Creamy Cucumber Avocado Salad

The best cucumber to use for any salad is the English cucumber. This is because they are seedless and will make the salad less soft and watery. 

They are, however, not always available, so continental cucumbers or garden cucumbers would be the next best variety.

For our cucumber loving fans, do try our kachumber salad [authentic Indian salad] and Korean cucumber salad – oi muchim (오이무침).

How Do I Keep Cucumbers from Getting Soft?

If you have to purchase your cucumbers a few days before making the salad, you must try to prevent them from getting too soft. It’s the crunch of the cucumbers that you’re after.

The best thing to do is to wrap the cucumber in paper towels. This is to help absorb any water it may release. Then place them in a zip lock bag or an airtight container which helps to keep them crunchier for longer. Store in the crisper drawer of your fridge until you’re ready to use them.

How to Keep Avocado from Turning Brown?

A popular way to keep an avocado from turning brown is to squeeze some lime or lemon juice on the exposed flesh. This hinders the oxidisation process and won’t turn brown too quickly.

You can also try to spray or brush some olive oil onto the flesh of the avocado. This creates a barrier between the air and the fruit.

How Long Will Avocado Last in A Salad?

An avocado will last up to three days if it is stored in the refrigerator. However, the rest of the salad ingredients may not have such a great shelf life after they’ve been tossed and dressed.

For this cucumber avocado salad, if you have leftovers, I suggest you remove the avocado fan and store it separately in an airtight container and place in the fridge. Or you can make our kale salad with avocado or red beet eggs salad and smashed avocado.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this Creamy Cucumber Avocado Salad:

Avocado: Avoid getting an avocado that is too soft. Even if you don’t fan them, you don’t want them to be overly mushy in the salad. Combined with the creaminess of the salad dressing, it wouldn’t do well from a texture perspective.

Cucumber: Ensure the cucumber is firm and fresh. Some people prefer to buy cucumbers wrapped in plastic as it is meant to reduce the speed at which it spoils and also help with the water seepage. But that’s not necessary if you’re consuming it on the day.

Broad beans: Frozen broad beans or fava beans are perfectly good for this recipe. Just be sure they are nice and dry before adding to the salad, so it doesn’t turn the salad soggy.

Salad onion: Although this is the preferred onion for this salad as it is less pungent, you don’t have to use it if it is hard to find. The bulb of scallion or white onion will do just fine. 

Greek yoghurt: Good quality Greek yoghurt is key for this dressing. It will be so light yet creamy with a slight tang.

Variations and Substitutions

Avocado fan: You’ll be amazed by what you can do with 1 avocado! However, if this is too fiddly or if you’re not confident enough, you can just dice into cubes. This was just a fun way to elevate this vegetarian avocado recipe.

Creamy garlic dressing: This is a pungent salad dressing. If you don’t like too many alliums in your food, remove the salad onion and reduce the amount of garlic used.

Salad onion substitute: You don’t have to use salad onion. A bulb of scallion of white onion will suffice.

Broad bean variation: If you’re not a fan of broad beans, you can always replace them with peas or edamame. The frozen variety will work perfectly.

Heat level: Turn the dial up or down with the jalapenos depending on your tolerance.

Lemon juice: If you love lemon in your salads, you can add some to the creamy garlic dressing to control the consistency.

Instructions

Step by step instructions for how to make Creamy Cucumber Avocado Salad:

How to Make the Salad

Cut the cucumber in half. Then cut it down lengthwise around the seeds. Discard the seed, if any. Cut the cucumber into small cubes. 

Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add broad beans and boil for 2 minutes. Remove and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. To remove the skin, peel off a small bit at the top and then from the bottom, squeeze the broad bean, and it will pop out of the skin.

Roughly tear the parsley and coriander leaves to yield ½ cup each. Discard the stem.

Remove the seeds from the jalapeno. Dice finely to yield ½ tsp.

How to Fan the Avocado?

Cut the avocado in half. Discard the seed and peel the avocado. Do so gently as we want the avocado to stay nice and smooth. 

Place one half flat on the chopping board and slice very thinly. To stop the avocado from sticking to the knife, push down each slice before removing the knife so it stays in place.

After slicing, gently fan out the avocado. Let it fan out in its natural curvature. Slowly manipulate it to create a circle. Do the same for the second half.

How to Make Creamy Garlic Dressing

Peel the garlic cloves and chop roughly.

Peel the salad onion and chop finely to yield 1 tsp.

With a hand blender, blitz the garlic, salad onion, mayonnaise, Greek yoghurt, apple cider vinegar, sugar and Worcestershire sauce until completely pureed and well combined.

This creamy garlic dressing tastes better over time, so feel free to make it the day before and let it sit overnight. If you do, take it out of the fridge and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving. We want the dressing to come to room temperature and not be served cold.

How to Assemble the Salad

Place about 8 tbsp on a flat platter. Spread it out evenly by picking up the plate and swirling it so the dressing spreads out evenly. Like you would a pancake batter in a pan.

Put the cucumber, broad beans, parsley, coriander and jalapeno into a medium size mixing bowl. Add ½ tsp olive oil, salt and pepper and mix until well combined. Place salad on ¾ of the plate on top of the dressing.

Using a large knife or a flat frying utensil to slide it under the sliced avocado, lift gently and place it on the side of the plate. Do the same for the second half.

Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Great Mains for This Salad

What to serve with Creamy Cucumber Avocado Salad? Try these delicious main dish recipes:

Meatless Mondays have never been more delicious! Serve up this creamy cucumber avocado salad with a simple pasta al forno or baked pasta with all its cheesy goodness.

Or you can take out the air fryer and try this chimichurri skirt steak recipe or get the grill out to make these juicy, delectable grilled herb crusted lamb kebabs.

Frequently Asked Questions

As with all our recipes, we’re always looking for a good combination of flavours and textures to deliver a healthy salad that will please your friends and family. 

The velvety creamy garlic dressing complements the crunch from the cucumber and the leafy herbs while the smooth avocado helps to soothe the heat from the jalapenos.

It’s a great gluten free salad! One that was devoured on our dinner table in no time!