German Cucumber Salad is a refreshing summer salad made with simple ingredients that are a staple in most kitchens! This recipe is easy to make, budget-friendly, and perfect for a potluck, family dinner, or summer cookout.
German Cucumber Salad is light, refreshing, and so easy to make! A perfect salad to bring to a party or potluck. My family especially loves this salad in the summer months because it is so light and tastes super fresh. This recipe is similar to how my German Grandmothers make their cucumber salad. I say similar because none of them can ever tell how much of each ingredient they use. But it tastes like Oma made it!
Cucumber Salad is called Gurkensalat in German and is made with sour cream, vinegar, and fresh dill. Like most German salads, this one tastes best after it has chilled for a few hours in the fridge. You can make it up to one day in advance! Perfect for a big party or barbecue.
This easy salad tastes great with fish or meat. In Germany, cucumber salad is often served with Schnitzel.
Julia’s Tips and Tricks for making this German Cucumber Salad Recipe
- This salad needs to rest in the fridge for 4 hours or longer to fully develop its flavor. It tastes great when you just made it but it tastes even better after a few hours. The dressing will get a bit watery but that’s totally normal. If you want you can season the sliced cucumbers with salt before adding the dressing and squeeze out the moisture after a few minutes then toss them with the dressing.
- The secret to a perfect German Cucumber Salad is to slice the cucumbers super thin! The thinner the better! The slices should be almost translucent. The mandoline slicer I use and love is linked below.
- You can add thinly sliced onion or a minced clove of garlic to this salad. I grew up without garlic or onions in my sour cream cucumber salad because garlic is not really common in the German cuisine and I’m not a big fan of raw onions.
- English cucumbers work best for this recipe. They often are wrapped in plastic and are unwaxed. You don’t need to peel these cucumbers. But you can also use regular cucumbers.
- There are two versions of cucumber salad in Germany. This sour cream cucumber salad and a vinegar and oil version. To make a vinegar and oil dressing for the cucumber salad use 1/2 cup canola oil and 1/4 cup white vinegar instead of the sour cream and vinegar the recipe below calls for. The other ingredients are the same.
Looking for more summer sides & salads?
- Authentic German Potato Salad
- Roasted Corn Zucchini Salad
- Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing
- Balsamic Chickpea Feta Greek Salad
- Bavarian Wurst Salad with Cheese
Tools used in the making of this German Cucumber Salad
Mandoline Slicer: This slicer is the BEST! It’s super sharp, made in Germany, and you can slice different thicknesses, julienne, and shred. Perfect for super thin cucumber slices, coleslaw, and making homemade fries! I bought this for my husband’s birthday last year and he loves it.
Cut Resistant Gloves: Better also get a pair of these with the slicer! Trust me this thing is extremely sharp. Luckily we haven’t had any accidents since we bought these but I wish we had these a few years ago when my husband tried to make coleslaw.
Vinegar: I like to use this German seasoned vinegar for salads but you can also use distilled white vinegar, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. But do NOT use balsamic vinegar!
German Cucumber Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 English cucumbers, or 4 medium cucumbers
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp dill, fresh or frozen
- 1/2 tsp salt
- black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Peel the cucumbers if desired and thinly slice them with a mandoline slicer. The thinner the better! Put them in a large salad bowl.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, and dill. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour dressing over cucumber slices and toss until combined. Cover and let chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Serve with a slotted spoon.
Nutrition Information
Brigitte says
There is no sour cream in Germany
Julia Foerster says
In Germany, we have “Saure Sahne” and sour cream is the closest to that in North America.
Deborah Hildebrand says
Absolutely 💯 We used saure sahne in many recipes. However we never used it in cucumber salad. MY mother used vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper- no oil. We ate it throughout the week. In Germany we often ate fresh ingredients and shopped throughout the week for ingredients. I miss those times. Lots of fun seeing your neighbors at the market, butcher and bakery.
I tried this recipe, increased vinegar, salt and pepper. I always use red onion like my mom u. Oma. ❤️
Horst says
Sour creme is Saure Sahne. No difference.
Jean says
I do not have fresh or frozen dill Can you use jar dill.
Julia Foerster says
I don’t see why not.
Deborah Hildebrand says
If you use dry herbs, soak them in water for an hour at room temperature.
Ernie says
I’ve made this salad frequently. I use 1 cucumber, peeled, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar, 1/2 small sweet onion (sliced very thin and cut into small dice), salt and sugar as needed.
Heidi Camp says
My Oma used to put slices of onion and tomatoes in it. Us grandkids loved it. My kids absolutley love it that way also. Thanks for posting the original recipe, I lost my Oma’s this is the closest thing I could find to hers.
Laurie says
We grew up craving this side dish. Mom made her German version of thinly sliced cucumber and thinly sliced red, or if she had no red, a white onion. Lots of black pepper, some salt and a pinch of sugar sometimes. No dairy. It sat several hours chilling, to be sat on picnic tables at family BBQs and get togethers during summer months. It was always devoured, along with the other things she cooked for everybody. A large family, usually the summer parties had over 100 people in attendance, the men manning the coals and meats and the women having prepared so many sides dishes and pies and other desserts. Everyone had a ball!
