Last week when I posted my recipe for Thai-Inspired Fried Rice with Chicken I included a little teaser for this salad. I love this salad with any Thai dish, and now I know it must be a reader favorite too – I’ve received a ton of emails requesting the recipe in the past week!
This basic recipe for Thai-Inspired Sweet & Tangy Cucumber Salad is my favorite, but I’ve also seen versions that use crushed peanut, cilantro, scallion, garlic, fish sauce, lime juice, and/or crushed red pepper flakes. Feel free to experiment with it and come up with a unique version that you like best.
Thai-Inspired Sweet & Tangy Cucumber Salad
Prep time:
Total time:
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons white sugar (or you could try it with honey instead; if so, start with about half the amount)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 medium English cucumber, halved length-wise and thinly sliced (see note below)
- 1 medium white onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried, crushed mint leaves (or 1 tablespoon minced fresh mint leaves)
Instructions
- Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Stir in the cucumber, onion, and mint.
- Refrigerate at least one hour (but up to four) before serving.
Notes
English Cucumber Substitution: Instead of using 1 English cucumber, you can use about 3 Persian cucumbers (or any kind of smallish cucumber that is nearly seedless). If you’re using smaller cucumbers, such as Persian cucumbers, there is no need to halve them before thinly slicing.
I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Fantastic! That sweet paired with the vinegar is so good!
Yum! I love cucumber salad. It always reminds me of spring and having family BBQ’s.
thanks a lot for the recipe. I will be trying both the salad and fried rice soon :) and the curry looks delicioussssss. do you think basil could be substituted for mint?
Dixya, Yes, definitely try it with basil – Thai basil, if you can find it! Let me know how it is if you give it a try!
looks so good, Faith. I am in the mood for light dishes lately and this is a winner.
A lovely salad! It is the perfect accompaniment to fiery currie…
Cheers,
Rosa
I love cucumber salad, can’t wait to try this!
I love the freshness of cucumber salads and yours looks delish!
I love this type of salad (really, any cucumber salad!) and make one that is similar but with a chile every time I made Thai food too :)
Nice. Cucumber + onion + mint = 1 refreshing salad
LL