Thai Cucumber Salad

A Summery Recipe With Thai Inspiration

Thai Cucumber Salad is a fresh and vibrant side dish made with crisp cucumbers, red onion, bell peppers, cilantro, and green onions tossed in a tangy sesame ginger dressing. The rice vinegar, lime, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sriracha create the perfect balance of sweet, savory, spicy, and refreshing flavors.

I have always loved the bold, fresh flavors of Thai food. I especially love when those sweet, tangy, savory, and spicy flavors come together in a really good salad dressing. A dressing packed with sesame oil, lime, ginger, soy sauce, and a little heat is completely right up my alley and makes even the simplest vegetables taste exciting.

This Thai Cucumber Salad is one of those recipes that feels perfect for summer because it stays crisp and flavorful in the fridge. It somehow gets even better as it sits. I love making a big batch at the beginning of the week to keep in the refrigerator for quick lunches. It is also an easy side dishes. Picture grabbing a bowl straight from the fridge when it is hot outside and you come in from the pool.

The Dressing

One thing to note when making this salad is the type of rice vinegar you use. There is plain rice vinegar and seasoned rice vinegar. There is a pretty big difference between the two. Seasoned rice vinegar already contains added sugar and salt while plain rice vinegar is simply the vinegar itself with a cleaner, sharper flavor. Since this recipe already contains brown sugar and salty ingredients like soy sauce and Worcestershire powder, you may want to use unseasoned. I always prefer using seasoned because I taste and adjust the recipe. If sodium is a concern, just be mindful of this difference.

This salad does have a decent amount of sodium from the soy sauce and Worcestershire powder, but because the dressing is spread across such a large amount of fresh vegetables, it balances out nicely. If you are sensitive to sodium, you can easily substitute low sodium soy sauce or slightly reduce the soy sauce amount without sacrificing too much flavor because the lime, ginger, sesame oil, and vinegar still bring plenty of bold flavor to the dish.

Take The Time To Dice

One of the most important parts of this salad is taking the extra time to finely slice, dice, and mince all of the vegetables. Because this salad has such a light dressing and fresh ingredients, the texture really matters. Smaller evenly cut pieces allow every bite to get coated in the dressing. While also giving the salad that crisp, restaurant-style texture that makes it so satisfying to eat. Large chunky pieces can overpower the balance of flavors. But the finely prepped vegetables help everything mingle together perfectly. It will make the salad feel fresh, delicate, and packed with flavor in every bite.

The Cucumbers

I prefer using seedless cucumbers in this salad because they stay extra crisp and contain less water than traditional cucumbers. That helps keep the dressing flavorful instead of watered down as the salad sits in the refrigerator. It will hold up throughout the week, while also giving the salad a cleaner texture with fewer bitter seeds.

Serve It As A Side

This salad is perfect served alongside grilled meats, especially marinated steak, grilled chicken, shrimp, or even salmon. I also love serving it with rice bowls, lettuce wraps, or next to simple grilled burgers during the summer. This is because the cool crisp vegetables pair so well with smoky grilled foods. It can even be turned into a full meal by adding sliced steak, rotisserie chicken, or noodles right into the salad itself.