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Home » Soups & Salads » Salad Recipes » Rustic Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Rustic Tomato and Cucumber Salad

May 22, 2018 by victor 80 Comments

This cucumber and tomato salad is so good that you could eat it alone and never think of eating anything else with it, like bread, meat, etc. It’s one of those salads that is so balanced and so tasty that you crave it, like you would chocolate. I get those cravings. The good thing is that this salad is very easy and quick to make.

Close up of juicy, chunky tomatoes and cucumbers covered in dressing.

As a matter of fact, my 8-year-old daughter made this salad that you see on the pictures all by herself, from peeling and chopping the veggies, to making the dressing and mixing it all together. She was so proud! This is the first dish she had ever made all by herself, and the salad was so good that she received a ton of compliments for it.

This salad is a close sibling of the family favorite Tomato, Cucumber and Avocado Salad but without the avocado and with different herbs. Yes, not everyone likes avocado and basil as much as I do, and most people that I know love parsley and cilantro. If you want, you can substitute herbs in this salad for basil. Either way, this salad will impress.

Top down view of a tomato and cucumber salad in a white bowl.

Tips for making this cucumber and tomato salad

When picking tomatoes for this salad make sure they are aromatic and ripe. Buy the best tomatoes you can find. It will make a huge difference. If the tomatoes are not fully ripe, leave them on a windowsill for a couple of days to ripen. You want them fully ripe, slightly soft, fragrant and juicy. That’s the kind of tomato that makes this cucumber and tomato salad shine. The cucumbers, on the other hand, should be fresh and crunchy, to create a textural contrast to the tomatoes. Speaking about this salad already makes my mouth water.

The tomatoes must be cut into large chunks. This may seem crude and lazy, but it makes perfect sense. Large chunks of tomatoes will burst in your mouth with delicious juices, while thinly cut ones won’t impress as much. So, yes, they must be big and chunky.

Finally, when making the dressing, use a very good quality olive oil. Not the one that you cook with, but a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Low-quality oil will ruin this otherwise magnificent salad. What does good quality olive oil taste like? Here is a resource from Olive Tomato that describes it very nicely, better than I ever could.

Oh, and try this salad with freshly baked no-knead bread, or its sourdough cousin, or the whole wheat sourdough bread for a healthier version. Use the bread to soak in every last drop of the delicious dressing.

Juicy Tomato and Cucumber Salad | ifoodblogger.com

Rustic Cucumber and Tomato Salad Recipe

Simple and flavorful ingredients make this cucumber and tomato salad delicious and addictive.
5 from 33 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: cucumber salad, tomato salad, vegan salad, vegetarian salad
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Resting time: 1 hour
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 228kcal
Author: Victor

Ingredients

For the vegetables:

  • 5 large tomatoes (fresh and fully ripe; tomatoes on the vine are a very good choice)
  • 1 pinch brown sugar
  • 1 English cucumber (fresh and firm)
  • 1/2 large red onion
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 1 pinch black pepper

For the dressing:

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (very good quality)
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 garlic cloves (pressed)
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp dried oregano

Instructions

  • Core the tomatoes, cut into 6-8 wedges, then cut each wedge in half. Place the tomatoes into a large bowl, sprinkle with a pinch of brown sugar, salt, and pepper, and toss really well.
  • Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then slice it into 1/4" thick slices. Add the cucumbers to the tomatoes.
  • Slice half the red the onion into very thin slivers crosswise. Then cut the slivers in half, or leave as is, depending on you preference. Add to cucumbers and tomatoes. Add the chopped parsley and cilantro.
  • To prepare the dressing, throw all of the dressing ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together vigorously, until well blended.
  • Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss gently using both hands. Cover the bowl with plastic and let sit at room temperature until ready to serve, for 1 to 6 hours. This will allow the flavors to meld together.

Nutrition

Calories: 228kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 411mg | Potassium: 765mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 2530IU | Vitamin C: 42.9mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1.2mg

 

My other favorite salads that you may also enjoy:

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Cherry Tomato Salad with Mint & Cilantro Vinaigrette

Cherry Tomato Salad

Chili Mayo Cucumber Salad

Mayo Cucumber Salad

 

 

 

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    Recipe Rating




     

  1. Cally Ford

    December 20, 2022 at 12:10 pm

    I have made this one and I luv it too.

    Reply
    • victor

      January 24, 2023 at 12:35 pm

      Happy to hear it. Enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Wendy

    October 29, 2022 at 9:50 am

    This salad is delicious. I used cherry tomatoes and mini cucumbers. I didn’t have cilantro but had fresh basil. Once I mixed the dressing and poured it over the salad I wanted to eat it right away. The smell is amazing. But letting it sit for an hour just blended the flavors even more.

