This healthy tomato and cucumber salad is simple to make, low-cost, fresh, and delicious! Best of all, it's so versatile, you'll never tire of it - the perfect side dish for all kinds of proteins, at BBQs and potlucks, and healthy addition to wraps!
Chop the tomatoes and cucumbers. Depending on the size of the ingredients used, you might have to first quarter the cucumbers and halve the tomatoes before you chop in smaller pieces. Place the chopped cucumber and tomato in a large bowl.
Remove the stem, deseed, and finely chop the chili now too. Once chopped, add in the bowl.
Add the remaining ingredients. You can mince or grate the garlic (if using a garlic grater plate, juice your lemon over it to loosen it to pour over the salad).Feel free to chop the mint leaves or leave them larger and then stir gently to combine everything well.
How To Store
This fresh tomato and cucumber salad is best enjoyed fresh when the ingredients are freshest and crunchiest. As they sit in the refrigerator, both the cucumbers and tomatoes will start to soften and release their juices so the salad will become softer. To store, cover the bowl with clingfilm and aim to eat within 1-2 days.Note: If you want to prepare this salad in advance, omit the salt (which encourages the vegetables to release their liquids). Instead, add the salt just before serving. The marinated salad will actually taste wonderful after a few hours of melding together.
Notes
Ingredient Notes
Cucumber: you can use any type of cucumber, though low-seed or seedless varieties will be less 'mushy if you want to prepare the salad in advance. English, Persian, and garden cucumber all work - though I'd peel the garden cucumbers, which have a thicker skin that can be bitter.
Tomatoes: I love to use cherry tomatoes/vine tomatoes chopped in half. However, feel free to use any ripe, juicy tomatoes and chop them into smaller pieces. Other favorites of mine include heirloom and Roma tomatoes.
Chili: I love to add a finely chopped red chili to this cucumber and tomato salad recipe. Feel free to substitute the type of chili based on how spicy you like food or omit it entirely.
Other herbs: Feel free to experiment with other herbs: parsley, dill, and basil are my other favorite options. Green onion and oregano will also work.
If you want to make this tomato cucumber salad to store in the fridge for several days, use seedless cucumbers or remove the seeds from your cucumbers to avoid them becoming too soggy as the liquid releases. You can do the same for the tomatoes if there are many seeds (as you can do for Pico de Gallo).
This marinated tomato and cucumber salad actually tastes even better when it's had a few hours marinating in the refrigerator!
Read the post above for tons of other optional salad add-ins and recipe variations!