smashed cucumber salad

This smashed cucumber salad is deliciously crunchy, crisp, and packed with sweet-tart flavor. We salt the cucumbers to maximize their crunch, then toss them in a sweet vinegar dressing with fresh herbs and ginger.

Drizzle with plenty of chili crisp for heat. Good luck not eating the whole bowl!

Why I love it:

Smashing cucumbers is a fantastic technique: it breaks tender little cukes open with beautifully irregular nooks and crannies. This extra surface area soaks up all the more dressing, which makes these salads extra flavorful and juicy.

The downside to cucumber salads is they get watery and soggy-- fast. We combat that with salting the cucumbers for an hour, and draining off any liquid that is released. 

The salting minimizes how much water is released over time, and it also makes the cucumbers crazy crunchy.

Toss those salted cucumbers in a lightly sweetened rice vinegar dressing with ginger, garlic, cilantro, and green onions, and go to town!

You can serve it as is: sweet, tart, and so fresh, or you can drizzle it with crunchy bits of spicy chili crisp. Pick your heat level and dig in.

Smashed cucumber ingredients:

How to make this smashed cucumber salad:

1. Smash cucumbers and roughly chop.
2. Toss with salt and chill for at least 1 hour.
3. Make dressing: combine ginger, garlic, sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil.
4. Drain cucumbers off liquid and toss with dressing.
5. Stir in cilantro and green onions.
6. Drizzle chili crisp over top and enjoy!

Make ahead options:

I prefer not to make this smashed cucumber salad ahead. Even though we salt the cucumbers, they’ll still release enough water to make it more liquidy than I like.

Here's how to prep this salad in advance, though:

• Smash the cucumbers, chop them, and salt them for up to 1 day ahead.
• <ake the dressing up to 1 day ahead.

Toss it all together just before serving for the freshest, crunchiest salad.

cucumber smashing tips:

• Use a thin-skinned cucumber. I love the little Persian cucumbers (also known as baby cucumbers, mini cucumbers, or snack cucumbers) for this salad. 
• You can use English cucumbers in a pinch.
  • They won’t be as crunchy and they will release more water, so make sure to salt them for an hour!
  • They’re softer than Persian cucumbers, so don’t smash as hard or they’ll get mushy.
• I prefer the flat edge of a chef’s knife. You can smash cucumbers with any flat surface, though. A bench scraper, cleaver, or even a wide rolling pin will work.
• Smash lightly: Just enough to crack the skin and separate the cucumber into jagged strips. Don’t overdo it-- the cucumbers will just get mushy.

What to serve with this smashed cucumber salad recipe:

We love to eat this with spicy noodles (like these cold sesame noodles), pork dumplings, grilled turmeric chicken thighs, miso glazed salmon or chicken, Chinese BBQ pork, and cold marinated silken tofu.

More vegetable salad recipes to try:

cucumber avocado salad

edamame salad

shredded carrot salad

grilled corn salad

warm potato salad

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