Cucumber Radish Salad

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This refreshing cucumber radish salad is just what you need on a hot summer day. It’s loaded with cool cucumbers, crisp radishes, fresh dill, and a simple olive oil lemon dressing for a fresh, tangy touch.

A white bowl of cucumber radish salad next to forks.

Cucumber salads are my jam during the peak of summer. I often whip up my classic cucumber salad with English cucumbers and red onion, but this Persian cucumber and radish version is fun with those vibrant discs of red. Plus, Persian cucumbers (which are the same width as the radishes) keep everything perfectly bite-sized!

Serve this up as a beautiful (yet so easy to make) summer side dish, or even as a cooling snack to munch on. There’s no right or wrong way to eat this salad, but I’ve got a few more delicious ideas for you below!

Ingredients for a cucumber radish salad on a table.

What’s In This Cucumber Radish Salad

This cucumber radish salad uses minimal ingredients, is quick to make, and is as garden-fresh as can be! Here’s what what’s in it.

  • Cucumber: Use mini or Persian cucumbers for this recipe rather than English cucumbers. That way the cucumber slices are small, thin, and about the same size as the radishes.
  • Radish: Just one bunch (about 8 radishes) is needed to balance the cucumber.
  • Green Onion: Works well with the rest of the crisp textures and fresh flavors. But feel free to swap in shallot or red onion as well.
  • Dill: I love how dill tastes in this recipe. But if you’re not a fan, you can also use fresh parsley.
  • Olive Oil & Lemon Juice: A simple tangy dressing to gently coat the salad.

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

How To Make Cucumber Radish Salad

The key to this salad is the uniformly sliced pieces. You want both the cucumber and radish slices to be as thin as possible, so a mandoline is definitely your friend here! But if you don’t have a mandoline, a sharp knife will do.

  • Step 1: Slice it up. Thinly slice the radishes and cucumber.
  • Step 2: Make the dressing. In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
  • Step 3: Mix it all together. In a medium bowl, add the cucumber, radishes, green onion, dill, and dressing. Then stir everything together.
  • Step 4: Time to serve. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and top it off with freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt.

Ways To Serve This Cucumber Radish Salad

It’s easy to treat this salad just as a side dish. But with how fresh and light it is, there’s always room for creativity!

  • A simple, cooling side dish. To keep things light and fresh, I love to pair this salad with a few seafood favorites such as baked salmon, baked cod, baked tuna meatballs, or garlic butter shrimp. But really, it works as a delicious side for any main entree you make.
  • An easy and healthy snack. It’s not your typical healthy snack, but think of it as eating a bowl of fresh berries. It’s refreshing, low in calories, and bonus – it gives you a higher dose of veggies throughout the day.
  • Turn this into an easy breakfast. Top this salad with a fried or poached egg, or layer it onto your morning avocado toast!
A bowl of cucumber radish salad with a spoon

Make-Ahead And Storage Tips

Make ahead tip: Because the cucumbers and radishes are so thin, they will quickly absorb the moisture from the dressing and soften. To avoid a slightly soggy salad add the dressing 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Storage tip: If you’ve got leftovers, not to worry. The salad will still keep for about 3 to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container. A little bit of liquid may pool in the bottom of the container, but just drain that off.

More Easy, Summer Salads

Summer always calls for a fresh, easy salad recipe on the table. So give one of these reader favorite salads a try next!

Have leftover radishes? Make my roasted radish salad next!

If you make this cucumber radish salad, let me know how it turned out! I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.

A bowl of cucumber radish salad next to a napkin

Cucumber Radish Salad

4.92 from 12 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Author: Lisa Bryan

Description

This easy, refreshing cucumber radish salad is the perfect summer side dish for hot days!

Ingredients 
 

  • 4 mini or Persian cucumbers
  • 8 radishes (one bunch)
  • 2 green onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoons fresh dill, roughly chopped
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice (from half a lemon)
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions 

  • Thinly slice the radishes and cucumber with a knife or mandoline. I prefer a mandoline as it's super fast and keeps the slices uniform in thickness.
    Slicing up a cucumber and radish salad with a mandolin
  • In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
    Mixing lemon dressing for a cucumber radish salad.
  • In a medium mixing bowl, add the cucumber, radishes, green onion, dill, and dressing. Stir to combine.
  • Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and sprinkle a little extra salt and pepper, if you'd like.
    A large bowl of cucumber and radish salad

Lisa’s Tips

Nutrition

Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 128IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cucumber radish salad, Cucumber Salad, Radish Salad
Did you make this recipe?Mention @downshiftology or tag #downshiftology!

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About the author

Lisa Bryan

Lisa is a bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, and YouTuber (with over 2.5 million subscribers) living in sunny Southern California. She started Downshiftology in 2014, and is passionate about making healthy food with fresh, simple and seasonal ingredients.

4.92 from 12 votes (1 rating without comment)

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26 Comments

  1. Oh my gosh, so delicious!!! I made it as outlined in the recipe and it turned out amazing. Amazing, refreshing summer salad that I will make again and again. Thank you5 stars

  2. Absolutely delicious 😋 ate my fill and a few hours later finished it off am making it again today ❤️5 stars

    1. You can slice the radishes ahead of time. But, I would slice the cucumbers the day of for the best texture.

  3. I made this for lunch this week and it is such a delicious, refreshing salad! Came together very fast and held up in the fridge a couple days. I didn’t have any lemons on hand so I used rice wine vinegar and thought it was a decent sub, will definitely make again soon with the lemon.5 stars

  4. Sounded and looked amazing. So, I decided to serve this as a side at a party I hosted. It was a huge fail. I suggest leaving out the radishes and adding garlic to the dressing. Also, if you absolutely feel like you have to make this, add lots of salt. I just added enough to make the dressing taste salty and it wasn’t enough. I had to add more salt after I mixed everything together.

    1. Hi Rebecca – you obviously need to love radishes if you make a radish-based salad. ;) In that case, I’d recommend my regular cucumber salad (that doesn’t have radishes) for you!

  5. Delicious! I cut everything up and stored it in a glass container, and added the dressing + feta cheese when I’m ready to eat it. 5 stars

  6. We Slavic people make this salad as a staple in the summer , only we dress it with sour cream or plain yogurt.