The past few summers I have been obsessed with this Spicy Cucumber Salad. I enjoy cucumbers in all sorts of ways and I love Asian flavors so this Asian cucumber salad is for me!
Cucumbers are one of those veggies that you can enjoy so many ways. Simply with salt and pepper is delicious or the "Polish" way which I grew up with sour cream, salt and pepper.
I first saw someone make Asian Cucumber Salad on TikTok a few summers ago and loved the idea. I can't remember what they did exactly or who they were, all I remember is reaching in my pantry and seeing what I had to make a similar flavor.
Table of Contents
Spicy Cucumber Salad Ingredients
- Mini or regular cucumbers
- Rice wine vinegar
- Kosher salt
- Sesame oil
- Chili Crisp or chili garlic sauce, gochujang or sriracha
Full ingredients and instructions are in recipe card below.
Just 5 ingredients to make this flavorful, crunchy salad! (4 if you don't count salt. Fun fact when writing cookbooks salt, pepper, water and oil don't count as an ingredient). These spicy cucumbers are crunchtastic!!
What is chili crisp?? It's an infused oil condiment with crunchy bits. Made using chili peppers, garlic, onion, seasonings and oil. Here is an example on Amazon. You should also be to find it in the Asian section of your grocer.
If you enjoy cucumbers try these Quick Pickled Cucumbers. Ready to eat in 12 hours. You can spiralize them as well, making pickled cucumber noodles which are so fun and great on salads, Asian bowls, sandwiches, a banh mi recipe or just by themselves.
What type of cucumbers should I use?
You can use whatever you have on-hand. Personally, I prefer using the mini cucumbers / Persian cucumbers. They have less seeds vs regular cucumbers. It is just a better eating experience in my opinion and a better crunch.
Variations
- If you don't have chili crisp, use chili garlic sauce, sriracha or gochujang. Just remember those add more heat than chili crisp will.
- Add in shredded carrots or thin sliced carrots to change up this salad. Either or both would be a delicious addition. As would scallions and or toasted sesame seeds or even chopped peanuts..
- If you want sweetness, you can always add in a drizzle of honey.
- Make this as spicy as you wish with the addition of red pepper flakes.
- I have seen some use soy sauce in this Asian cucumber recipe, it does make it saltier. Up to you if you wish to add a splash or two.
Storage
This will hold up well for a couple of days in the refrigerator. I like to place it in a sealed mason jar to enjoy the following day.
Tips
- This is cucumber salad is an amazing addition to Asian dishes. I often put this on my Thai Larb Salad as well as Asian Beef Bowl (see my 1 minute TikTok video of this).
- It's a delicious flavor addition and fresh crunch when added to any sort of beef, pork or chicken bowl.
- Plus I extends the meat in a dish further, which in the end is both less expensive to make as well as a great way to get veggies in.
Enjoy this easy recipe for cucumber salad on its own or like pictured here as a topping for a Beef Bowl (recipe for this bowl coming next week).
Hope you make these spicy cucumbers on repeat and enjoy them as much as I do!
XO - Colleen
Spicy Cucumber Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 mini cucumbers
- Three fingered pinch of kosher salt more or less to your taste
- 1 TBS sesame oil
- ½ TBS rice wine vinegar
- 1 TBS chili crisp
Instructions
- Clean your cucumbers and slice them longways in half. Slice them again longways in half giving your 4 long pieces. Then slice into small chunks (like triangle).
- place cucumber chunks into a bowl. Sprinkle with salt, add the sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and chili crisp and toss to combine.
- Serve right away or store in the refrigerator until serving. Best serves chilled in my opinion.
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