- Creamy cucumber salad is a salad that I have loved
for as long as I can remember.
I'm gonna show you how to make
the best creamy cucumber salad.
If you love cucumbers, this recipe is gonna make your day.
All right, I'm craving this salad,
so let's get started.
(cymbal crashes)
We'll start with slicing up the cucumbers.
If you have homegrown garden cucumbers,
you'll need about seven to 10 of those small cucumbers,
or you can use two English cucumbers from the grocery store.
I like to trim off the ends,
then cut them in half lengthwise,
and finally slice them up into half rings.
If you're using garden cucumbers or English cucumbers,
there's no need to peel them.
The only ones you'd wanna peel are the ones
that are coated in wax.
Transfer the cucumbers to a large mixing bowl.
(upbeat music)
Next, you'll need half of a medium onion.
And with the onions, there are some options here.
You can either use a red onion like this one
or use a yellow onion, even a sweet Vidalia onion,
whatever you have on hand.
Or if you prefer a milder onion flavor,
you can also add about a third cup
of chopped green onion or chives.
I love adding chives when they're growing in my garden.
(upbeat music)
Add the onions to the bowl with the cucumbers.
Next, we'll add fresh dill.
And this is one of my favorite herbs,
also one that we grow at home,
and it actually freezes really well.
Finely chop up your dill and add it to the bowl.
We use dill in so many of our recipes,
and it's one of our signature flavors.
You can find it in most grocery stores,
and it adds such a light and vibrant, fresh flavor
to this salad.
Plus, if you don't already have one,
a bench scraper like this one makes prep work
so much faster and easier.
It's like having an extra hand in the kitchen.
I will link to this in the recipe notes,
and I do like to set aside
a little bit of extra chopped dill to garnish the salad
after the dressing is mixed in.
The dressing for this salad couldn't be easier,
and you just add things to the bowl.
We'll start with some sour cream.
You can use full-fat sour cream like I do
or use reduced fat if you prefer.
You can even substitute it with Greek yogurt.
Now, to add a little extra flavor,
you can use one of two things.
You can either add some fresh lemon juice,
or lately, what I've been loving is to add
just a little bit of mayo.
It's a little naughtier, but my oh my,
does it add amazing flavor to this creamy cucumber salad.
Next, add in some garlic.
I like to press the garlic with my garlic press,
and I will link to this favorite garlic press
in the recipe notes.
You can also grate in the garlic
or finely mince it up with a knife.
One garlic clove goes a long way,
especially if it's a fresher clove of garlic,
so add that to taste.
Finally, season that with salt.
I usually start with half a teaspoon of salt
and then add more to taste.
Stir until that's well combined
and all of the cucumbers are coated
in that creamy, delicious dressing.
(upbeat music)
And of course, I forgot the pepper.
You can also add some freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
If you're looking for a new pepper grinder
that always starts a conversation,
I will link to this one in the recipe notes.
(upbeat music)
Honestly, every year, I wait nine months for cucumber season
so that we have cucumbers in the garden,
and I think it's because of this salad.
Literally, we've probably made it at least 500 times.
(Natasha laughs)
Oh, and growing up, my mom made this salad all the time.
It was a family staple, and it still is,
and this is the only way I can get my son to eat cucumbers.
I think he'll figure out that cucumbers are amazing one day.
(Natasha laughs)
But literally, it's the salad.
He cleans his plate when I make this.
And it's so easy, so I make it all the time
because we have a million cucumbers
all the time in the summer.
Okay, once you've got it mixed up,
you can serve it right out of there.
But I like to transfer it to the pretty bowl,
just keeping it classy, keeping it chic.
(Natasha laughs)
Oh my goodness.
Look at this.
Look at this creamy, creamy, creamy goodness.
I love it.
And the dill.
Oh, it's just one of my favorite herbs,
and it matches so well with the sour cream
and the cucumbers and the onion.
This is just a wonderful salad.
Make it once, and you'll make it 500 times.
(Natasha laughs)
Literally, it's just one of my all-time favorites,
and I'm like, why don't we have a video for this yet?
It just hit me the other day. (laughs)
All right, and you can pair it with so many things.
It's great with mashed potatoes, with rice.
It's just such a universally good salad.
In all kinds of proteins, salmon, steak,
things fresh off the grill,
it's lovely to have this creamy cucumber salad.
It's creamy and comforting but also so fresh and crisp,
and mm.
Enough talking.
Let's dive into this taste test
because it is calling my name.
And I need a fork.
And I got a fork. (laughs)
All right. Here we go.
Gonna go right into this.
Normally, I would pour this on my own plate,
but I don't wanna make you wait.
Okay, here we go.
Look at. Look at that. Big bite.
Little bit of everything.
Every bite is coated in that amazing sour cream dill sauce.
(upbeat music)
Mm. Mm. (laughs)
Homemade summer comfort. Wow.
This takes me back to my childhood,
And you don't have to just use garden cucumbers.
That's kind of the beauty of this salad.
You can still enjoy it year round,
because we totally use English cucumber in the winter
when we don't have some growing like crazy
out of our ears in the garden, (laughs)
which we do right now.
Yes!
Seriously, you guys, you have to try this.
It's so easy.
It takes like five minutes to make.
There's no prep ahead.
Your family will go nuts for this, okay?
If you want more fresh summer salads,
you will love that one right over there.
Super popular.
Must try.
And let me know in the comments if you guys spotted Sharkey
and where you saw him.
Speaking of salads...
Our new cookbook has an amazing salad chapter.
It's probably my favorite chapter, honestly.
It has so many good ones to try.
I will leave a link to this in the notes.
It's available to order,
and we'll see you on the next episode
of "Natasha's Kitchen."