Here is another easy, crowd-pleasing summer side dish for your next cookout! Creamy Tomato Cucumber Salad is simple to make, only has seven basic ingredients, and takes only fifteen minutes (or less!) to make. What could be better?
This salad has a creamy, but not too heavy, dressing that still allows the fresh flavor of summer tomatoes shine. It’s a mayonnaise base, but mixed with a bit of Greek yogurt that lightens up the dressing and gives it an extra bit of tang. This beautiful and delicious salad will brighten up any picnic table!
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Creamy Tomato Cucumber Salad Ingredients
As I mentioned, there are only seven basic ingredients: tomatoes, English cucumber, red onion, fresh herbs, salt, mayonnaise, and Greek yogurt.
You can use any type of tomato you like – heirloom tomatoes would be especially beautiful! If you want, you could use grape or cherry tomatoes but it wouldn’t be my first choice, there would be too much skin to tomato meat for my taste. But that’s just me, you do you! Here, I used vine-ripened tomatoes because they are delicious and pretty accessible in most grocery stores.
And about the cucumber: I like using English cucumbers because there are less seeds and the peel is thin so there is no need to peel it or scoop out the seeds. But, if you have another type of cucumber on hand that’s fine. If the peel is thick and/or it has a lot of seeds, just peel the cucumber and scoop out the seeds.
And you can also use any type of fresh herbs you like; leafy type herbs like basil will work better than woody type herbs like rosemary. Basil, parsley, dill, and chives would all work great! I used a combination of basil and parsley (sorry if that counts as eight ingredients then!).
How to Make Creamy Tomato Cucumber Salad
Like I said, this salad is really and fast to make. Here are the steps:
Step One: Mix the Dressing
(You do this step first, in the bowl you are going to mix the rest of the salad in. That way you don’t need to dirty another, smaller bowl just to mix up the dressing and pour it over the other salad ingredients!)
Mix the salt, mayonnaise and Greek yogurt in a large bowl until smooth. Set aside.
Step Two: Prep the Tomatoes
This is the most labor-intensive part of the whole recipe, but it’s really not that hard. You just need to remove the pulpy, seedy part of the tomatoes so the salad doesn’t end up too wet. (If you are using cherry tomatoes however, you can skip the pulp removal part!)
First cut off the stem end of the tomato (the little brown circle where the stem used to be attached). Then cut each tomato in half horizontally. You should have a nice cross-section of the tomato where you can see each chamber of the seeds and pulp.
Then use the tip of your knife to cut the little portion where the flesh attaches to the pulp, and scoop out the pulp with the tip of your knife. You can also use your finger to scoop out the pulp, that is messier but arguably more fun.
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter how you remove the pulp, you just want to get as much of it out as you can without bruising the tomatoes too much. Once you have most of the seeds and pulp removed, cut the tomatoes into large chunks and place them in the bowl with the dressing.
Step Three: Cut the Rest of the Produce (Onion, Cucumber and Herbs)
Cut the English cucumber in half lengthwise, then in large chunks. Thinly slice the red onion. Chop the herbs. Add all of this to the bowl with the dressing and tomatoes.
I’m using my new favorite Shun Classic 7″ Santoku Knife (affiliate link) here, it looks beautiful and is so, so sharp. It cuts through the tomato skins so easily it actually makes a mundane task like chopping produce really enjoyable!
Step Four: Mix the Creamy Tomato Cucumber Salad
This last step is easy, since the dressing is already in the bottom of the bowl just grab a large spoon and give the salad a nice, gentle mixing until the dressing is evenly coating the vegetables. Serve the salad right away or keep it in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Hey, do you need another side dish for a summer potluck? Try my recipes for Bacon Blue Cheese Pasta Salad and Cilantro Garlic and Lime Cauliflower!
PrintCreamy Tomato Cucumber Salad
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 – 8 servings 1x
- Category: side dish
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
Description
This delicious and simple tomato cucumber salad is bursting with fresh summer flavors and can be made in fifteen minutes or less!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. tomatoes (about six cups when cut into large chunks)
- 1 English cucumber (see notes)
- ½ red onion
- ½ c. chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, dill, chives etc.)
- 1 tsp. salt or to taste
- ½ c. mayonnaise
- ¼ c. Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Mix the salt, mayonnaise, and Greek yogurt in a large bowl until smooth. Set aside.
- Cut out the stem end of each tomato, then cut in half horizontally. Scoop out the seeds and pulp. Cut the tomatoes into large chunks and add to the large bowl with the dressing.
- Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and then cut crosswise into large chunks. Add to the bowl.
- Slice the red onion thinly and add to the bowl.
- Chop the herbs and add to the bowl.
- Mix the salad together with a large spoon until the dressing has evenly coated the vegetables. Serve immediately or store in the fridge for a few hours before serving. For maximum freshness, serve the same day.
Notes
You can also use a regular cucumber, but you may want to peel and de-seed it first to reduce bitterness.
Keywords: tomato salad, tomato cucumber salad, creamy tomato salad, creamy tomato cucumber salad, tomato salad with mayonnaise
Andreaxmcavoy
I made this yesterday with tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs from my garden. When I saw the dressing ingredients I thought it might be boring but it was absolutely delicious and a big hit. I used more yogurt than mayo but all else the same. Great recipe
★★★★★
Kate
I’m so delighted to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for sharing 🙂 And I am sure that using fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs right from your garden really made the salad extra special and delicious!
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
My mouth is watering. I have to make this Creamy Tomato Cucumber Salad right now!
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you I’m so glad you like the recipe!
Lizzy
A great classic summer recipe. Thanks for sharing your step shots too – very helpful to see the correct size to cut everything to make the best presentation.
Kate
Thank you Lizzy I’m glad that was helpful! 🙂
Kylee from Kylee Cooks
Using yogurt to lighten up the dressing is genius! I love the tang it brings too. I am off camping this weekend, and making this to bring along with us!
★★★★★
Kate
Awesome, I hope you have a great trip!
Jacqueline Debono
I love salads with creamy dressings like this! I also sometimes mix mayo and Greek yogurt to make the dressing lighter!
★★★★★
Kate
Yes I like that too, the Greek yogurt adds a nice tanginess also!
Tatiana
This is a perfect side for summer BBQs! So easy to make! Love how creamy it looks.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks Tatiana!
Nicole
Love this salad recipe! I think I would add some croutons just for an extra texture. Great recipe!
Kate
Ooo that’s a great idea! I’m going to have to try that 🙂
Charity
This is a perfect summer recipe! I just bought the most beautiful tomatoes and cucumbers from the farmers market, so now I know what I’m making!
★★★★★
Kate
Yes! I’m sure that will taste amazing with super fresh produce!
Sara
This is just what I was looking for! My garden is producing loads of cucumbers and I wanted a new way to serve and enjoy them!
Kate
Yes this would be extra wonderful with home-grown produce!
Daniela
Perfect for summer! Have never tried the mayo/greek yogurt combo. Thanks so much for sharing :).
Kate
Thanks Daniela!
Ana
I love how fresh this salad is! With this heat all I can eat these days are salads. Thank yoU!
★★★★★
Kate
I know salads are the best summertime food!