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This cauliflower cucumber salad is definitely one of the easier salads on my blog. It’s fresh, healthy and tasty. My sister Anna developed this recipe and named it “Cauliflower Awesomeness;” ’nuff said. Print and file it under the “in a pickle category” of your recipe book. I think everyone should have such a category for unexpected (or expected) guests, or if you’re just pressed for time, or feeling lazy, but we’ll call it “pressed for time.”
Cauliflower is an unappreciated vegetable; overshadowed by it’s popular relative; broccoli. Why does broccoli get all the attention? I am compelled to make a case for the amazing cauliflower:
1. There aren’t many white vegetables in the world.
2. Cauliflower is nutrient dense (lots of vitamins & minerals without extra carbs).
3. It’s low in fat & high in fiber (we all know why fiber is good; I won’t elaborate)
4. Without it, the creamy cauliflower shrimp soup would not be as dreamy.
(maybe you can add to this list?)
Tip: chop and refrigerate your cauliflower in a ziploc before your event or use pre-chopped cauliflower to make smaller portions throughout the week. P.S. this salad is best eaten within a few hours of adding the dressing.
Ingredients for Cauliflower Cucumber Salad:
1 small/medium head of cauliflower, cut into small pieces
1 English cucumber, sliced into thin half circles
1/2 cup chives or green onion, finely sliced
1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (or all sour cream if you don’t have the yogurt)
1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Add a clove of garlic to the dressing for a little extra zing, if you like 🙂
How to Make Cauliflower Cucumber Salad:
1. Dice your cauliflower and place in a medium salad bowl (we used the small holes of the Vidalia Chop Wizard
2. Cut your cucumber in half the long way and thinly slice. You end up with thinly sliced half circles. This Mandoline
3. Finely chop your chives and toss them over your salad (Chop and add the white parts if you like it more “oniony.”
4. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Stir the dressing into the salad and add more salt to taste if needed. I added an extra dash of salt at the end. Garnish with a sprig of parsley or dill if you like. My dill and parsley are finally pickable so you’ll see me put it on most of my food this time of year ;).
Cauliflower Cucumber Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 small/medium head of cauliflower, cut into small pieces
- 1 English cucumber, sliced into thin half circles
- 1/2 cup chives or green onion, finely sliced
- 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, or all sour cream if you don't have the yogurt
- 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Add a clove of garlic to the dressing for a little extra zing, if you like 🙂
Instructions
- Dice your cauliflower and place in a medium salad bowl (we used the small holes of the Vidalia Chop Wizard).
- Cut your cucumber in half the long way and thinly slice. You end up with thinly sliced half circles.
- A mandoline slicer will help speed up the process! Add cucumbers to your bowl.
- Finely chop your chives and toss them over your salad (Chop and add the white parts if you like it more "oniony").
- In a separate bowl, mix together 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Stir the dressing into the salad and add more salt to taste if needed. I added an extra dash of salt at the end. Garnish with a sprig of parsley or dill if you like.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Thank you for your brilliant ideas. I was thinking that, along with adding dill, go a little further and add some feta cheese… ??? too much? Again, thank you for your amazing ideas and recipes!
That does sound like a great idea! I’ll have to try that next time I make this!
Mmmm yummm gotta try this sometime looks soooooo very tantalizing am wondering would it work with a splash of mayo lemon juice and vinegar would be making it for the Sabbath and can’t mix milk and meat tho do wanna try it with the sour cream and greek yogurt my mouth is watering already lol salads always compliment a great meal would make a great Shabbat starter
Hi Tzivia, I haven’t tried those substitutions so I can’t say for sure without testing them. One of my readers reported good results substituting may with: “1/4cup of greek yougurt and 1/4 cup sour cream,salt & pepper” with good results but again, I have’t tested that myself to be able to give you a recommendation.
I make this with grape seed oil instead of sour cream or yogurt.
All your ingredients Natasha, along with parsley and dill. Some salt, pepper and a drizzle of grape seed oil.
It is so delicious.
Mmm sounds healthier and really tasty! Thanks so much for sharing Dasha 🙂
Hi Natasha! I just made this and wow!! I could eat the whole bowl! I was out of green onion but I always enjoy onion in my salads so I finely chopped about 2 tblsp of sweet white onion and also used dried chives I had. Delicious and so simple! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! God bless
You’re so welcome! I’m happy you loved it 🙂 God bless you also!
This salad is also delicious with sunflower oil instead of sour cream. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Vera!
Happy Birthday to your handsome son. Love your recipes and pictures. Thank you and have a great day!
