This easy cucumber vinegar salad recipe is wonderful for warm weather as a refreshing side dish. Cucumber salad is a staple in Czech families because of its refreshing flavor and its versatility as a side dish for many different dishes.
➜ About this cucumber salad
It's a vegetable salad with grated cucumber in a distinctive water-based dressing. The tangy vinegar dressing is a sweet and sour combination of sugar, salt and vinegar and is very easy to make. To be clear, it contains no sour cream, onions, fresh dill or other herbs!
Czechs call their cucumber salad “okurkový salát”. It is most often served as a light side to main dishes such as rizek (breaded and fried pork schnitzel), roast chicken, or holandsky rizek.
Apart from the Czech Republic, this salad is also popular with our southern neighbors in Slovakia, known as "uhorkový šalát."
➜ Ingredients
To make Czech cucumber salad, grab the followings:
- English cucumber; or any seedless cucumber. When buying cucumbers, look for firm ones without blemishes or soft spots.
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Water; cold
- Black pepper; ideally freshly ground
- Vinegar; the exact amount depends on the intensity of the vinegar's taste. Either use distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar with 5% acidity.
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with Photos
There is nothing complicated about making this salad. Just add more sugar, vinegar, or salt to achieve the final satisfying taste of the dressing.
STEP 1: Remove the cucumber's outer peels and cut off the ends.
STEP 2: Roughly shred the cucumber. I used my large-hole hand grater. Another less common option for this salad is to grate thin slices of cucumber.
STEP 3: Make the watery salad dressing: Combine water, sugar, vinegar, salt, and ground pepper in a mixing bowl. Whisk well to combine. Adjust the flavor of the dressing to taste.
MY TIP: If desired, add a half teaspoon of sunflower or olive oil to the salad dressing.
STEP 4: Place grated cucumber in a bowl. Pour dressing mixture over cucumber.
➜ Serving
Czech cucumber salad is a perfect, quick and refreshing side dish for hot summer days. Serve it cold in a small to medium-sized bowl. Add a small spoonful.
It's an ideal accompaniment to main dishes such as chicken schnitzel, fried cheese or sekana meatloaf.
If you have leftover cucumber salad, place it in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
MY TIP: This salad is perfect for garden parties, summer get-togethers, or family gatherings!
➜ Video recipe
I have recorded a short video so you can see how to make the cucumber salad. Please click on the picture that will take you to my YouTube channel.
If you like the video, don't forget to subscribe to me for more Czech video recipes!
➜ Which Cucumber to Choose
The best cucumbers for this salad are English cucumbers, dark green, with firm skins and no soft spots. In Czech we call this type "hadovka", which could be freely translated as "snake cucumber" because of its long, thin shape.
This is advice my mom gave me: When you buy cucumbers in the store, choose the longer, thinner pieces over the shorter, chubbier ones. Press the ends of the cucumbers; they should be firm enough, not soft.
➜ Useful Tips
- Fresh cucumbers picked from the garden can be grated with the skin on without peeling first.
- The final taste of the dressing is very personal. Some people like it tangy, others milder. Play around with gradually adding vinegar, sugar, and possibly salt to make the salad taste the way you want it!
- A grated cucumber releases a lot of water. For this type of watery dressing, it doesn't matter, so you don't have to sweat the cucumber to get rid of the excess liquid.
More Czech salads:
Tried this recipe?
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Czech Cucumber Salad – Okurkový salát
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber
- 1 and ¾ cups water (420 ml) cold
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ Tablespoon salt
- ¼ cup vinegar 5% acidity, I used apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper ground
Instructions
- emove the cucumber's outer peels and cut off the ends.
- Roughly shred the cucumber. I used my large-hole hand grater. Another less common option for this salad is to grate thin slices of cucumber.
- Make the watery salad dressing: Combine water, sugar, vinegar, salt, and ground pepper in a mixing bowl. Whisk well to combine. Adjust the flavor of the dressing to taste.
- Place grated cucumber in a bowl. Pour dressing mixture over cucumber.
Notes
- Makes two portions.
- Serve this Czech cucumber salad cold in a small bowl. Add a small spoon.
- It's an ideal accompaniment to main courses such as Schnitzel, fried cheese or meatloaf.
- Cucumbers fresh from the garden can be grated with the skin on without peeling first.
- The vinegar commonly used in Czech cuisine has a rather pungent aroma. The amount of vinegar depends on its strength - in this recipe I used apple cider vinegar with 5% acidity. The more pungent the vinegar tastes, the less you add to the dressing. It's also a matter of personal taste. Some people prefer a tangier flavor, others a milder one.
- A grated cucumber releases a lot of water. For this type of watery dressing, it doesn't matter, so you don't have to sweat the cucumber to get rid of excess liquid.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
Peter Sustr
A good balance of vinegar and sugar.. was wonderful on a hot day.
Petra Kupská
Thank you, Peter, for your kind words. And exactly, this cucumber salad tastes great on summer days or as a light side dish to heavier meals.
Mary Ray
Hello!! My friend and I celebrated our birthdays at a restaurant called Cafe Prague in Morrison Colorado USA. We had the most delicious cucumber salad and my friend googled to find a recipe for it and found your blog! The photos look just like it, and the recipe sounds like what we tasted. Im so happy to try to make it at home! I see that you included a link to the popular vinegar brand in Czech. My question is.... which type of vinegar do you use for this recipe, and do you know which type that would be in America?? Is it cider vinegar? White wine vinegar? Or something different?? Thank you again for posting this recipe. Now I will look at your other recipes! My mother is from Bavaria... just across the border from you. I think the cuisine is very similar.
