A fresh creamy cucumber salad is the perfect side to any main. It’s light, flavourful and very easy to make. If you have cucumber lovers in the family this will be a winner for sure!
It’s cucumber season here so I am more than excited to be making this garden-to-table creamy cucumber salad. It’s one of my favourite dishes from childhood, in Poland called Mizeria, so it’s more than just a nice dinner side dish for me.
I have mentioned before that in Polish cooking leafy salads are not a popular side dish. Our typical dinner side consists of either cooked vegetables or a fresh vegetable slaw, like the carrot and apple slaw recipe we shared last year.
Though I call this dish a salad, it probably fits the slaw definition a bit better. However, cucumber slaw somehow doesn’t sit well with me so creamy cucumber salad it is.
Preparing Creamy Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
Cucumbers: Cucumbers are the fruit of a creeping vine plant. They are often grown on trellises, in cool climates in greenhouses and as a field crop in warmer areas. There are many different varieties of cucumbers, with the smaller varieties most often used for pickling. Hence the name pickling cucumber.
Onion: Onion is a very common vegetable that is used both raw and cooked in food preparation. It has a sharp flavour raw that often sweetens once cooked. There are many varieties of onions, some that are milder than others. We use the common onion or yellow onion in this recipe.
Dill: Dill is a herb that has soft almost feathery leaves that are used for medicinal purposes as well as to flavour food. Dill adds nutrition with high vitamins C and A content and moderate iron content.
Sour cream: Sour cream is made from cream from dairy milk. Lactic acid bacteria are added to sweet cream creating a thick, tangy and creamy substance.
How to Make Creamy Cucumber Salad
This is a very simple recipe with minimal ingredients.
The most time-consuming process is slicing the cucumbers. Since I am using pickling cucumbers, I don’t remove the skin first. If you are using English cucumber or a similar variety peel the cucumbers first. Their skin is a bit tougher.
The best way to cut cucumbers for this salad is to slice them. You can slice the cucumbers using a knife or a mandolin. See our video below to see both options in action. Jump to Video
Once the cucumbers are all sliced, slice the onion next. I like to cut the slices into halves or thirds but the size here is entirely up to you. You may also choose to dice the onions if you prefer.
Lastly, wash and chop the dill. Again, the size of the chop is entirely up to you.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret here, the quantities of the fresh ingredients are entirely up to you. Sometimes I skip the onion altogether, sometimes I put enough dill to make this
a creamy dill salad. Do what your family will enjoy!Now it’s time to add everything to a bowl and turn this into a creamy cucumber salad.
Add the fresh ingredient to a medium bowl, top with the sour cream, salt and pepper and mix.
TIP: If you feel like the taste is a bit too sour, add a ¼ tsp sugar to sweeten it. This is a pretty typical addition to traditional Mizeria however I personally prefer it without the sugar.
Once mixed you are all set. The longer the salad sits in the fridge the better the flavour will become. It will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You may find that there is a bit of liquid at the bottom of the bowl after the salad rests. Be sure to give it a good stir from the bottom up before serving.
Substitutions
Sour Cream: If you must, you can replace the sour cream with plain yogurt. However, you should use Greek yogurt otherwise the salad will turn soggy really fast. Also, you will likely want to add a ¼ to ½ teaspoon of sugar if using yogurt since it’s more tart than sour cream.
Onion: You can use any kind of onion that you like. There are milder onions like white onion or red onion that you may prefer. Alternatively, you can skip the onion altogether.
Cucumber: I used pickling cucumbers but you can use any cucumber variety that you like. Keep in mind that the smaller the cucumber the more slicing you will need to do.
Serving Cucumber Salad
As always, I think this salad makes a great snack!! I honestly eat it on its own ALL THE TIME! It usually makes an appearance at the dinner table the first day I make it, then it’s never to be seen again.
Since this salad takes me back to my childhood, it is no surprise that I think it’s the perfect side for kotley mielone (pork patties) and breaded pork chops (schnitzel). But don’t let me limit your options.
My absolute favourite way to eat this salad is with mashed potatoes and meatballs in gravy. There is just nothing better than the crunchy cooling creamy cucumber with warm mushy potatoes.
Ok, I digress! I think you get the idea that this creamy cucumber salad goes well with most mains. I’d love to hear about your favourite pairings in the comments below!
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Creamy Cucumber Salad (Mizeria) Recipe
Equipment
- Knife
- Mandolin (optional)
Ingredients
- 14 oz pickling cucumbers or 1 English cucumber - note 1
- ¼ cup small onion ¼ of a small onion
- 2 tbsp fresh dill
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and finely slice the cucumbers (see note 1).14 oz pickling cucumbers
- Peel the onion and finely slice. You can cut the slices in half or thirds or dive it if you prefer.¼ cup small onion
- Wash and chop the dill.2 tbsp fresh dill
- Add all of the prepped ingredients into a medium bowl. Then add the sour cream, salt and pepper and stir everything together. If you find the salad is too sour, add a ¼ tsp sugar and mix it in.½ cup sour cream, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- Serve as a side to your favourite main.
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