    Reply
    • victor

      January 24, 2023 at 12:39 pm

      Happy to hear it, Wendy. This is one of my favorite salads, it never gets old. So good!

      Reply
  3. Karen Czajka

    September 26, 2022 at 9:03 pm

    I made this salad several times now. It’s very good and so easy and quick. Everyone loved it. I liked that I could make it 5 hours ahead of time- one less thing to do when my guests arrived.

    Reply
    • victor

      October 06, 2022 at 11:06 am

      I am glad you liked it. Happy cooking!

      Reply
  4. Janice Crape

    August 30, 2022 at 11:20 am

    This is the Best of the Best Cucumger Tomato Salad!

    Reply
    • victor

      September 01, 2022 at 6:16 am

      Glad you liked it, Janice. Enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Dorothy

    August 11, 2022 at 5:19 pm

    Excellent salad, took to share at a friends house and they all enjoyed it.

    Reply
  6. Cindy

    August 11, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    Made this for a party. Everyone was asking for the recipe. Made exactly as described and it was delicious. Making tonight for dinner. Lots of fresh garden tomatoes and cucumbers. This is a nice change/alternative to tomatoes and mozzarella. 👍👍👍

    Reply
  7. Sandi B.

    April 28, 2022 at 8:34 pm

    This is fabulous!! I’ve made it three times now & have loved it every time. Thanks!

    Reply
  8. Nickie

    March 27, 2022 at 5:56 pm

    this salad it so good..is there 228 calories in this entire bowl?

    Reply
    • victor

      March 30, 2022 at 10:15 am

      Nickie, the calories are per serving and there are 6 servings in this recipe. Enjoy!

      Reply
  9. Brenda

    September 07, 2021 at 9:18 pm

    I’m a big fan of tomato and cucumber salads and this was excellent! I just moved it to my favorites folder.

    Reply
    • victor

      September 08, 2021 at 10:25 am

      Happy to hear it, Brenda. Be sure to check out my recent salads, they are really good too.

      Reply
  10. Julie Lee

    August 31, 2021 at 2:10 am

    This salad was especially good because our tomatoes were sweet and juicy. Thanks for the great dressing recipe.

    Reply
    • victor

      August 31, 2021 at 10:17 am

      You are very welcome. Please, try my latest salad recipes too, I am sure you will like them.

      Reply
  11. Thomas Glass

    July 21, 2021 at 7:15 pm

    Nope can’t refrigerate the left overs because there never is any

    Reply
    • victor

      July 22, 2021 at 12:14 pm

      😉 I hear you, we rarely have any leftovers here too.

      Reply
  12. Vilko

    July 11, 2021 at 5:39 pm

    Italian Dressing

    This tangy, bell pepper-and-herb flecked salad dressing is a favorite in many American restaurants. But “dressing” as Americans know it doesn’t exist in Italy—there, salads are exclusively dressed with oil and vinegar, or sometimes just oil.

    Reply
  13. Ellen whalley

    July 11, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    Thank you Victor! I made the tomato and cucumber salad with a few tweaks because of what I had or didn’t have on hand. I didn’t add the garlic or cilantro and instead of regular olive oil I used blood orange olive oil.
    It came out great and was a big hit at the bbq we went to.
    I will make this again with the garlic and cilantro next time. Yum!

    Reply
    • victor

      July 11, 2021 at 1:13 pm

      You are very welcome, Ellen. Enjoy!

      Reply
  14. Captain

    March 11, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    Top with a good feta cheese sea salt and fresh cracked plack pepper

    Reply
  15. Alison

    January 18, 2021 at 5:35 pm

    Delicious! I could eat this all day! Came out great!

    Reply
  16. Jan

    November 14, 2020 at 10:14 am

    Absolutely delicious & so easy to make . The marinade certainly improve the taste of the winter “out of season “ supermarket tomatoes , which is all that is available in a Scotland right now. Looking forward to trying it out with home grown tomatoes next summer.

    Reply
    • victor

      November 14, 2020 at 2:08 pm

      Oh, you must try this salad with heirloom tomatoes, it’s delicious. I grew tomatoes first time this year and I am hooked. Also, try my most recent tomato salad recipe with garlic citrus dressing. Love it.

      Reply
  17. Paula

    October 04, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    This was fantastic! My husband doesn’t care for cucumber, so next time I’m adding fresh mushrooms for him. For supper, we had this and a beef roast in the crock pot. Leftover salad will be our lunch tomorrow. Definitely a keeper!

