Oma’s Creamy Cucumber Salad (German Cucumber Salad)
My Oma’s Creamy Cucumber Salad (Gurkensalat) is full of crisp, crunchy cucumbers, tangy vinegar and spicy garlic, all coated in smooth sour cream. It’s a perfectly refreshing side dish for spring and summer.
Food is important in our family. The kitchen is where we connected, over German Potato Salad and Scalloped Potatoes.
My Oma’s Creamy Cucumber Salad is a recipe she carried with her for over 50 years, tweaking it here and there, and it’s been my nemesis for as long as I can remember. My grandma would make it and I’d refuse to eat it. My mom would make it, and even as an adult I’d refuse to eat it. My daughter on the other hand loves the stuff. I mean “can I have it for a snack?” cannot get enough!
It wasn’t until recently that I wanted to add it to the site, since I do love chronicling our family recipes here. I knew that if I was going to share it with you though, I was going to have to eat it. I bravely took a bite, and realized that I’d been crazy to refuse it all those years!
How to Make Creamy Cucumber Salad
Our Cucumber Salad recipe is a little different from other recipes, as is typical with our family recipes. My grandma always liked to try and make things simple, which is pretty much my favorite word. We don’t add onions, which most recipes do. But in its place, we like lots of garlic. You could totally add onions if you like though.
Our creamy cucumber salad is simple and easy to make with just a few pantry ingredients:
- cucumbers
- sour cream
- garlic
- apple cider vinegar
- salt
We also add just a pinch of sugar for sweetness and some paprika for color; both are completely optional.
Some tips for making the best cucumber salad:
- Slice the cucumbers nice and thin. I recommend using a mandolin if you’ve got one. (aff) The thicker the slices, the harder they are to eat.
- Don’t add salt to the cucumber salad until the very end. When the salt hits the cucumbers they begin releases their juices, which will just make the sauce super thin.
- Let this creamy cucumber salad sit overnight if you can. It will taste great if eaten immediately, but after sitting for a few hours the flavors have time to blend and mature and you’ll get a nice kick of heat from the garlic and tang from the vinegar – almost like pickles!
Here are some more recipes with cucumbers:
And here are some more delicious side dishes to try:
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Creamy Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cucumbers
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- Ground paprika optional
Instructions
- Peel cucumbers and slice very thin (a mandolin is great for this). Stir in garlic.
- Sprinkle with salt and sugar and stir to combine.
- Stir in sour cream to coat.
- Toss with vinegar.
- Sprinkle some paprika on top for color, if desired.
- Chill at least one hour or until ready to serve.
both my grandparents are 1st generation Hungarians. So I am 1/2 Hungarian born around the very early 1960. I remember so many things we ate. There was a summer seasoned bacon slab heated on a open fire till it sweated then it was pressed onto a very think piece of shepherds bread with sweet onions on it and some seasoning. Salt for sure. Then eat with beer for adults. Took a very long time to eat one.
Like your recipes, see things I have not had since childhood. The walnut cookies were made with prunes and walnuts. Cucumber salad was just thin onions and cucumbers and salt keep cold then squeezed out the liquid. Then add water sone sugar and apple cider vinegar to taste. Paprika for color. Pot cooked stuffed cabbage. Real chicken soup. homemade noodles. I could go on.
It tasty and suitable with weather where i am living. And simple to make it. Thank for your sharing!
use a mandolin or even a vegetable peeler and make healthy noodles out of it! Stay tuned for a recipe!