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Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

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Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

Dinner inspiration from the farmers’ market

One of my favorite things about summer in Portland is wandering through our wonderful farmers’ markets in search of inspiration for my meal-planning efforts each week. Right now, our markets are bursting with huge cucumbers, plump radishes, and lush dill all begging to be added to cold summer salads that pair perfectly with the sweltering weather we’re having.

This Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad is one of my favorite summer side dishes to throw together on a warm night. I often keep hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for quick breakfasts, so there’s a fairly decent chance I may not even need to turn the stove on when throwing this together. You can’t beat that on a warm night.

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A lighter Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

This salad comes together with very few ingredients, relying on unsweetened yogurt for the majority of its creaminess. I include 2 tbsp of mayo in this recipe, but if you feel like lightening this up even further, you can omit this in favor of more yogurt.

Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

No more soggy cucumbers

Cucumber salads are notorious for turning soft and soggy quickly, owing to the large quantity of water naturally found in cucumbers. Therefore, it’s important that you prep the cucumber properly to avoid this. Luckily, this is super simple to do.

The first step to decreasing excess liquid in the cucumbers is to remove the soft center portion that includes the seeds. After peeling the skin from the cucumber with a potato peeler, slice the cucumber in half length-wise. Using a spoon, simply scoop the seeds out in a downward motion, then slice the cucumber width-wise into half-moons.

The second step is a process called disgorging, that simply uses salt to expel the excess water. Place the sliced cucumber half-moons in a medium bowl and toss in a good quality sea salt; For this recipe, 1 tsp is plenty. The salt works to draw out the excess water so it doesn’t end up sogging up your salad once the sauce is added. Leave the salted cucumber to rest for 15-20 minutes then drain through a colander or sieve. You will be amazed at how much water drains out.

A note for special diets

This Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad is grain-free, gluten-free, nightshade-free, refined sugar-free and friendly for Keto, SIBO, and Low-FODMAP diets.

Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad with dill and eggs in a white bowl

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Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

Prep

Cook

Inactive

Total

Yield 6 cups salad

Ingredients

  • 3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced into discs
  • 2 large cucumbers (about 4 cups)
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 3/4 cup radishes, sliced
  • 1/2 cup yogurt (24hr or lactose-free if you are Low-FODMAP)
  • 2 tbsp mayo
  • 1 tbsp dill, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp white vinegar
  • cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Hard-boiled eggs: This is my go-to way to make hard-boiled eggs, but feel free to use your favorite method. I know many who bake their eggs or use their pressure-cooker instead. I often have a few eggs already hard-boiled in my fridge. If you do also, skip this step!

  1. Cover 1 dozen eggs in a large pot with water, then add salt and white vinegar.
  2. Set on medium-high heat until eggs have come to a boil, then cover with lid and remove from heat for 15 minutes.
  3. After 15 minutes, drain all of the hot water and place eggs in an ice bath for 5 minutes, or until they have cooled enough to peel without burning your fingers.
  4. Slice into discs.

For the salad:

  1. Peel the skin from the cucumber with a potato peeler, then slice the cucumber in half length-wise. With a spoon, scoop the seeds out in a downward motion. Then slice the cucumber width-wise into half-moons and place in a bowl.
  2. Disgorge the excess liquid by tossing the salt in with the prepared cucumber. Allow to rest for 15-20 minutes, then drain liquid through a colander or sieve. There should be ample liquid that drains off from the cucumber.
  3. Add radishes, yogurt, mayo, dill, Dijon mustard, white vinegar and mix gently to combine. Add cracked pepper to taste.
  4. Add sliced eggs in at the last minute and gently toss. This Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad must be stored in the refrigerator and will keep through the following day.

Courses Sides

Cuisine Russian

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cup

Amount Per Serving

Calories 91

% Daily Value

Total Fat 7 g

11%

Saturated Fat 1 g

5%

Cholesterol 112 mg

37%

Sodium 421 mg

18%

Total Carbohydrates 3 g

1%

Sugars 2 g

Protein 4 g

8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

Reader Interactions

Comments

  18. Wow what a tasty looking salad. A great way to use cucumbers and radishes! This would be very popular in my house.

    Reply

  27. Hi, good afternoon,I have to tell you this salad looks wonderful. I do have one question and I know it seems small but do you think this might store well for a few days? I was thinking of making a batch for my husband and I for lunch. Maybe 3 days? Let me know if you have any tips as I know cucumbers release a lot of water. I can’t wait to try this!!!

    Reply

    • Thank you! I happily add this to both the fella and my lunches the following day after making it for dinner and it’s been really tasty. That being said, I think this salad is probably really at its best in the first 24 hours. Though you can eliminate a good portion of the excess water from the cucumbers by disgorging them with salt and draining them before mixing the dressing in, cucumbers are comprised of 96% water (I know, that seems hard to believe!) so they will continue to expel liquid each day. I’m sure the cukes will be fine for another day if you don’t mind draining the extra liquid, but I think the texture and flavor of the eggs, in particular, will really suffer from the additional moisture so I would plan on adding the sliced egg in separately if you plan to eat this past the second day. Let me know if you try this 🙂

      Reply

  39. Oh, that looks just right. I’m the radish lover in this house – everyone else is willing to eat small amounts well mixed with other foods… This should give me enough radish while giving them enough of the surroundings to not feel overwhelmed! LOL

    Reply

  45. I love adding radishes in my salad too. I think it’s a very neglected vegetable. My kids can’t stand it unless I chop them real find and add them to the salad. This looks so creamy and delicious. Saving for later.

    Reply

  49. That is interesting that you said it because I keep hard-boiledd eggs in the fridge as well. I’ve never used them in a salad like this though so I have another one to make at one of these warm nights 😉

    Reply

  54. Love farmers markets! Portland has the best. This salad looks so unique and refreshing! I don’t cook with radishes enough, I’ll definitely have to give this a try!

    Reply

  55. This cucumber and radish salad looks wonderful! Love that you included instructions to prepare the cucumbers not to get soggy. What a great summer salad!

    Reply

  61. The salad sounds like a wonderful addition to any meal. I remember we used to have “cold plates” in the summer time when our kiddos were home. I’d take them swimming and I’d have the cold plate all ready. I like the addition of yogurt in the salad versus having too much mayo. And your tips for the cucumbers is right on.

    Reply

  64. What a delicious summer salad.. I love cucumber but never thought to add radishes. Fab idea and it looks so easy to make too. Winner all round

    Reply

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