Make this Cucumber Pasta Salad for a refreshing summer side dish. Toss pasta in a creamy lemon sauce with cucumber, tomatoes, and fresh dill.
Make-ahead
Minimal prep
You’ll Learn: The formula for balancing creamy, tangy, and fresh flavors
Worth It: Simple method, great results-without fussy steps
Bonus: Easy to tailor to common diets
This is the perfect pasta salad to highlight summer produce
This refreshing pasta salad is the best way to highlight summer produce. When the garden is overflowing with fresh cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, this is the recipe that you need.
Begin by cooking pasta according to package directions. Thinly slice the cucumber and cut the cherry tomatoes. Then toss it all with a creamy sauce.
The sauce is bursting with flavor from fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. The whole dish comes together with lots of fresh dill. Serve with some flakey sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
Kitchen tools
- Large pot
- Large bowl
- Sharp knife and cutting board
- Whisk
- Measuring cups
- Mixing spoon
Serving suggestions
This bright and flavorful pasta salad is a delicious summer side dish to serve at a backyard barbecue with your grilling favorites.
Some of the grilling recipes I like to make with this are:
If you want to make this for meal prep, make a batch of cast iron chicken, cut it into strips and toss with the cooked pasta salad.
Ingredients
- Pasta
- Cucumber – I prefer to use an english cucumber
- Cherry tomatoes
- Fresh dill
- Lemon
- Mayonnaise
- Sour cream
Ingredient Substitutions
You can use any type of pasta that you like to make this salad. I like to use a pasta shape that grabs the sauce. Some of my favorite shapes include small shells, penne, rotini and fusili pasta.
To make this a vegan pasta salad, just use a plant based substitute for both the mayonnaise and the sour cream. You can also just double the mayonnaise if you are unable to find a plant based sour cream.
It is so easy to make this into a gluten free pasta salad. Just use your favorite gluten free pasta in place of
Recipe variations
There are so many different ways to make a delicious pasta salad with cucumber. Instead of making a cream lemon dill sauce you could make an Italian pasta salad. Toss the pasta, tomatoes, and cucumber with a simple Italian dressing. You can even add some mini mozzarella balls and black olives.
Make this into a Greek pasta salad by making a simple Greek vinaigrette. Then, mince some fresh parsley and crumble some feta cheese and mix those into the pasta salad.
How to make a cucumber pasta salad
Step 1: boil pasta and prep vegetables
To begin, boil pasta in salted water. Then, drain, rinse in cold water and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
Next, cut cucumber in half lengthwise and remove seeds with a spoon. Slice cucumber into thin half moons and place in the mixing bowl.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place in the mixing bowl. Finely chop the fresh dill and place in the mixing bowl.
Step 2: prepare sauce and mix it all together
Then, zest and juice the lemon and place lemon zest and juice in a small mixing bowl. Whisk together with the mayonnaise and sour cream.
Finally, pour liquid mixture into the mixing bowl and toss to combine everything. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
make ahead tips and storage
To make this pasta salad with cucumber ahead of time, I recommend making it as written here, but without the fresh dill. Then, just before serving, chop the dill and grab some more lemon zest.
Freshly toss the pasta salad in the dill and lemon zest and serve. The veggies and pasta will be nicely soaked in the creamy sauce, but the salad will still seem fresh
Although I find that this salad tastes best when enjoyed within 24 hours of cooking, you can save the leftovers. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Check out these other pasta salad recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Cucumber Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta
- 1 medium cucumber
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup fresh dill
- 1 lemon
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Boil pasta in salted water, drain and set aside in a large mixing bowl.
- Cut cucumber in half lengthwise and remove seeds with a spoon. Slice cucumber into thin half moons and place in the mixing bowl.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place in the mixing bowl. Chop the fresh dill and place in the mixing bowl.
- Zest and juice the lemon and place lemon zest and juice in a small mixing bowl. Whisk together with the mayonnaise and sour cream.
- Pour liquid mixture into the mixing bowl and toss to combine everything. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
- To make this recipe gluten free, substitute gluten free pasta for the regular pasta
- Swap the mayonnaise and sour cream with vegan substitutes to make this recipe completely vegan
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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