Quick and easy to make, this French cucumber salad is creamy delicious, crunchy and so flavorful. With a boost of protein with Greek yogurt, this recipe is lighten up, making it more nutritious. One of my absolute favorites!
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Why you'll love this recipe
- This French cucumber salad is simple, yet full of flavor! Creamy delicious, crunchy, refreshing and satisfying. If you love cucumbers like I do, you must try my Mediterranean cucumber salad, cucumber and carrot salad, and cucumber beet salad.
- It's low-calorie and nutritious! Because I chose to add some Greek yogurt for a boost of protein instead of only sour cream, or crème fraîche like we traditionally make it in France. While super creamy, this salad isn't loaded in calories. Leaving you room for more crusty sourdough bread! Another French salad to try is my celery root remoulade.
Key Ingredients
- English cucumber: the type of cucumber is important for this salad because of how watery cucumbers can be. English is my 1st choice, you can also use Persian cucumbers or Japanese cucumbers. If you use a regular, thick cucumber, peel it completely, chop it in half, and scoop out the middle seeds with a spoon.
- Shallot: this is a key ingredient in this salad. Shallots are used a lot in French cooking. Shallots are sweeter than onions, and while I personally don't like raw onions, except for red, I love shallots.
- Dijon mustard: this is also a key ingredient to call this salad "French". Yellow mustard will not work for this, brown mustard would work, but Dijon is the best choice.
- Greek Yogurt: I use plain yogurt instead of only cream to make this creamy cucumber salad more nutritious. Greek yogurt is high in protein and probiotics. I used non-fat, you can use low fat or full fat per your preference.
- Sour cream: or crème fraîche. Mixed with the yogurt and Dijon mustard.
- Salt: don't be scared to have a heavy hand with the salt for this recipe. Remember a lot of it is to sweat the cucumbers and is left behind in the liquid.
- Fresh chives: fresh herbs always elevate recipes, chives are so flavorful and fragrant, they complete this recipe.
- Optional: fresh lemon. If you feel like your salad needs "something" add a squeeze of lemon, it'll balance it all.
How to make this creamy french cucumber salad
- Chop the shallots and chives finely. Half peel the cucumbers and slice them thinly.
Add paper towels to a bowl, add the slices of cucumber and sprinkle with salt generously. Stir and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to release excess water.
In a bowl stir together the Greek yogurt, sour cream, Dijon mustard, chopped shallots and chives, salt and pepper.
Pat dry the cucumber with paper towels, stir the cucumber with the dressing. Adjust salt and pepper, serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!
More Salad Recipes
If you love salads check these out!
tips
- Use English cucumbers. Or Persian cucumbers, their skin is thinner and they have less seeds than regular cucumbers which makes them ideal for this recipe.
- Don't skip the salt step to sweat out extra water from the cucumbers. The salad will be more crunchy and the dressing less watery.
- This salad is best enjoyed within a few hours of making it.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container refrigerated. The cucumber will release water, but just stir everything and it'll be fine.
- Always adjust salt and pepper to your taste.
Frequently Asked Questions
In France, it's often served as an appetizer but it's a great refreshing side for grilled chicken, steak, pork, even fish. And crusty bread or baguette is definitely a must!
I don't recommend stirring everything together until before eating. But you can have the dressing ready to go, and the cucumbers sliced and stored in a airtight container with paper towels, all refrigerated before assembling.
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Creamy French Cucumber Salad
Equipment
- paper towels or kitchen towel, or cheese cloth
Ingredients
- 2 English cucumbers large
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt plain; non-fat or low-fat
- ¼ cup sour cream regular or light, or crème fraîche
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots heaping
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives heaping
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt more or less to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper more or less to taste
- 1 squeeze fresh lemon juice optional
Instructions
- Half-peel the cucumbers, then slice them thinly. Add paper towels (or kitchen towel or cheese cloth) to a bowl, add the slices of cucumber and sprinkle with salt generously. Stir and let sit for at least 10 to 15 minutes to release excess water.
- In a bowl stir together the Greek yogurt, sour cream, Dijon mustard, chopped shallots and chives, salt and pepper.
- Pat dry the cucumber with paper towels, stir the cucumber with the dressing. Adjust salt and pepper, serve with side of choice such as crusty bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cucumber: I like to half peel my cucumbers, but you can fully peel if you prefer. If the skin is thin you can also skip peeling per your preference. If you use regular cucumber, remove the seeds in the middle as the salad might become too watery.
Nutrition
About Priscilla Lawrence
Hi there, I'm Priscilla Lawrence! Welcome to Sprinkled With Balance where I share elevated and approachable nutrient-rich recipes that aren't overly restrictive, complicated or boring! Based in California but born and raised in France, I'm a mom of two, former certified nutritionist, recipe developer, and food photographer.
Pam says
At what point do you use the lemon juice?
Priscilla Lawrence says
Add a squeeze of fresh lemon at the end and stir the salad one more time. Hope you enjoy!