Creamy Cucumber Pasta Salad takes my favorite summer cucumber salad and turns it into a delicious meal. Loaded with tender pasta, crisp juicy cucumbers, fresh dill and sweet white onion, this dish will be the hit of every potluck!
The recipe combines two of my favorite summer side dishes. Creamy Cucumber Salad meets pasta salad in this amazing side for a perfectly refreshing new summer staple! I love a good pasta salad, not only are they easy to make but they can usually be prepared well ahead of time making them the perfect potluck dish!
Fresh crisp cucumbers in a simple and creamy sauce loaded with dill from the garden is tossed with your favorite pasta. The dressing in this salad doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, but that’s really the beauty of this recipe!
If you have access to fresh dill, it really makes a huge difference in this salad. For a great twist you can also add in a handful of chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes or a squeeze of lemon juice.
While it’s not required, soaking the onions in cold water for a few minutes takes just a little bit of bite out of them. When purchasing white onion for this recipe, you’ll want to be sure you’re getting the white onion with a white papery skin (not the yellow papery skin). The white onions are much milder and sweeter and won’t overpower the other ingredients in this recipe.
If possible try to toss this at least 1 hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend.
Creamy Cucumber Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber
- ½ pound medium pasta such as penne or rotini
- ½ sweet white onion
Dressing
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
- Thinly slice onion and place in a bowl of cold water. (see note)
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Run under cold water to stop cooking.
- Cut cucumber in half lengthwise and remove seeds using a spoon. Slice into thin slices.
- Toss all ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit at least 40 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Salad
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Easy to make and delicious!! Definitely a new favourite!!
Thanks Norene! So happy you’re adding this to your favs list!
A simple salad with big flavors. The dressing is perfect and I refrigerated it for a couple hours before putting everything together. Had to use dry dill because I could not find fresh but I dont think it took away from the salad. Using the english cucumber I didnt worry about seeds and did use the penne pasta. Will be making this often and using fresh dill this summer. Made and reviewed for the What’s on the Menu tag game.
So glad you loved it! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hello!
I want to make this for a shower with about 65 ladies. Can I make it a day or two in advance or is it better to toss everything a couple hours before the event? I want to make sure it still tastes fresh.
I’d say tossing the day of the event would be perfect. You could prepare the other ingredients ahead. Have a great shower!
How much is in a serving? Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I think it said 1g!
There are 8 servings per recipe Ashley. Will update! Thank you
I made this tonight using fresh dill from my garden and cheese tortellini as my pasta and we LOVED it! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
So glad you loved it!
This a wonderful cucumber pasta salad. Everyone loved it including my very picky grandson. He asked me to make it again so this is the second time this week that I have made this recipe!
So glad that you can enjoy it with your grandson and the rest of the family!
Can I use regular cucumbers
That should work just fine Dave. You may want to pat them dry if they seem more watery than long english cucumbers.
Hello! Firstly, I’d like to thank you for posting these yummy salads! You found me a cheap and easy lunch to make and will last the week (until my family steals them -_-) Secondly, would it taste good if I were to add chicken into this or the Dill Pickle salad? I’m a meat lover! Thank you!
I think chicken would be a great addition!!
Made this one and your dill pickle one for the first time today. oMG ! Girl they are amazing!!! I want them for myself and just want to make tuna salad for them tomorrow. Lol
I am so glad you have enjoyed these salad recipes Steph!
This is absolutely delicious
I added some chunks of rotisserie turkey breast. Nom nom nom…
Great idea! Glad you liked it.
Yummy!
Wowzer! Followed exactly as written. I am impressed. The flavors are amazingly delightful. Into my “folder” of favorite recipes. Thank you so very much. YES!
Thank you Stephanie!
Made this for an office party and had so many compliments and a few coworkers even asked for the recipe. Glad I made it!
We loved this salad. It has great flavor and was a perfect side for dinner. The dill and onion flavors are great with the light, refreshing taste of the cucumber. We will be making it again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Not nearly as good as it looks. Disappointed. Not sure how to fix. Will keep trying to find the right flavor
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it, this is one of our all time favorites as it’s light and fresh!
What kind of pasta did you use and what brand of mayo. Did you use regular pasta, wheat, dreamfields?
I used regular pasta and I used Hellmann’s mayonnaise… the fresh dill and the sweet white onion (with white papery skin, not yellow) make a huge difference in the flavor as well. :)
Carole, I think it’s the sour cream. Flor me, the sour cream dominates too much and makes it bland and one note. . Recipes with equal amounts mayonnaise and sour cream tend to be like that. I plan to try again sometime with 2/3 mayo 1/3 sour cream.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it, this is one of our all time favorites as it’s light and fresh! More mayo may make this recipe more to your liking. Thanks for trying it Jean.
Love the basis of this recipe. I added approx a teaspoon of Beau Monde spice & some leftover shrimp cocktail. Excellent!!
I was wondering, would it matter if I left the seeds in the cucumber. I know it said you can remove the seeds with a spoon. I always eat my cucumbers with the seeds.
I have only made this recipe as written, so I am not sure how this would turn out. Should you decide to make it with the seeds, let me know how it turns out.
I made this. LOVED it. I used bowtie pasta instead of penne. Still great. Used the “white onion” trick, and it made ALL the difference. You would be proud to put this on your table for every meal. If you want to cut calories, used low/no fat sour cream and mayo. Slice cherry toms in it to add that”splash” of color.
Everything sounds so good. Can’t wait to try the pasta salads. Thanks.
Hello. This looks delicious. I don’t have dill. Is there a substitute for dill? Thank you?
You can substitute dry dill or fresh cilantro or parsley however this will change the flavor of the dish.