Chopped Cucumber Salad

small pickling cucumbers on a cutting board. Ready to be peeled and used in the a chopped cucumber salad with tomatoes, green pepper, and feta cheese

I have been obsessed with this salad this summer!!

You will often see marinated cucumber and onion or cucumber and tomato salads on southern dinner tables in the summer.

This is a riff on a classic southern cucumber salad with a bit of Greek influence. The addition of the green pepper and the feta cheese takes it to a different place and we aren’t hating it!

Our version was inspired by and adapted from the Spiralized Greek Cucumber Salad on the Skinny Taste website. I love this website and highly recommend it for healthy recipes.

A chopped cucumber salad is the perfect summer side dish! It is easy and refreshing with cucumbers, tomatoes, green pepper, diced red onion, and feta cheese. The dressing is just lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.

Instead of an English cucumber we use the little pickling ones that you can get at the farmer’s markets in the summer. Even a regular grocery store cucumber will work!

After you de-seed and chop your cucumbers it is important to salt them and let them rest for a while in order to draw out some of the water. You will want to drain the liquid before adding the rest of the vegetables and mixing up the salad. If you don’t take the time to do this step the salad can turn out a little too watery. You don’t want to water down all that lemony goodness from the dressing!

You can use wonderful home grown tomatoes in this recipe which are delicious! The only caveat, if you aren’t planning to eat the entire salad at one meal it will keep better in the refrigerator if you use cherry tomatoes.

The original recipe calls for olives, but…we don’t like them in this! (Well, I’ll be honest, I don’t like them in anything, but even those family members who DO like olives preferred this salad without them.) However, you might love olives in it so I suggest you try it both ways and see what you think.

This salad is delightful. It is perfect as a side dish to grilled meat or just as a meal in itself!

Here is our version of an amazing summery chopped cucumber salad.

I hope you enjoy!

pale pink bowl of chopped cucumber salad with tomatoes, green pepper, and feta cheese

Chopped Cucumber Salad with Tomatoes, Green Pepper, and Feta Cheese

Light and refreshing cucumber salad. Great summer side dish!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 6 small cucumbers, seeded and cubed
  • 1 medium green pepper, diced
  • 2 medium homegrown tomatoes, diced (or use cherry tomatoes quartered)
  • 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Instructions
 

The Cucumbers

  • Peel, de-seed, and dice cucumbers
  • Put cucumbers into a bowl and toss with a teaspoon of salt
  • Cover with plastic wrap and let cucumbers stand for at least 1/2 hour to allow some of the water draw out

In the meantime…

  • Dice a green pepper
  • Dice your tomatoes
  • Finely dice the red onion
  • Drain the liquid off of the cucumbers
  • Toss the vegetables together in a bowl
  • Stir in crumbled feta

The Dressing and Seasonings

  • Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the cucumber and tomato mixture
  • Drizzle a little olive oil over the cucumber and tomato mixture
  • Add a few grinds of pepper
  • Stir and taste for seasonings. You will have already salted the cucumbers and the feta is salty so you may or may not need more salt.
  • Serve and swoon.
Keyword Cucumber,, Salad, tomatoes

This would taste great as a side dish with a grilled pimento cheese sandwich!

pale pink bowl of chopped cucumber salad with tomatoes, green pepper, and feta cheese

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Karen