This Strawberry Cucumber Salad is the perfect sweet and savory side dish or lunch option. It's delicious, filling and fresh!
I love unique salads! And this Strawberry Cucumber Salad is both sweet and savory. Honestly, it's kind of like a more savory fruit salad. Sliced strawberries and cucumbers are tossed with a honey lime dressing and topped with salty feta, crunchy pistachios and lots of mint leaves. This salad is a symphony of flavors and textures. Perfect for the summer as a side salad or as a refreshing lunch option. Either way you'll find yourself craving this unique combination.
While cucumbers and strawberries might not seem like a natural pairing, they work very well together. The juicy brightness and sweetness of the strawberries is offset by the crunchy, cool flavor of the cucumbers. This salad has beautiful contrasting colors, not to mention its super pretty. You'll want to eat this at picnics, potlucks, as a side dish and light lunch. If you are looking for more strawberry recipe options check out my Spinach Strawberry Goat Cheese Salad or Strawberry Rosé Sorbet for a boozy delicious dessert.
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Sweet and savory salad
- A perfect summer side
- Different textures and flavors
- A unique salad recipe
- Easy recipe!
Ingredients
- Cucumbers - Hot House Cucumber, also called English cucumbers, seedless or burpless cucumbers. They are typically wrapped in plastic to protect the skin and keep moisture in, so no need to peel them and have a general sweeter flavor compared to a common cucumber.
- Strawberries - Buy the juiciest, ripest fruit you can find.
- Feta - adds salt and tanginess to the salad.
- Pistachios - crunchy & salty! Gives our treat amazing extra texture and flavor.
- Mint - fresh mint, takes this simple salad to the next level. I love the combination of feta and mint together. If you do too, check out this Whipped Blood Orange Feta Dip with honey & mint.
- Salt - kosher salt, used to salt the cucumbers to draw out the moisture. This results in a crunchy cucumber.
Honey Lime Dressing
- Olive Oil - Use high-quality oil like extra virgin olive oil.
- Honey - adds just a touch of sweetness to this recipe
- Limes - Use both the lime juice and zest to maximize the lime flavor
Substitutions
- Herbs - If you're not a fan of mint, basil would be a delicious substitute
- Nuts - I love the crunch that added with nuts. You could change out pistachios for almonds or cashews if that's what you have on hand
- Fruit - cubed watermelon, cantaloupe or blueberries
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Wash cucumbers and slice the cucumbers into ¼ coins. Salt the cucumber slices and place them in a colander with a bowl underneath or place in the kitchen sink to drain the excess water for at least 10 minutes - up to 30 minutes.
- While waiting on the cucumbers, wash and slice strawberries, crumble or cut feta into chunks/cubes, crush pistachios and wash and pull mint leaves.
- Use a hand blender and blend all dressing ingredients in a bowl or sturdy mug and set aside. If you don't have a hand blender, in a mason jar, add in all honey lime dressing. Put a lid on and shake dressing until fully mixed.
- Lightly rinse salt off cucumber. Place the cucumbers in between paper towels or a kitchen towel and press gently to absorb the extra moisture. It's okay if some salt is still left on!
- In a large bowl, combine strawberries, feta and cucumber and dressing. Toss gently until combined and let it sit in the fridge for 5 minutes to absorb flavors.
- Before serving, re-toss salad and top with mint leaves and pistachios. Taste, adjust flavors if need and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Salt your cucumber! Salting cucumbers and 'sweating' them will draw out the extra water and moisture resulting in a crunchy cucumber.
- Check your salt! When drying the cucumber there might be a little bit of salt on your cucumbers. Also, whether you use salted or unsalted pistachios will also affect the salt level of your salad. Make sure the taste the salt before serving to decide if you need to add extra salt or not.
Recipe FAQ
I recommend Hot House cucumbers for this recipe. They are also called English cucumbers or seedless or burpless cucumbers. They are wrapped in plastic to protect the keep and keep moisture in. These cucumbers have edible skin and seeds.
Technically no but I highly recommend it. Salting the cucumbers release any extra moisture that would make this salad super soggy. Also drawing out the water, results in a crunchier cucumber.
Personally, I recommend making this salad day of for the freshest and best tasting salad.
This salad would be a wonderful refreshing side for picnic and bbq type foods like burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken or salmon.
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Strawberry Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 english cucumber
- 1 pound strawberries
- 4 ounces feta
- ¼ cup pistachios
- 1 ounce fresh mint
Honey Lime Dressing
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 limes
Instructions
- Wash cucumbers and slice the cucumbers into ¼ coins. Salt the cucumber slices and place them in a colander with a bowl underneath or place in the kitchen sink to drain the excess water for at least 10 minutes - up to 30 minutes.
- While waiting on the cucumbers, wash and slice strawberries, crumble or cut feta into chunks/cubes, crush pistachios and wash and pull mint leaves.
- Use a hand blender and blend all dressing ingredients in a bowl or sturdy mug and set aside. If you don't have a hand blender, in a mason jar, add in all honey lime dressing. Put a lid on and shake dressing until fully mixed.
- Lightly rinse salt off cucumber. Place the cucumbers in between paper towels or a kitchen towel and press gently to absorb the extra moisture. It's okay if some salt is still left on!
- In a large bowl, combine strawberries, feta and cucumber and dressing. Toss gently until combined and let it sit in the fridge for 5 minutes to absorb flavors.
- Before serving, re-toss salad and top with mint leaves and pistachios. Taste, adjust flavors if need and enjoy!
Notes
- Salt your cucumber! Salting cucumbers and 'sweating' them will draw out the extra water and moisture resulting in a crunchy cucumber.
- Check your salt! When drying the cucumber there might be a little bit of salt on your cucumbers. Also, whether you use salted or unsalted pistachios will also affect the salt level of your salad. Make sure the taste the salt before serving to decide if you need to add extra salt or not.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!