressing. Toss to combine and let it stand for at least 5 minutes for the cucumbers to absorb some of the liquid.
- Garnish and serve: Just before serving, top the salad with the chopped peanuts and fresh herbs.
Recipe Tips
- How to get the thinnest slices? For perfectly thin and uniform slices of cucumber and onion, a mandoline slicer works wonders. If you don’t have one, just use a very sharp knife.
- Can I make this ahead of time? Yes, this salad is perfect for making ahead. You can prepare the cucumber, onion, and dressing mixture and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Just add the fresh herbs and peanuts right before serving to keep them crunchy and vibrant.
- How to control the spice level? The heat comes from the Thai chile. For a milder salad, make sure you remove all the seeds and the white membranes from the inside of the chile before slicing. For more heat, leave some seeds in.
- Can I use a different vinegar? If you don’t have unseasoned rice vinegar, you can substitute it with white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. You may need to adjust the sugar slightly to taste.
What To Serve With Thai Cucumber Salad
This crisp and tangy salad is the perfect counterpoint to rich and savory dishes. It pairs wonderfully with:
- Grilled Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
- Thai Green or Red Curry
- Pan-Seared Salmon or Grilled Shrimp
- Coconut Rice
How To Store Thai Cucumber Salad
- Refrigerate: Store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The recipe notes it can be kept for up to one week. The cucumbers will soften and pickle more over time, but will still be delicious.
Thai Cucumber Salad Nutrition Facts
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 150 kcal
- Fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Protein: 4g
Nutrition information is estimated and may vary based on ingredients and cooking methods used.
FAQs
A Thai chile, also known as a bird’s eye chile, is a small, potent hot pepper that is very common in Southeast Asian cuisine. They are spicier than a jalapeño, so a little goes a long way.
English cucumbers are ideal because they have thin skin and very few seeds, so they don’t need to be peeled or seeded. You can use regular cucumbers, but it’s best to peel them and scrape out the seeds first.
It has a balanced sweet and sour flavor profile. The sugar is necessary to balance the sharpness of the vinegar, creating a classic sweet-and-sour dressing.
Try More Recipes:
- Greek Salad Recipe
- Cucumber Salad With Sour Cream and Dill Dressing Recipe
- I Tried Martha Stewart’s Tuna Salad, and It Got Me Through a Day I Didn’t Want to Cook
Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe
Description
A quick, crisp, and refreshing salad of thinly sliced cucumbers and red onion in a simple sweet and tangy Thai-style vinaigrette, topped with crunchy peanuts and fresh herbs.
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, boil the vinegar, sugar, and salt for about 5 minutes until it becomes a thin syrup. Let it cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, toss the sliced cucumber, onion, and chile with the cooled dressing.
- Let the salad stand for at least 5 minutes.
- Top with the chopped peanuts and fresh herbs just before serving.
Notes
- For the best results, allow the dressing to cool completely before tossing it with the fresh vegetables.
- This salad is even better if you let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- The combination of fresh mint, cilantro, and Thai basil provides an authentic and aromatic finish.
- Don’t add the peanuts and herbs until the very end to ensure they stay crunchy and fresh.