    Reply
  18. Mike

    September 29, 2020 at 11:21 am

    Wonderful salad, I added small chunks of feta and some green pitted olives

    Reply
  19. Anna Gurney

    September 03, 2020 at 10:36 am

    Going to make this for the first time this weekend for a get together. Wondered if anyone had tried adding fresh mozzarella? If so, thoughts on the results?

    Reply
    • victor

      September 08, 2020 at 10:42 pm

      My daughter loves adding fresh mozzarella or bocconcini to this salad, I like it too.

      Reply
  20. Suzanne Horkey

    August 24, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    I’m a big fan of cilantro but as I didn’t have any ,I Substituted With fresh dill. Was great!

    Reply
  21. Percy Ealy

    August 16, 2020 at 4:26 pm

    This was amazing. I made lunch for my wife. I added a grilled cheese sandwich. It was so good she ask for it again tomorrow for lunch.

    Reply
  22. Suzanne

    August 08, 2020 at 1:29 pm

    Delicious, thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  23. Michelle

    July 20, 2020 at 10:47 am

    This is so good! I took a portion of the salad, added a diced chicken breast and goat cheese, and it made a perfect work day lunch!

    Reply
  24. Denise

    July 16, 2020 at 8:13 pm

    Thank you for this wonderful recipe ! It so hits the spot on this very hot day 😊

    Reply
  25. Phyllis Dalli

    May 22, 2020 at 3:13 am

    Calories calculated as per serving or whole lot pls?

    Reply
    • victor

      May 22, 2020 at 6:49 am

      Per serving.

      Reply
  26. Kate Panthera

    May 19, 2020 at 5:45 am

    This looks really good – I .really like sesame oil. Do you think that would work with this, or stick with the EVOO.

    Kate

    Reply
    • victor

      May 19, 2020 at 10:23 am

      As someone who uses sesame oil quite a lot, I think it will work. But, don’t go with sesame oil all the way, perhaps just a small substitution to get the flavor but not overpower.

      Reply
  27. Jessica

    May 18, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    This was amazing! As someone who is trying to eat “cleaner”, this will always be made! Thank you for sharing! Question though. With the nutritional facts. It’s that for the whole 6 servings, or is that per serving?

    Reply
    • victor

      May 18, 2020 at 4:15 pm

      Happy to hear that, Jessica. The nutrition facts are per serving, 1/6th of the total recipe.

      Reply
  28. Colleen D

    February 09, 2020 at 11:03 am

    Absolutely delicious, the perfect summer salad

    Reply
  29. Celeste

    October 10, 2019 at 5:45 pm

    Lets have this Sunday with the steaks and crab cakes….

    Reply
  30. Eleanor Myrberg

    September 23, 2019 at 4:08 pm

    Great salad, especially when one has an abundance of tomatoes in the garden. For a dinner party, I bumped it up a notch with artichoke hearts but it is delicious as is.

    Reply
  31. Leah

    August 28, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    Love this recipe! It was so good. I got tons of compliments and everyone wanted the recipe.

    Reply
  32. Robert Hefkey

    August 21, 2019 at 1:52 pm

    as promised !!!

    Reply
  33. Hank

    August 11, 2019 at 4:46 pm

    That was amazing. Made it and left in Frig for four hours and then it’s gone. I will make that again.

    Reply
  34. Mary

    August 06, 2019 at 4:31 pm

    Absolutely delicious!

    Reply
  35. Carrie

    August 03, 2019 at 8:50 pm

    Could I sub red wine vin. with apple.cider vin?

    Reply
    • victor

      August 06, 2019 at 12:14 pm

      You sure can. Both have a pronounced tangy taste and that’s what you want. Apple cider vinegar will add a hint of apple flavor.

      Reply
  36. Marie

    July 30, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    Oh my! Don’t stop at tomatoes and cukes. Enjoy this dressing with greens and anything else
    You can imagine! Love love this dressing!

    Reply
  37. Lynne

    July 20, 2019 at 5:36 pm

    Hi, looks amazing looking forward to giving it a go this week for a family dinner. Can add anything to replace the red wine vinegar.? Thanks!

    Reply
    • victor

      July 20, 2019 at 9:49 pm

      Try freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime and 1/2 an orange. This is my other favorite way to make a salad dressing. I use about 50/50 oil to combined juices. It’s delicious.

      Reply
  38. Britnee

    July 04, 2019 at 1:30 pm

    Making this for the 4th as well!! Adding in some fresh mozzarella balls for the kiddos.

