An essential summer salad, this Cucumber Feta Salad with Basil is bursting with fresh from the garden ingredients! It's super simple, with sliced cucumbers getting a huge flavor boost from sharp red onions, feta cheese, lots of basil, and a light and tangy homemade red wine vinaigrette. Bring this salad to your next barbecue or cabin weekend, it's ready in just 15 minutes!
- Simple Summer Flavor! - Cucumbers grow quick in the garden and a classic cucumber salad is a favorite way to use them! This one is simply delicious, giving the humble cucumber a zesty vinegar basil taste, almost like a salad of fresh pickles!
- Easy! - This summer salad couldn't be easier, and can be made up ahead of time. Minimal ingredients, but bursting with freshness! Plus this no-mayo dressing is happy to sit on the buffet table!
- If you Love Cucumbers, try my Small Batch Refrigerator Pickles and my Strawberry Cucumber Salad!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
Just 4 ingredients and a quick shaken-in-a-jar dressing is all you need for this super easy Cucumber Feta Salad!
- Cucumber - Use any kind of cucumbers you have, but avoid letting them get too big and overgrown. That can make them flavorless, tough skinned, and full of seeds. Slice them as uniformly as you can, but you really don't need to bother with a mandolin for this quick salad!
- Red Onion - The red onions really give this salad its kick! Cucumbers can be a bit bland on their own, so a little sharpness elevates everything. You can use a lot or a little, eye-ball the amount so it looks just right to you! If you're not an onion fan, you could use a milder shallot or fresh chives.
- Feta Cheese - My favorite salad cheese, buy feta in a block that comes in a tub of brine. Crumble it yourself for the best flavor! Feta gives this salad a nice creamy element to balance the crisp cucumbers. You could substitute goat cheese or leave the cheese out for dairy-free.
- Fresh Basil - Basil makes this cucumber salad unique! Most cucumber salads are made with fresh dill, but I say basil is really that much better! I'm putting my garden basil on everything all summer, like my Strawberry Blueberry Salad, it's just so good! Fresh chives or dill could be subsituted, but if you don't have fresh herbs, just leave it out.
- Red Wine Vinaigrette - A quick homemade dressing can be shaken in a jar to emulsify! The clove of fresh garlic really gives the cucumbers great taste! The little bit of honey balances flavors while the red wine vinegar gives you that classic cucumber pickle tanginess! You may not need all the dressing, save the extra for any salad like this Green Bean Salad with Feta and Tomato!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
You can make this salad up in less than 15 minutes, perfect to add to grilled burgers on a weeknight, it can also BE the pickles you pile on your burger!
Step 1 - Slice the cucumbers and red onions and shake the vinaigrette in a jar.
Step 2 - Add your ingredients to a large mixing bowl, saving a bit of the feta to add over the top.
You can chop some basil to toss and keep some leaves whole to garnish.
Step 3 - Toss with the amount of dressing you like, you probably won't use it all! Pour into a serving bowl, topping with a bit more feta, dressing and basil leaves.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Fresh Herbs - Basil gives this salad a summery flavor, but you could also substitute chives, dill, parsley or thyme. If you don't have fresh herbs, you can just leave them out, don't use dried.
- Extra Dressing - You probably won't need all the dressing for this cucumber basil salad. Extra can be stored in the fridge and used on any salad, just let it come to room temperature and shake well before using.
- What to Serve it With - This salad is perfect for a weekend grill out, 4th of July party, or any hot summer occasion! It pairs perfectly with Grilled Steak Kabobs or Honey Mustard Dry Rub Ribs! Add another picnic side dish like this Lemon Orzo Salad or my Peach Corn Salsa!
- Storage - Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and eat the next day. With the dressing, it will get a bit soggy, so it's best eaten on the day it's made!
Recipe FAQs
No, this is a super quick and easy salad, no need to peel or de-seed the cucumbers! The only reason you might want to peel or de-seed them is if your cucumber is large and overgrown. Try to pick them when they are young and tender, as overgrown cucumbers can get tough, loose flavor, and be full of seeds.
Using 2 cucumbers will serve about 6 to 8 people. You can easily double the recipe, or make this salad with 1 cucumber and adjust your other toppings, they don't need to be exact! Extra dressing keeps in the fridge for a month.
Yes, you can add all ingredients to a bowl and bring the dressing in a jar. Shake it and toss just before serving. The entire salad tossed with the dressing would be fine to sit in the fridge for about an hour.
More Garden Harvest Salads!
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Cucumber Feta Salad with Basil
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Print Pin RateIngredients
- 2 cucumbers sliced
- ⅓ cup feta cheese crumbled
- ⅛ cup red onion thinly sliced
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves some chopped and left whole for garnish
For the Dressing
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 grinds fresh black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Add all salad ingredients to a bowl, saving some of the feta to add at the end.
- Shake ingredients for the dressing in a jar with a lid to emulsify.
- Toss the salad with the dressing (you probably won't need all of it) and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with a bit more feta, dressing and whole basil leaves.
Notes
- Dressing - You probably won't need to use it all. Extra will keep in the fridge for a month and can be used on any salad. Let it come to room temperature and reshake before using. Red wine vinegar could be substituted with white wine vinegar or lemon juice.
- Fresh Basil - Use fresh herbs, not dried. Basil is delicious, or substitute dill, chives, parsley or thyme.
- Amount - This salad could be doubled or made to serve any amount of people. Use 1 cucumber for a smaller group and adjust your toppings, they don't need to be exact.
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