It’s a great foil to rich smoked meats, something she knew so well. In fact, when she deigned ;-) to visit us from my hometown in the Pacific Northwest, to where we raised our family in Hawaii, she packed smoked meats in her luggage, as it simply had to come from her local German butcher shop. :-)
We all miss her immensely.
Thanks for the memory trigger.
Janice Arndt says
My Oma made her German cucumber salad without sour cream. Everything else is pretty much the same. She would slice the cucumbers very thin add some vinegar, a pinch of salt and put it in the fridge for an hour (if they made it that far) she would finish it. Another hour in the refrigerator it was ready
Josie says
The BEST cucumber salad I’ve ever had, I think it might be the slight sweetness with the acidity, delicious! I can’t stop eating it
Roy Willmott says
From a shipwrecked limey, washed up on the shores of the Mighty Fraser in Chilliwack, British Columbia, in Germany 1967 to 1968, loved the culture the people, spoke poor German, but no problem the 6 year old kids were fluent in English, thank you for the good recipes, at 86 I am learning to ”cook” slice cucumbers and onions, add a little mint ,rosemary, and caraway seed, put in a jar and cover with white vinegar, it should be allowed to mature but it does not get a chance, Roy
Emily says
How many servings does this make?
Julia says
This salad makes about 6-8 servings when served together with other sides. The servings are listed below the image in the recipe card.
Rick albertini says
I have been brought up with this cucumber salad with sour cream and vinegar since i was a kid mom made it for us. Im 67 now so u can imagine how long. Its delicious but u do need to keep it in fridge b4 u serve
Joseph A OReilly says
Loved the recipes. My Oma made both with and w/o sour cream, w or w/o caraway seeds but never (to my memory) w/o onion. (The omnipresent zwiebelin!). That and at least 4 kinds of potato salad were alway present in the summer (cucumbers used to be seasonal) with seasonal versions of most. A quick pickle if you, like me, didn’t really plan todays meal: pour sea salt, white vinegar cut with ice cubes and a bit of water onto cucumber slices and let marinate for at least an hour. Taste, drain and continue. (Actually owe the idea to an Asian cucumber salad I often have with fish!) Enjoy.
Brian says
I think this recipe – as posted – has reversed the vinegar to sour cream ratios. It’s not supposed to be soaking in sour cream, but vinegar with a hint of sour cream.
Julia says
Tell that to my grandma, she won’t be pleased 😄 The ratio in this recipe is like it should be! If that is not your taste, feel free to change it.
Margo Haynes says
My grandmother sliced the cucumber super thin & salted & drained them then added the apple cider vinegar with a pinch of sugar & super thin sliced onion to the cucumbers & the vinegar.
Julia says
Thank you for sharing how your grandmother made this dish! It’s so interesting to see all the different ways to make it!!
Kissy Kat says
After you slice, then add salt – how long should you wait before you drain and add the remaining ingredients?
Frau Schwind says
German cucumber salad from West Germany was cucumbers thinly sliced, salted and let drain for a few hours. Add chopped onions, pepper, chopped parsley and sour cream. There is not wrong or right, it’s all on what you like. Dill can replace parsley,
Noreen says
My Mom also made this salad exactly like your recipe except no dill, it was still one of our family favorites also. Now you made me want it so added to my grocery list. Thank you
Sara says
My salad came out with a dressing with bubbles. Is this normal?
Julia says
Yes, that’s normal. It’s just air that gets incorporated when you mix the dressing together.
Eleonor Golden says
My German mother makes a version of the oil and vinegar recipe, but includes sliced, boiled potatoes and onions. All her kids love it but we were beginning to think it wasn’t “german” because no German outside her family has heard of it. This is the closest I’ve seen. She thought maybe her family had brought it from Czechoslovakia.
Werner says
Eleanor my mother who is Bavarian did it the same way with potatoes. Just out of curiosity what were the parts oil and vinegar
Werner
Cindy says
My Mom did that and put a plate with a brick on top of it. THAT GENERATION knew what food was all about❤️
Joanne Eroglu-Prenter says
Lemon juice, olive oil and milk work just as well, especially with crushed garlic, salt and fresh dill. Ate this a lot as a student in Germany. Love it!
Valerie Kaune says
Can I not add the vinegar? Any kind of vinegar I eat breaks my mouth out extremely bad.
Julia says
I would just leave it out.
Thomas R. Miller says
Or try a substitute, like lemon juice. I stay away from distilled white vinegar as it’s now usually made from tree pulp.
LCFehrs says
I dilute the vinegar … about 1/3 or 1/4 cup vinegar to 1 cup of water. You still get the added flavor, but milder. No pucker!
Sabine w says
I made this two ago with light sour and vinegar.
IT WAS DELICIOUS. Memories of years of family meals where my mum made this. I’ve been making the yoghurt Greek version, not nearly as nice. It tasted much better the next day. Loved it.