Balsamic Cucumber Tomato Salad

Published: Jul 13, 2020 · Modified: Jul 31, 2023 by Sula · This post may contain affiliate links · 48 Comments

‘Tis the season! Salad season, that is. Ring in the summer with marvelous fresh fruits and vegetables. For me, cucumbers and tomatoes are tops. Salads are needed for this in-season produce!!!

This salad takes inspiration from two others on this site. One is my Greek Cucumber Salad, with its main ingredients of cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onion. And the balsamic vinaigrette dressing is reminiscent of a Caprese salad. Taking these favorite tastes and making a new salad is an easy button for sure. That’s what summer is all about!

ba;samic cucumber tomato salad in a serving bowl with 2 serving spoons

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Ingredients for Balsamic Cucumber Tomato Salad
How to Make this Cucumber Tomato Salad with Balsamic
Ingredient options/substitutions for this salad recipe
💭Did you know?
📖 Recipe

Ingredients for Balsamic Cucumber Tomato Salad

It’s a pretty simple ingredient list, and experimenting with different combinations, etc. is easy, as I describe below.

Cucumber (English)
Grape Tomatoes
Red onion
Avocado
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and black pepper

How to Make this Cucumber Tomato Salad with Balsamic

I like to mix this salad before I start the rest of the meal, waiting only to add the avocado at the end. It does great just hangin’ out in the fridge for a few hours.

Start by cutting the cucumber into chunks, halving the grape tomatoes and slicing the onion. Whisk the vinegar and oil together and season with salt and pepper.

cucumbers tomatoes and onion in a bowl — Place cucumbers, tomatoes and onions in a bowl

bowl of veggies with balsamic dressing nearby — Mix up the balsamic dressing

Pour this over the veggies and toss to combine. Refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the meal.

beginning to pour dressing on the veggies — Pour the dressing into the bowl

veggies with dressing mixed up — Mix well and refrigerate

Just before you are ready to serve, cut up the avocado and add to the salad. Toss gently, and serve.

chunks of avocado added to the bowl — Just before serving, add avocado

balsamic cucumber toamto salad all mixed — Mix and serve

This salad goes perfectly with all your grilled summer delights!

Ingredient options/substitutions for this salad recipe

Cucumber:

I love English cucumbers because of their thin skin. It means I don’t have to peel!! But feel free to use other cucumber varieties if you prefer.

Tomato:

I always default to grape tomatoes because they have a little extra sweetness in every bite. But cherry tomatoes are a great substitute. You could even chunk up a Roma or a slicing tomato. They are the best when in season!

Red onion:

In the world of onions, the red variety is described as “sweet.” That always feels wrong to me when describing an onion. You can substitute with a white or yellow onion if desired. Just be aware that other onions can impart an extremely strong taste and could potentially overwhelm the other flavors in this salad.

Avocado:

I love the creamy texture the avocado adds to this salad. In addition to providing healthy fats, the avocado helps give a feeling of satiety, or fullness, from eating this salad. However, if you prefer to use cheese, some fresh mozzarella or feta would work well.

Dressing:

If you have a favorite way to make a balsamic vinaigrette dressing, give that a try for this salad. For even more convenience, bottled balsamic vinaigrette dressing works great. #nojudging #stillcountsashomemade

💭Did you know?

You probably know that tomatoes are actually a fruit. But did you realize that that same is true of cucumbers? Because a cucumber grows from the flower part of a plant, it is botanically considered a fruit. Which makes it just another in a long list of veggies that are actually fruits. We probably need a whole new classification system for these. Fregetables, maybe?

More summer salad recipes for you to try:

📖 Recipe

balsamic cucumber tomato salad in a serving bowl

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