    Reply
  39. Rosy

    July 03, 2019 at 1:09 pm

    Made this salad a couple weeks ago and it was quite the hit! So making again for the 4th.
    Thank you very much for this simple and delicious recipe.

    Reply
    • victor

      July 03, 2019 at 6:33 pm

      You are very welcome. Enjoy and Happy 4th of July!

      Reply
  40. Gina

    June 25, 2019 at 7:41 pm

    This salad is so good! I used fresh basil and oregano from my garden. Will definitely be making again.

    Reply
  41. Renee

    June 15, 2019 at 5:48 pm

    This looks delicious. Has anyone added bread to it, sort of like a “panzannella” ?

    Reply
    • victor

      June 15, 2019 at 6:37 pm

      I did and it was fantastic. Here is my recipe for panzanella.

      Reply
  42. Sophia

    June 02, 2019 at 3:29 pm

    Made it today, it was delicious!! Thank you for the recipe. Will make it all Summer!

    Reply
  43. Doni

    May 24, 2019 at 9:38 am

    Loved this – made with cilantro and added avacodo. So good!

    Reply
  44. Daphne

    February 09, 2019 at 5:29 pm

    Made this Tomato and Cucumber Salad and
    It was great! The only problem is I live alone
    and had to eat it all by myself but it was worth it! 😊

    Reply
    • victor

      February 09, 2019 at 8:05 pm

      Glad to heat that you liked it, Daphne. My favorite salad right now.

      Reply
  45. Carmen

    January 06, 2019 at 12:30 pm

    Exemple of good quality olive oil please…

    Reply
    • victor

      January 06, 2019 at 1:22 pm

      The rule of thumb that I use is that if the oil smells and tastes good on its own, it’s good for a salad. I know, it’s easy to say but how do you tell that it smells and tastes good? What is good when it pertains to olive oil? Here is a resource that will tell you better than I ever could: https://www.olivetomato.com/how-to-recognize-good-and-bad-olive-oil/.

      Reply
  46. Hana

    January 05, 2019 at 3:12 pm

    It’s yummy and amazing, so tasty. I love it

    Reply
  47. Barbar

    January 05, 2019 at 11:12 am

    I live in AZ. We don’t have tomatoes that are large and flavorful. I can get ping pong ball size and cherry tomatoes. Can you tell ne approximately how many cups ?

    Reply
    • victor

      January 05, 2019 at 11:36 am

      A large tomato that I use is about 1/2 a lb or 225 grams, give or take. For this recipe you will need about 2 1/2 lbs. Cut them in half and you are good to go. When I was in FL last summer, I really liked Georgia and Tennessee tomatoes. You may be able to find them in your neck of woods. The taste varies from year to year, one is good the next is excellent. Some not so good. Big grocery stores’ tomatoes aren’t that great. Local farm markets offer the best, but limited to season only (August – October here up north). I’ve had great success with local farmers markets last fall. AZ is very sunny, it’s good for tomatoes. I would think you’d have a good supply down there.

      Reply
  48. Ladena

    December 26, 2018 at 12:22 pm

    I made a modified version of this and got nothing but compliments! I didn’t add the sugar, parsley or cilantro. I did add 12 leaves of fresh basil cut into ribbons. Might try it again with a few drops of liquid stevia (about 6 or 7) next time. Awesome!

    Reply
  49. Peter

    December 20, 2018 at 12:05 am

    very tasty salad. i am doing this second time .

    Reply
    • victor

      December 20, 2018 at 9:36 am

      Glad to hear that, Peter.

      Reply
  50. Steve Rainwater

    December 19, 2018 at 11:02 am

    I have made this recipe for years. Never put cilantro or brown sugar in it though. Most people will literally love this salad. I can tell you that one time I made it and after my guest finished eating it one of the Italian guys actually pick up the bowl and drank every drop of the dressing! That was 25 years ago and my friends and I still laugh about that!

    Reply
    • victor

      December 19, 2018 at 2:25 pm

      Funny story indeed. And I do it all the time. I either drink the leftover dressing or pour it over a piece of sourdough bread and eat it like that, or rip off small pieces of bread and dip them in the juices… I am drooling now just thinking about it.

      Reply
  51. Sophie James

    May 29, 2018 at 9:09 am

    Nice post… the salad looks delicious.

    Reply
  52. Linda

    May 23, 2018 at 10:47 am

    So summery!

    Reply
  53. Helena

    May 23, 2018 at 10:28 am

    This salad looks delicious!!!

    Reply
    • victor

      May 23, 2018 at 10:29 am

      Thank you!

      Reply

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