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Mary, thank you for reaching out to me! If you had a meal at a restaurant called Cafe Prague, I believe the cucumber salad was indeed this Czech one, with a sweet and sour dressing (Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic). About the vinegar: Czech vinegar is very intense, I would replace it with white wine vinegar, I think it should be easily available in the US. Mixing the right flavor of dressing for cucumber salad is sometimes real alchemy 🙂 Add the vinegar a teaspoon at a time, stir and taste to see if the final flavor is good. If the taste is too intense, add a little water. Fingers crossed and I'd love to hear how the salad went!
P. S. Bavaria - Bavorsko in Czech are really our neighbors across the border! Their cuisine is fabulous, they are famous for their beer festivals, Bratwurst and so on. I like it!
Mary Ray
I made it this evening as you said. I started with 1 Tbsp of vinegar (I only had apple cider vinegar) but ended up adding another Tbsp. (I think next time 1 1/2 will be just to my liking). I also started with less salt.... but you were correct! It needed more! It was SO delicious!! Just like at the restaurant! I am so pleased and so grateful that we found your blog! This will be one of my "go-to" recipes!!
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Mary, thank you for your kind and supportive words! They made me very happy and most of all I'm glad that your cucumber salad was a success! Apple cider vinegar definitely works in the recipe, too; and I have one more tip: sometimes, you can substitute lemon juice for the vinegar. It's a matter of trying what tastes best 🙂
Mary
Still one of my favorite recipes!! Its so fresh and delicious! Thank you again for sharing it! I like to look at all your recipes and plan to try more!
Petra Kupská
Oh, thanks a lot for so nice words! 🙂 I am happy you liked the recipe; this salad counts among our favorite recipes at our house, especially in summer when fresh cucumbers are plentiful!
Donald Vasek
Great recipe. But do you have a Czech cucumber salad that you would recommend without added sugar
Thank you
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Dear Donald, thank you for your comment and your question! As for the cucumber salad without added sugar, you can try this one:
https://www.cooklikeczechs.com/cucumber-salad-with-garlic/
The recipe does mention half a teaspoon of sugar for flavor contrast, but you can leave it out.
Kristyna
Can I make this a day or two before eating? or is it better to make it fresh and eat right away?
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Hi Kristyna, it is definitely best to eat it fresh.
Jana
I think that 2 cups of water is excessive. I use 1/4 cup.
For those wondering about what vinegar to use in the US, it is Distilled White Vinegar available in any grocery store for about two bucks for half a gallon. You don’t need any fancy vinegars. White vinegar is the one we’d use in the CZ.
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Jana, thanks for your comment! I have associated cucumber salad with my childhood; back then, we usually made a salad of 1 long cucumber for 4 people as a light side dish for the main course. Hence the two cups of water, the dressing for cucumber salad used to be really watery in our house (we always drank the rest of the dressing from the bowl ;). But of course, it depends on preference; I believe the salad can be prepared slightly differently in every family. Anyway, thank you very much for clarifying the classic vinegar that can be found in the US. I will be happy to incorporate this information into my future recipes. If I use vinegar, I will list it as Distilled White Vinegar.
Carole
My mother made this with thinly sliced cucumbers. I loved it!
Petra Kupská
Thank you, Carole, for your lovely comment! My dad also sometimes used to slice cucumber into salad rounds, but then somehow he found that simply grating it is an easier task for men, so he stayed with this method 🙂 And I took over shredding the cucumbers!
Nola-due
I sliced the cucumbers thinly, rather than grate.
Delicious!
Thank you from Nola-sue in South Australia 👍
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Thank you for your comment, I am happy you liked the recipe! It is a matter of preference - however, if you grate the cucumber it will release more juice and the salad itself will have a more delicate taste. Greetings form the Czech Republic!
Sandy
You brought back memories of my parents. My dad grew cucumbers every summer, mostly for making pickles, but my mom would make this salad weekly. She didn’t shred her cukes, but sliced them very thin. Everything else was the same. My dad would also drink the leftover juice from the salad. I’m going to have to make this in their memory. Thanks!
Petra Kupská
Thank you so much for your comment, now you're the one who brought back memories of my childhood! In our family, the cucumbers were usually grated, and while we kids would use a fork to eat the greens out of the salad, the adults would fight over who got to drink the juice from the salad! 😄
Barbara-Ann
Thank you for reminding me of this recipe that was a favorite of my mother and her parents. They were all born in what was then called Austria Hungary.
This salad was served every Sunday but made with very thinly sliced cucumbers.
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Thank you for your comment - I am really happy the recipe brought back old memories.
Alice
My mother used to make this salad at least once a week. It brings back so many memories. She would sometimes add chopped tomatoes or green peppers, and no water, as this would make it too soupey. Now, my Canadian family really enjoys this salad, especially during summer. Delicious!
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Hello Alice, thank you for your comment and memories of your mother. I am very glad your family likes the salad. Exactly - perfect for summer!
Ann
Hello my husband karel is from Czech Republic I’m from Scotland he always made cucumber salad in the summer I love it so refreshing so now I make it. Would like to thank you for your potato dumplings recipe .
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Hello Ann, I am happy you like the recipes - Our pleasure! Exactly, perfect for hot summer days 🙂
Nick
Brilliant. Je to ono. Thanks for publishing.
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Dekuji for your comment, Nick, I am happy you like the recipe!
David Koplik
Tastes amazing 🙂
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Thank you for your comment, David - happy to hear that!