Cucumber salad with sour cream and dill is a refreshing, yet creamy cucumber salad. A quick and easy four ingredient recipe. Pairs beautifully with fish, and is a great simple salad recipe to have up your sleeve.
This salad is dear to my heart and taste buds. I grew up eating this salad, Mum made it all the time, and am thrilled to share it with you.
I regard this as a Latvian recipe as it has the classic Latvian flavours of dill and sour cream. Like many recipes common in Latvia neighbouring countries have similar variations, and this salad is no exception.
You may also like my Latvian creamy tomato salad or some of my other Latvian recipes.
What I love about the salad is the contrast. The cucumbers have a glorious crunch due to a quick salt pickle. Then there is the freshness of the dill with the creaminess of the sour cream. This recipe is one of my top ten family favourites, enjoy.
Sara xxx
What's in this post
Ingredients
- Dill: Fresh dill has to be used and you can't substitute with dried dill. Alternatively use fresh chopped chives, not the same, but just as tasty.
- Sour Cream: Full fat sour cream is best. I have used low fat sour cream as well, but only if it isn't runny. The sour cream needs to be of a thick consistency or the dressing will be too runny and watery.
- Salt: Kosher, kitchen salt, or sea salt flakes, they all work.
- Cucumbers: I use Lebanese cucumbers or continental (telegraph) cucumbers. The perfect cucumber for this recipe has thin skin with minimal seeds. Persian, Lebanese, and English cucumbers are a good substitute.
What to Serve the Salad with?
This salad goes exceptionally well with fish, smoked or cured salmon, and as part of a buffet. I even make this to accompany takeaway fish and chips. It has also been know to grace the table at barbeques to serve alongside fish, steak, or chicken.
- Perfect to accompany take away or homemade beer battered fish and chips.
- A barbeque staple with chicken, steak or fish, including my BBQ rainbow troutt wrapped in prosciutto and Australian BBQ Prawns.
- For a simple meal try the cucumber salad with sour cream with quick herb roasted salmon or baked ocean trout fillets.
Recipe Instructions
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable version of this recipe.
Thinly slice washed cucumbers with skin on. You can use a mandolin instead of a knife to achieve thin slices if you prefer.
Place finely sliced cucumber in a colander and sprinkle over the salt.
Mix the salt with the cucumbers. Use your hands to gently massage the salt in thoroughly.
Leave the salted cucumbers to rest for 10 - 15 minutes. Make sure the colander is over the sink on a plate. This will prevent the released cucumber juice from making a mess.
Rinse cucumbers under running water to remove excess salt. Leave aside for a few minutes to let the excess water drain away.
Using your hands squeeze excess liquid from the cucumbers and place cucumbers in a mixing bowl. Then add the dill and sour cream.
Mix cucumbers until thoroughly combined with the dill and sour cream.
Place cucumber salad in a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place salad in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes to chill before serving.
Before serving give the salad a quick mix with a spoon as more liquid may be released during the chilling time.
Sara's Top Recipe Tips
It is really important to remove as much excess water as possible from the rinsing and draining process. Make sure you give them time to drain in the colander and give them a mix with a spoon occasionally to aid the process.
Squeeze the cucumbers well with your hands.
This can happen when the cucumbers continue releasing liquid while the salad is resting and chilling in the fridge. Mixing through an extra tablespoon of sour cream before serving will thicken the salad dressing.
Printable Recipe
Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream and Dill
Ingredients
- 3 Lebanese cucumbers (or cucumbers of choice) | finely sliced into rounds, skin on
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 bunch dill | finely chopped
- 125 mls (½ cup) sour cream | full fat
Instructions
- Place finely sliced cucumber in a colander. Sprinkle over salt and then mix the salt through the cucumbers.
- Leave the salted cucumbers to rest for 10 - 15 minutes.Make sure the colander is over the sink on a plate. This will prevent the released cucumber juice from making a mess.
- Rinse cucumbers under running water to remove excess salt. Leave aside for a few minutes to let the excess water drain away.
- Using your hands squeeze excess liquid from the cucumbers and place cucumbers in a mixing bowl.
- Add dill and sour cream to the cucumber and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Place cucumber salad in a serving bowl and cover with plastic wrap.Place salad in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes to chill before serving.
- Before serving give the salad a quick mix with a spoon as more liquid may be released during the chilling time.
Oven Temperatures
All oven temperatures are fan forced.
Measurement Notes
All measurements are Australian metric standard. All measures are level, and cups are lightly packed unless specified. 1 teaspoon = 5ml / 1 tablespoon = 20mls / 1 cup = 250ml /4 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.
Recipe Notes
- 1 teaspoon equals 5ml
- 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml (Nth America, NZ & UK use 15ml tablespoons)
- 1 cup equals 250ml (Nth America use 237ml)
- 4 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon
- I use the below unless specified in my recipes.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
The recipe's nutritional information is an approximation based on an online calculator. It is meant solely for reference purposes. If you're looking for precise details, be sure to double-check with your own research.
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