Thank you Liz 🙂
I just found your site and can’t wait to try a bunch of your recipes.
I have a tip I use when I make Cucumber Salad so the cucumbers don’t water down the dressing so much.
It takes a little planning ahead, but is great for potlucks or any time that the salad will sit for a while before you eat it.
After you slice the cukes, sprinkle them with some salt (I like to use kosher salt) and let them sit for an hour or more in the fridge. Then rinse them and spin them dry in your salad spinner. You could also put them in a colander and let them drain over a bowl. I’d still rinse them to remove any excess salt, though.
(Same technique works great for coleslaw, too)
Thanks for sharing your food with us 🙂
Oooh that’s a fantastic idea. You’re brilliant! Thank you for sharing!
I wish I could take credit for that tip, but I learned it from Cook’s Illustrated 🙂
Or you scrape out the seeds.
thank you , Natasha, for a great salad; I love it that it doesn’t have mayo; btw i’ll substitute 1/4cup of greek yougu-1/4 cup sour cream,salt & pepper in all other recipes calling for a mayo. To me, mayo makes all dishes unhealthy, fatty. Our family loved that salad, I put in a blender for our 2 year old , and he sure found it tasty! Great salad! Loved it ! Keep Nice recipes coming! God’s blessing to you & yours
That’s awesome and what a great way to get raw foods into the toddlers!! 🙂 Thanks for your awesome review!
made the salad!! delicous! added radishes too…but didnt have plain yogurt..anywaus cameout great!!
We made it at my mom’s yesterday and used mayo with yogurt since she was out of sour cream and it turned out great too. There’s room for some variation with this salad 🙂
This was really good! I used European style yogurt instead of Greek (didnt have Greek) and it came out awesome. I love how light and healthy this recipe is! It’s great for a hot summer day. I don’t know if other people do this, but I don’t have a mandoline slicer, so I just use a cheese grater and that works just as well for the cucumbers :). I did invest in the Chop Wizard per your suggestion in the Olivier Salad recipe and love it!! Definitely worth it!
Thanks so much for posting all these recipes! I have your blog bookmarked and use your recipes alllll the time! This is definitely my go to place for planning my meals! Sometimes I modify them a little bit based on my mom’s suggestions (we’re Russian), but I think your recipes are awesome and very easy to follow :). I especially appreciate all the pictures!!! Just wanted you to know that your efforts here are very much appreciated :).
Thank you for your thoughtful and sweet comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. We made this salad at my mom’s house for lunch today and my husband just chopped the cucumber on the vidalia chop wizard and it was great! He used the small holes on the Vidalia. I think anyway you slice it is fine as long as you get the ingredients in there! 🙂
made this salad with dill – dillisious! 🙂
Ooooh,… dill. Yum! That’s my favorite herb 🙂
This is perfect! We like fresh salads that don’t contain lots of mayo and fat so this is great! Thanks soo much for this idea;)
This is definitely a healthy salad 🙂
I make a version of this salad but add chopped hard boiled eggs and mayo instead of yogurt. It’s pretty much my favorite salad!!
P.s. if i want it real fancy, I add crab meat too. Soooo yum!
What? crab meat? That sounds ridiculously good. I’ll have to make it like you do! Thank you for sharing!
Must try this today and will add radishes. For the record, my favorite yogurt is Fage (pronounced fah-yea), a yogurt from Greece now available in America. It is the closest thing to Greek or Turkish yogurt that I can find in the USA. Thick, creamy, delicious, and available at Costco in 0% fat version. Other stores like Trader Joes carry the full fat version (ultimately delicious, but–you know…a minute on the lips, forever on the hips…..)
I love this yogurt as well Manya! I can’t seem to find the original though! All the stores have the 0% or 2%. Delicious nonetheless and the only yogurt I like!
I love cauliflower. Actually, just yesterday I made a homemade macaroni and cheese for the kids and when the pasta is almost done cooking, you add a few cups of cauliflower and cook it along with pasta for 3 min. Then you drain it together and finish the rest of your recipe as specified. It just makes a healthier mac and cheese and you barely notice it 🙂
Oh that’s just brilliant! I love that idea and I’m totally going to give it a whirl!
I make the same salad only add radish. Taste good too. Oh and of all the Greek yogurts I love the Zoi brand. Best one out there. I can eat half of can of honey flavor a day. And it’s not as liquid as chobani.
I will try to add radish next time as well. We buy Zoi brand as well, one of our favorites :).
Must try this soon. Do you think I could substitute mayo for the plain yogurt?
That should work great as well, let me know what you think :).