This homemade Creamy Cucumber Salad Dressing is flavoured with the refreshing tastes of cucumbers and fresh dill. With a light and creamy texture, and bright, fresh flavours, this pretty green dressing will add a pop of spring colour to your table.
It’s still snowing here in the mountains, but as the end of March approaches, we’re starting to transition to lighter, fresher meals. This Creamy Cucumber Dressing is packed with good-for-you ingredients and derives its creamy texture from plain Greek yogurt, making it at light and healthy choice.
What goes in Creamy Cucumber Dill Dressing?
- Cucumber: Cucumber gives this dressing its bright, fresh taste. This recipe calls for English cucumber, which has a dark green, thin, edible peel. There’s no need to peel an English cucumber and the cucumber skin will enhance the pretty green hue of the dressing.
- Plain Greek Yogurt: Greek yogurt gives this dressing its slightly thickened, creamy texture, without using mayonnaise.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds additional tang and thins the dressing to a pourable consistency. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use regular milk plus a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Fresh Dill: Cucumbers and dill are a classic combination that delivers bright, refreshing, herby flavour. Make sure your dill is bright green and fragrant for the best colour and flavour.
- Fresh Chives: Chives provide a soft oniony flavour, without overpowering the delicate cucumber flavour of this salad dressing.
- White Wine Vinegar: Softer than many other vinegars and with a delicate taste, white wine vinegar adds tang to the dressing without overpowering the cucumber and herb flavours.
- Sugar: A small amount of sugar is added to balance the acidity and saltiness, and really makes the dressing pop.
- Garlic Powder: Normally, I’m a big fan of fresh garlic. If you’ve even attended one of my cooking classes, you’ve probably heard me speak about how to choose the best heads of fresh garlic and how to prepare it for different recipes. While I love the bold flavour of fresh garlic, there are some situations where it really is just too much, such as in this salad dressing. Even a small amount of fresh garlic in this recipe overshadows the other flavours with its pungency. In this cucumber dill dressing, we want the flavours of cucumber and dill to take centre stage, so we’re going to use a small amount of garlic powder. Garlic powder is simply fresh garlic that has beed dried and ground. It delivers a softer garlic flavour that blends nicely into the background, without any of the overpowering pungency or burn of fresh garlic.
- Kosher salt: The salt in this recipe serves two functions. The first is to draw out the moisture in the cucumbers before they are added to the dressing, and the second is to season. Don’t be alarmed by the amount of salt in this recipe. The 1/2 teaspoon that is sprinkled on the grated cucumber will mostly end up down the drain when you squeeze the liquid out. I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt in my recipes, which is less salty per volume than Windsor or Morton’s Kosher salts. If you use a brand other than Diamond Crystal, use half the amount called for in the recipe and add more salt to taste at the end if needed.
Love a Homemade Salad Dressing?
Us too! Here are some other Style and Grace favourites!
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
This light and bright cucumber dill dressing pairs well with leafy green salads. It is also delicious spread on a smoked salmon sandwich, drizzled over sliced avocado or used as a dip for crisp spring veggies and shrimp. The dressing keeps well in the fridge for a few days, so keep some on hand for turning simple baked salmon or chicken into something special.
Creamy Cucumber Dill Dressing
This fresh and healthy dressing, flavoured with the cool tastes of cucumber and dill, is perfect for spring and summer salads.
Ingredients
- 1/2 English Cucumber
- 1 tsp Kosher salt, divided
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (2% milk fat or higher for creamy results)
- 2 Tbsp buttermilk
- 3 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Place the cucumber on a cutting board and cut it in half lengthwise into two long pieces. Use a small spoon to scrape out the seeds. Grate the cucumber on the large holes of a box grater. Set a fine mesh sieve over a bowl, then transfer the grated cucumber to the sieve. Sprinkle the grated cucumber with 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and mix to combine. Let the cucumber drain in the sieve for about 10 minutes. With clean hands, squeeze the grated cucumber to extract as much liquid as possible. It's important to squeeze out the liquid to avoid watery dressing. Discard the liquid that accumulates in the bowl.
- Transfer the drained and squeezed cucumber to a blender. Add the yogurt, dill, chives, white wine vinegar, sugar, garlic power and remaining 1/2 tsp of kosher salt. Blend for at least 1 minute, until dressing is smooth and has become a pale green colour. Serve immediately, or transfer to a covered jar and store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
