Cucumber Vinegar Salad has thinly sliced cukes, red onions, seasonings, and a sweet vinegar dressing. This healthy cucumber salad is easy, crisp, and refreshing.

A large wooden bowl is tilted forward and filled with cucumber vinegar salad tharhas green cucumber slices and thinly sliced red onions.

Cucumber salads should be a staple at picnics and get-togethers on lazy summer days. You know, like a tradition.

I'll admit I never had a cucumber salad until I was in my 20s, but as soon as I took my first bite, I was hooked.

I bet you love them, too. Not especially the mayonnaise kind but the fresh and light marinated kind. Marinated with distilled white or apple cider vinegar that has been sweetened with sugar and spices.

Overhead view of the large serving bowl and two smaller individual bowls full of cucumber vinegar salad with forks and a slotted spoon on the left.

Salads are such a welcoming treat, too. Whether leaf salads or made from other vegetables, they always seem like a great addition.

And pasta salads can become a complete lunch! I have about 15 salads on this blog, and each one is very different from the other.

And this healthy cucumber salad is right in keeping with my theme of beautiful, tasty, and unique salads. Cucumbers and red onions are the stars.

Two small single serve wooden bowls are filled with cucumber vinegar salad with the large bowl sitting behind.

Table of Contents

What is an English cucumber?

An English Cucumber has a thinner skin than a regular cucumber, and its seeds are smaller.

They are mild in taste with no bitter taste.

English Cucumbers do not cause you to burp, so their other handle is burpless cucumbers. I've seen them as hothouse cucumbers, too.

Sometimes, each cucumber comes in its own tight, clear wrapper. Just look at those smooth, long, and thin English cucumbers in the photo below.

Ingredients

English or young regular cucumbers are this salad's main crispy flavored vegetables.
Red onion - gives a flavor contrast in a milder way than other onions.
Celery seeds - are surprisingly flavorful and are often used in brines.
Salt - a little bit goes a long way for this seasoning.
Vinegar - is acidic and helps the flavors become infused into the vegetables.
Water - helps dissolve the sugar when it is heated.
Sugar - counterbalances the acidic flavor of vinegar and makes the best dressing when combined.

Overhead view of the prepared sliced veggies in a white bowl with seasonings sprinkled on top.

Instructions

Bring vinegar, water, and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Take off the heat and let it cool while preparing the vegetables.
Slice cucumbers and onions and place in a large bowl.
Sprinkle on celery seed and salt.

Overhead view of pouring the cooled prepared dressing from a saucepan over the vegetables.

Pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers and mix well. You can enjoy the recipe right now, but it gets even better after it has rested and marinated in the dressing overnight.
Place in an airtight container, cover, and seal.
Place in refrigerator. to meld.

A wide photo of two bowl full of a refreshing raw vegetable side dish sitting on a white countertop.

Cucumber salad variations

Even though I consider this cucumber vinegar salad recipe perfect there are additions and changes that you can make.
I quickly mentioned this above but you can use apple cider vinegar instead of white distilled vinegar. It is slightly less acidic.
You can substitute coconut sugar for the granulated sugar. It is a wonderful flavor and that is what I did for this Mildly Marinated Cauliflower recipe.
You can switch out the celery seed for fresh dill or dill seed.
Sprinkle in a little black pepper.
There are many more things that can be done including adding more seasonings and maybe even chopped tomatoes but then you'd have to change the salad name.

Closeup photo of cuke and onion slices on a fork and coming right for your mouth.

More great raw salads

📋 Recipe