Cucumber Yogurt Salad

  • Prep time:

  • Cook time:

  • Total time:

  • Portion/Yield:

    Serves 4 as an accompaniment or side dish at a barbecue

  • Difficulty:

    Easy

This cucumber yogurt salad forms a staple dish in our household. It’s so easy to buy a ready-made version (called tzatziki) from the supermarket, but once you realise how easy, delicious and cost-effective it is to make your own, then you’ll never revert back to a shop-bought one again, I promise!

I found these baby cucumbers at our local farm shop. They’re a great find as their skin is very thin and they have less seeds than standard cucumbers, plus I think they are even tastier. However, a standard English cucumber will give just as good results if you can’t find baby ones.

I served this salad with Barbecued Venison Kofta Skewers, so to improve the presentation, I thinly sliced one of the cucumbers and arranged it on top with a sprinkling of sumac and extra chopped mint. This extra touch to the presentation is well worth doing if you have friends coming round to join you for a barbecue.photo of Cucumber Yogurt Saladphoto of Cucumber Yogurt Salad

Ingredients & Method

  • 2 baby or mini cucumbers (or use 1 larger English cucumber, cut in half), trimmed
  • 150g Greek yogurt
  • finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves, plus an extra pinch or two to garnish
  • a pinch of sumac
  • sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Coarsely grate one of the cucumbers into a mixing bowl. Add the yogurt, lemon zest and juice, garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped mint and some salt and pepper and mix together well. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl (see Cook’s Note).

Use a mandoline to very thinly slice the other cucumber lengthways into 1mm-thick slices, making long ribbons or strips of cucumber. If you don’t have a mandoline, then use a vegetable peeler to do this.

Arrange the cucumber ribbons on top of the yogurt salad, then garnish with the remaining pinch or two of chopped mint and the sumac. Serve immediately with Barbecued Venison Kofta Skewers or Slow-barbecued Lamb Shoulder.

Cook’s Note

This salad (minus the cucumber ribbons on top) can be made in advance. It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Add the freshly prepared cucumber ribbons to the salad just before serving.