This easy cucumber, onion, & dill salad is practically a staple in our refrigerator when we have cucumbers and onions coming 
out of the garden. Although it’s quite simple, it’s very refreshing and tastes a like a “new pickle” to me.
When the cucumbers and onions are first sliced and go into the sugar, water, vinegar and dill mixture, they are firm and hard. But, as they marinade, they soften while still retaining some crunch, and are so refreshing on a warm summer day.
This is the easiest way I know to put the texture and flavor of new pickles on your table! Whenever I take it to an event as a potluck dish, everyone seems to enjoy it.
Invariably there are comments that folks remember it from when they were growing up and that it’s one of their favorite easy cucumber, onion, & dill recipes.
This recipe has been on the website for a long time; however, I just learned that this can be frozen and that it’s supposed to make a great “freezer pickle”! So, I decided to update the post with that information and will be trying that this summer to see what happens.
Also, some folks like to vary the recipe by adding more herbs than just dill – it can be easily customized to be what tastes best for your family. Check out the comments below, folks like to vary this recipe lots of ways.
We have a cucumber plant that has decided to try to take over the garden this year (variety Diva) so I plan to make lots of this salad and freeze it. Usually, we just have the salad in the summer so I’m excited about freezing it and enjoying it the year round.
The Diva cucumber variety is an All-American Selection (AAS) winner from 2002. You can read more about it HERE. We’ve found that it does very well in our garden and it’s the variety I plant each year now. I prefer to use heirloom vegetables but Diva has been working well for us – I think it’s the Compost from the goats and chickens that helps it do so well each year.
I hope you enjoy this salad too!
- 4 cucumbers (peeled and sliced thin)
- 1 large onion (halved and sliced into thin rings)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon dried dill
- Peel and cut the cucumbers into thin slices. Mix with the onion rings.
- Bring the sugar, water, vinegar, and dill to a boil; pour over the cucumbers and chill.
- The cucumbers will reduce as they chill in the vinegar mixture.
Krystyna @ Spring Mountain Living says
Thanks so much this recipe! We don’t use sugar, so I swapped it out with raw honey & it was DELISH paired up with some burgers on the grill. 🙂 Easy favorite choice for From the Farm this week! 🙂
Lesa says
Hi Krystyna, using honey is a great idea – we have a lot of it, why didn’t I think of that? Anyway, how much did you use, and thanks for the Favorite!
Mike the Gardener says
Sounds yummy!
I like a recipe I make with my own cucumbers … I mix mayo and vinegar and toss in my cucumbers. I don’t have a set recipe, I mix and taste to where you can taste the vinegar but not too much and the mixture is not too “mayo-ee” … if that makes any sense. 🙂
Lesa says
Mike, that sounds good too, I’ll have to try it. Although we love this cucumber salad, eventually we could use a little change – and the cucumbers are really doing well this year 🙂
Mike the Gardener says
Yeah, cucumbers are doing very well this year … I have enough pickles to last me for a decade 🙂
Jeff says
I make something similar with our fresh cucumbers. Less sugar (about 1 TBSP per quart), add salt (1 TBSP), and I don’t boil the mixture. Just mix and shake good for a couple of days. Good!
Lesa says
Hi Jeff, I’m going to have to try your version, even easier!
Lisa @ Fresh Eggs Daily says
Great timing. My mother-in-law just mentioned a cucumber and onion salad she used to make when my husband was growing up. I will be trying your recipe and see what he thinks! Lisa
Lesa says
Hi Lisa, glad the timing was good – this recipe actually came from my grandmother, so I’m interested as to whether it’s similar to what he remembers 🙂