Whip & Wander

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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.

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

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

Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

★★★★★ 5 from 49 reviews
  • Author: Whip & Wander
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 6 cups salad 1x
  • Category: Sides
  • Cuisine: Russian
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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.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cup
  • Calories: 91
  • Sugar: 2 g
  • Sodium: 421 mg
  • Fat: 7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1 g
  • Carbohydrates: 3 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Cholesterol: 112 mg
Creamy Cucumber Radish Salad

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Danielle

    We have been making lots of cucumber salads with the abundance we have growing. I like the idea of adding radish too.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  17. Marc

    Beautiful salad and solid technique for preventing wateriness. I also love that you used yogurt instead of excess mayo to make this creamy.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  18. Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry

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

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  27. Heidy L. McCallum

    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

    • Whip & Wander

      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

  37. camila

    this salad looks amazing! I love cucumber and love how you make this a creamy salad. It must be so delicious with all of the flavors and textures!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  39. Anne Murphy

    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

  42. Sherri @ Watch Learn Eat

    This looks like a perfect salad for me! I am a huge fan of radishes and I love the combination of ingredients! The yogurt and dill sounds amazing together. And I learned something new about prepping the cucumbers! 🙂

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  45. Veena Azmanov

    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. Elaine

    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

  51. Kim @ Berly's Kitchen

    My husband LOVES cucumber salad! We normally use tomatoes, but radishes would give the salad a different flavor profile. Sounds great, and we’ll have to give them a try the next time we make a salad!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  52. Nicoletta Sugarlovespices

    Radishes are great, as are boiled eggs and the dressing with yogurt/mayo. Love this salad, but I would need to replace the cucumbers which I really cannot stand. Any idea what I can replace them with? Thanks!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  54. Chelsey

    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. Michele

    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

  60. Veena Azmanov

    That looks so creamy and delicious. I love creamy salad dressing. The cucumber and radish sound like a wonderful combination. I can’t wait to try this one soon. Sounds yum

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  61. Marisa Franca

    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. Karyn

    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

  66. swathi

    I like this creamy salad, I haven’t tried the combo of cucumber and radish. I am going to try it, This is going to best starter for get together.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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