Recipes › Fresh bowls & lunches› Cucumber tomato salad with dill and red onion
Fresh bowls & lunches · Easy · Serves 4

Cucumber tomato salad with dill and red onion

The classic cucumber tomato salad, Nordic style: crisp cucumber, ripe tomatoes, thin red onion, and a lot of fresh dill in a sharp little vinegar dressing. Ten minutes, no stove.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-07-02
A long oval ceramic platter of cucumber tomato salad on a white marble counter, seen from nearly overhead: red tomato wedges and halved baby tomatoes, thin cucumber rounds, paper-thin slivers of red onion, and a heavy scatter of fresh dill, all glossy with a light vinegar dressing pooling at the edges of the platter. A small bunch of dill and a folded striped cream-and-blue linen tea towel sit beside it. Soft bright midday light.
Prep
10 min
Cook
0 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
easy

Every food culture has a version of the cucumber tomato salad, and this is the one that tastes like my family's table. Crisp cucumber, the ripest tomatoes you can find, red onion sliced thin enough to read through, and enough dill that you stop counting. The dressing is just oil, vinegar, a little honey, and salt.

It is a ten-minute salad, but two small habits (salting the vegetables first, rinsing the onion) make it taste like you fussed. In July and August I make it more or less daily.

“Ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumber, thin onion, too much dill. Ten minutes, no stove, all summer long.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01Ten minutes, no stove, and it goes with absolutely everything that comes off a grill.
  • 02The salt-and-sit step is the difference between a watery salad and one that tastes finished.
  • 03Naturally gluten-free and vegetarian, so it lands on any table without a footnote.
  • 04It scales: double everything for a crowd and it takes twelve minutes instead of ten.
A woman in a beige striped tee and light denim slicing an English cucumber into thin rounds with a chef's knife on an oak cutting board, with tomato wedges, a halved red onion, and fresh dill waiting beside the board and her bright farmhouse kitchen with a stainless range softly behind.
Thin, even slices are the whole knife skill this salad asks for.
Ingredients

For the salad

  • 1English cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1 lbripe tomatoes, larger ones in wedges, small ones halved
  • ½small red onion, sliced paper-thin
  • ⅓ cupfresh dill, roughly chopped

For the dressing

  • 3 Tbspolive oil
  • 2 Tbspwhite wine vinegar
  • 1 tsphoney
  • ½ tspkosher salt
  • a few cracksblack pepper
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Salt the vegetables.
    Put the sliced cucumber and the tomatoes in a colander set over a bowl, toss with a light pinch of salt, and let them sit for 5 minutes. The salt pulls out some of their water, which concentrates the flavor and keeps the finished salad from going watery in minutes.
  2. 02
    Rinse the onion.
    While the vegetables sit, rinse the sliced red onion under cold water for about 30 seconds and pat it dry. This tames the raw bite so the onion reads as sweet and crisp instead of sharp.
  3. 03
    Whisk the dressing.
    In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt, and a few cracks of black pepper until it comes together.
  4. 04
    Toss and serve.
    Arrange the drained cucumber and tomatoes on a platter or in a wide bowl, scatter the onion over, and spoon the dressing across everything. Finish with all of the dill and a little flaky salt. Serve right away, or slightly chilled within the hour.
    Hands in a beige striped tee carrying the finished oval platter of cucumber tomato salad toward a set table by a bright window, with plates, glasses of sparkling water, and a small vase of flowers softly out of focus.
    Straight to the table. This one does not want to sit around.
A close macro of the cucumber tomato salad in a speckled bowl: a glossy tomato wedge and cucumber rounds beaded with vinegar dressing, draped with a translucent sliver of red onion and scattered with fresh dill fronds.
A note from Anna

The tomatoes matter more than anything else here, so use the best ones you have and never store them in the fridge before making this; cold, dusty tomatoes cannot be rescued by any dressing. If you want this salad to be lunch on its own instead of a side, I add white beans and feta, and it becomes a different salad I have written up already. And for a vegan table, swap the honey for a pinch of sugar. It changes nothing.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    Grilled lemon-herb chicken thighs
    This is the exact salad that dinner is asking for.
  • ·02
    Crusty bread or grilled rye
    The dressing plus tomato juice at the bottom of the platter is worth chasing.
  • ·03
    Swedish meatballs, honestly
    A cold sharp salad next to something rich is a very Nordic move.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: Best the day it is made. Keeps for 1 day sealed; drain off the liquid and refresh with a pinch of dill before serving.

Make ahead: You can slice the cucumber and onion and whisk the dressing a few hours ahead. Cut the tomatoes and toss just before serving.

Freezer: Not suitable.

Recipe card

Cucumber tomato salad with dill and red onion

The classic cucumber tomato salad, Nordic style: crisp cucumber, ripe tomatoes, thin red onion, and a lot of fresh dill in a sharp little vinegar dressing. Ten minutes, no stove.

Prep
10 min
Cook
0 min
Serves
4
Total
10 min
Ingredients
  • 1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1 lb ripe tomatoes, larger ones in wedges, small ones halved
  • ½ small red onion, sliced paper-thin
  • ⅓ cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp honey
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • a few cracks black pepper
Method (short version)
  1. 01Salt the vegetables.
  2. 02Rinse the onion.
  3. 03Whisk the dressing.
  4. 04Toss and serve.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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