This fresh and crunchy Bell Pepper Cucumber Salad is super easy to make with just a few ingredients. The veggies are tossed in a flavourful sesame ginger dressing along with some fresh herb and crunchy seeds. Perfect light and healthy summer side salad!
This Bell Pepper Cucumber Salad is fresh and easy to make. A mix of crunchy bell peppers, cucumber and red onions mixed with a flavor bomb of a ginger and sesame dressing.
This salad is light and fresh, the perfect side for spring and summer. Bring it to any summer bbq, picnic or keep in the fridge and serve throughout the week as a healthy side to any meal. Just like this Cucumber carrot salad or this Red Lentil Salad.
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Ingredients
To make this cucumber salad with bell peppers, all that’s needed are just a few ingredients. Take a look at the ingredient list below.
For the full recipe with the quantities, see the recipe card below.
- English cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise, deseeded and sliced.
- Red onion, thinly sliced
- Bell peppers, red and yellow or color of choice, sliced
Sesame ginger dressing
- Avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
- Lime, juiced
- Soy sauce, ads so much flavor and depth to this dressing
- Maple syrup, or honey
- Fresh ginger, peeled and grated.
- Garlic, minced
- Sesame seeds , use white or black seeds or a mix. they taste ever better if lightly toasted in a dry pan until fragrant.
- Chili flakes, add more to taste for a spicy dressing
- Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- Sesame seeds and fresh cilantro for serving
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Making this healthy cucumber and bell pepper salad is fast and easy. Just follow the step by step photos below.
For the full instructions see the recipe card at the bottom.
- Step 1: Stir together all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl.
- Step 2: Chop the vegetables. Slice the English cucumber in half lengthwise, deseed it and then slice it. Slice the bell peppers into roughly the mane slice as the cucumber. Slice the red onion thinly.
- Step 3: Place all the chopped vegetables in a salad bowl and pour over the dressing.
- Step 4: Toss to combine and let the salad marinade for 30 minutes.
Hint: Before serving, toss the salad well again and top with some extra sesame seeds, chopped cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.
Substitutions and Variations
- Spicy – For a spicy salad, top with some red chill flakes to taste or even sliced fresh chili. Another option is to use hot honey instead of the maple syrup in the dressing.
- Veggies – Add more veggies to this salad, some great options are chopped tomato, or sliced avocado.
- Cucumbers – Using English cucumbers will give the best tasting cucumber salad. They are crispy, don’t have to be peeled and with fewer seeds. Persian cucumbers also tastes great, they are normally a lot smaller then English cucumbers, so go by the weight. Regular cucumbers can also be used, I would recommend peeling them before adding to this salad.
- Herbs – instead of chopped fresh cilantro, other herbs like parsley or basil also works well.
- Onion – The red onion adds a lot of flavor to this salad. It can also be replaced with some pickled red onion, spring onion or sliced shallot. If you don’t like onions, just leave them out.
- Peppers – Use your favorit color, either red, yellow or orange. They have a sweet and delicious taste. Small peppers can also be used.
Another great salad to try is this Cucumber Salad with apple cider vinegar or this Cucumber and red onion salad.
Serve this fresh side salad with a slice of homemade bread like this No knead olive bread or this No Knead Whole Wheat Bread.
Storage
This asian style pepper and cucumber salad can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3-4 days. Stir it up well before serving and top with some sesame seeds and fresh cilantro.
This salad does not freeze well so I don’t recommend that.
Top Tip
Try to cut the peppers into about the same size as the cucumber. Even though the English cucumber doesn’t need to be deseeded, it will reduce the amount of liquid they will relive after being mixed with the dressing. Another option is to lightly salt the sliced cucumber and leave it to drain for about 20 minutes. Discard of the liquid, rinse and let the cucumber dry before adding to the salad.
FAQ
Yes, a flavourful vinaigrette style dressing can definitely be used instead of the dressing in the recipe. Use the dressing of choice and add a little at a time.
No, if you are using an English or Persian cucumber, there is no need to peel them. But if using a normal cucumber, I do recommend peeling peeling it before adding to this salad. The peel on a normal cucumber can be a little tough and sometimes a bitter to the taste.
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This fresh and crunchy Bell Pepper Cucumber Salad is super easy to make with just a few ingredients. The veggies are tossed in a flavourful sesame ginger dressing along with some fresh herb and crunchy seeds. Perfect light and healthy summer side salad!
- 1 large English cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise, deseeded and then sliced into pieces.
- ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 bell peppers, red and yellow or color of choice, chopped
- ¼ cup avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 large clove of garlic, minced
-
1
tablespoon
sesame seeds
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes, or more to taste
-
salt and ground black pepper to taste
- Sesame seeds and fresh cilantro for serving
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Start by stirring together all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl.
-
Chop the vegetables. Slice the English cucumber in half lengthwise, deseed it and then slice it. Slice the bell peppers into roughly the mane slice as the cucumber. Slice the red onion thinly.
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Add the vegetables to a salad bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Top with some extra sesame seeds and some chopped cilantro if desired. Salt and pepper to taste.
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