A lot of people think that Polish food is just meat and potatoes, but it is also loaded with tons of fresh veggies. This Polish cucumber salad is the perfect light and refreshing side dish for any meal. It is so simple to make and with only a few ingredients!
One of the steps that I used to skip is letting the cucumber slices sit in some salt, so that they will release some of their water. But I don't skip it anymore! This helps keeps the salad super creamy instead of watery. Cheesecloth is a great way to let the cucumbers drain. I just lay it over the strainer and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. It is worth the extra step, trust me on this one.
You want to peel the cucumbers and then slice them very thin. I use a sharp knife to do this, but you could also use a mandolin. Same goes for the red onion. For the sour cream, I used my favorite lactose free organic sour cream from Green Valley, because it is easier on my daughter's tummy. But you can use regular sour cream too.
The fresh dill and lemon juice just really pull the salad all together. It makes it so light and refreshing. It still blows my mind that I used to dislike dill, because now I am completely obsessed. It just has such a lovely flavor that is unlike any other.
Be sure to let the salad sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving. It needs that time to develop flavor and it tastes the best chilled.
Used in This Recipe:
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Polish Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 3 Cucumbers peeled & thinly sliced
- ¼ cup Red Onion thinly sliced
- ¼ cup Fresh Dill chopped
- ½ cup Sour Cream we use lactose free
- 2 tsp Salt (divided)
- 1 Lemon
Instructions
- Peel the cucumbers and slice into thin rounds. Place them in a strainer over a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tsp of salt and let sit for 5-10 minutes (this allows the cucumber to release extra water)
- Add the thinly sliced red onion, chopped dill, juice of 1 lemon, sour cream and remaining tsp of salt into a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Stir in the cucumbers when they are done straining. Let chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes befoer serving
My mother is Hungarian and she used to make this. Love it.
This is very good. My grandma made this at our holiday dinners growing up. I love that you use fresh lemon vs straight vinegar. She used the vinegar. It’s very refreshing. The only thing I might have done wrong was not rinse the salt. It was a bit salty. Made it for my adult daughter for the first time and she loved it. Thanks for the memories!
Is this still good if you make it a day before?
Yes, it holds up really well in the fridge!
Yum!! I just made this for Memorial day. It was very refreshing...thank you!
I am so glad that you liked it Aimee, thank you for sharing!
What kind of cucumbers - the long English ones? Or the "field" cucumbers?
I leave that up to personal preference and availability, either one would be delicious 🙂
Mizeria + kotlety mielone + gotowane ziemniaki = <3