As soon as the warm season hits, my chase for “summer in a bowl” dishes begins. Now is the time to enjoy the seasonal produce found in farmers’ markets. My latest obsession is this simple tomato, cucumber, and onion salad. In 10 minutes, you have a frugal, fresh, and utterly delicious BBQ side!
This recipe features fresh, crisp veggies with a slightly tart dressing. It is the perfect party food and goes well with anything that comes off of a grill.
Our summers are built on simple meals like this that are quick, fresh, flavorful, and that are no-cook, so there’s no need to heat up the house when it’s already hot out! We recently had this with tomato mayo sandwiches, and it was such a great no-cook meal!
This recipe is sweetened with SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Sweetener Blend, which lets us balance out the tartness of the dressing without as much added sugar. Feel free to use regular sugar or any sweetener you like. This is the one we chose this time.
🥗 Ingredients
You can officially say goodbye to boring salads once you taste the incredible flavors in this salad. Let’s discuss the ingredients really quickly.
✅Salad
- Grape tomatoes – Feel free to use whatever tasty seasonal tomatoes you can find. The taste is more important than the tomato variety.
- Cucumber
- Red onion
- Fresh Mozzarella (I love using the little pearls!)
✅Dressing – I made a simple but delicious dressing that has the perfect balance of tartness, sweetness, and saltiness. Here’s what I used:
- Lemon Juice
- Olive oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- Fresh Squeezed lemon juice
- SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Sweetener Blend
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Fresh dill
- Salt & pepper
🍅 Instructions
👉Step 1: Slice the grape tomatoes in half and add them to a large bowl. Mix in the red onions and mozzarella.
👉Step 2: Peel the skin from the cucumber and cut it lengthwise. Take a spoon and scrape out all the seeds and toss them out (this will prevent the salad from getting too watery, especially when made ahead). Chop the cucumber and add it to the bowl.
👉Step 3: Chop the fresh dill.
👉Step 4: Combine the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, fresh dill, and SPLENDA in a small bowl. Whisk well and add salt and pepper to taste.
👉Step 5: Add the dressing to the salad and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
📌 Expert Tips
🔸You can replace the SPLENDA with regular sugar. The blend is twice as sweet as regular sugar. So, to replace the 1/2 tablespoon of the Splenda blend, you would need 1 tablespoon of regular sugar.
🔸Cut the veggies, so they are all similar size. This will make it easier for everyone to eat.
🔸Whenever possible, use fresh dill. Dried dill has a lot of stronger flavor, but it’s just not the same as fresh.
🔸Adjust the SPLENDA, salt, and pepper to taste. You can always add more or less depending on what you like.
❓ FAQ
While I recommend it, it’s not required. The main reason I like to remove the skin is the texture. You could also use an English cucumber and leave the seeds in.
This salad is definitely best within the first 1-2 days. After that, the veggies (especially the cucumber and tomatoes) will start to get a bit soft and watery, but it will still be tasty!
Yep! Honestly, the longer it sits, the better it tastes because everything has a chance to blend better. Prepare the salad and leave it in the fridge up to a full day ahead of time and serve.
Of course! We like to toss in some avocado, and olives once in a while. But you could also add bell peppers or other veggies that you want.
Sure, meat is a great way to add some extra protein. Grilled chicken or tuna would go well with the flavors of the veggies.
Related Recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
Tomato Cucumber and Onion Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pints Grape Tomatoes
- 3 Cucumbers
- 1 Red Onion
- 8 oz Fresh Mozzarella
Dressing
- ½ cup Olive Oil
- ½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice about one lemon
- ½ tbsp SPLENDA® Naturals Sugar & Stevia Sweetener Blend any sweetner of your choosing
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 tbsp Fresh Dill or to taste
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice grape tomatoes in half and place in a large bowl. Chop red onion and mozzarella and add to bowl.
- Peel cucumber. Slice in half lengthwise, use a spoon to scrape out the seeds, discard seeds. Slice in half lengthwise again, then chop cucumber into small pieces. Add to bowl.
- Chop dill, set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, SPLENDA, garlic powder, onion powder and fresh dill. Whisk until emulsified. Adjust to taste with salt and pepper, and additional dill if desired.
- Stir dressing into the salad and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
tastes so fresh
Whipped this up in about 15 minutes (only thing I changed was I used regular granulated sugar instead of Splenda) Was delicious!! Served with marinated grilled flank steak and garlic mashed potatoes. Hubby raved!! Thanks for this Recipe- it’s a keeper for me!
So awesome!! I love it when it works out for the family!!! Cheers! Ginny
It looks so fresh and crisp. And it’s super easy!
Thanks!!
I printed the recipe for the salad –that looks GREAT!!! Thanks for sharing.
Yay! Hope you love it! 😀
I make a similar version of this I’m going to have to try this way seems like this way is healthier than mine
Hope you enjoy! 😀