Tomato, Onion, and Cucumber Salad

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

A Southern staple at barbecues, family gatherings, and reunions, we love the juicy and refreshing experience of eating this fresh tomato, onion, and cucumber salad!

Tomato, onion, and cucumber salad

If I had to describe the flavor of this salad in one word, I’d say refreshing. This is the embodiment of everything a body craves on a hot summer’s day. Well, everything a body craves that doesn’t come with a little paper umbrella in the glass! This simple and easy tomato, onion, and cucumber salad recipe features juicy tomato chunks, onion slices, and crunchy cucumber tossed in a delicious vinegar and sugar dressing. 

I recommend making this colorfully crisp and tangy summer salad in advance to let it fully marinate in the dressing. Then serve it at your next summer gathering and prepare to win over your friends and family! You can also have fun with this salad and add some interesting additions, which I mention in the Recipe Notes section below.

Recipe ingredients for tomato, onion, and cucumber salad.

Recipe Ingredients

  • Two freshly ripe tomatoes (can be whatever you have on hand – heirloom tomatoes, grape tomatoes…)
  • Two cucumber
  • One purple or red onion (or sweet onion, the choice is yours)
  • Sugar
  • Water, and…
  • White vinegar. Go for the cheap kind here, make me proud!

Cutting tomato into chunks.

Cut up your tomatoes.

You can cut the tomato in chunks, slices, or dice them. I’m doing tomato chunks because it’s pretty that way.

Cutting peeled cucumbers.

Peel and cut your cucumber. However, if you prefer you can also skip peeling your cucumber.

Cutting onion into large chunks.

Cut up your onion.

I slice mine and then cut the slices in half, still leaving pretty big pieces.

This way, those of you who don’t care for the raw onions can pick them out easily enough.

Tomato, onion, and cucumber in mixing bowl.

Dump all of that into a bowl. You can also opt to sprinkle these vegetables with sea salt and black pepper right now before adding the dressing.

Now we have to make our dressing.

For this, all we are going to do is combine equal parts water, vinegar, and sugar and stir it up.

I start with 1/2 cup of each but you can do more if you like. I wouldn’t do any less though.

Adding sugar to vinegar dressing mixture.

This is me adding my sugar to the vinegar and water mixture.

Stir that up good.

Recipe Tip

Don’t worry if your sugar isn’t dissolved all of the way because we’re going to let all of this marinate in the fridge for a spell before we eat.

Pouring vinegar mixture over tomato, onion, and cucumber in mixing bowl.

Pour this over your veggies and stir.

Covering salad to place in fridge overnight.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

It will make more juice but I like to go give it a good stir after an hour or so.

Tomato, onion, and cucumber salad

Save some for me!

Storage

Store this tomato, onion, and cucumber salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.

Recipe Notes

  • If you like, add some fresh herbs to your salad. Dried or fresh basil and oregano will give this salad recipe a Mediterranean feel, while I also like sprinkling fresh dill or parsley on top.
  • Other fun additions to make to this salad include crumbled feta cheese, chunks of avocado, bell pepper chunks, and mozzarella balls.
  • Instead of white vinegar, you could also use either red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. If you’re going for a Mediterranean-inspired salad, you can opt for balsamic vinegar too.
  • Another option is using cherry tomato halves instead of tomato chunks.

Recipe FAQs

What do you serve with tomato, onion, and cucumber salad?

Serve this refreshing salad with any grilled or barbecued meat and a side of crusty bread. My suggestions include grilled chicken tenderloins, pork chops, or slow-roasted beef brisket

Can you make this salad ahead of time?

Yes, I recommend refrigerating the salad for a few hours before serving to let the vinegar sink into the vegetables. So you could definitely make this in advance the night before.

You may also like these other sensational salad recipes:

Cucumber Salad Creamy and Delicious

Fresh Fruit Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing

Cornbread Salad Recipe

Low Carb Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

Tomato, onion, and cucumber salad

Tomato, Onion, and Cucumber Salad

Juicy and refreshing, this tomato, onion, and cucumber salad (also known as Fire and Ice salad) is a summer Southern staple.
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: salad

Ingredients

  • 2 tomatoes
  • 2 cucumbers
  • 1 purple or red onion
  • water
  • white vinegar
  • sugar

Instructions

  • Peel and slice cucumbers, and chop tomatoes and red onion. Combine all in a large bowl.
    2 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 1 purple or red onion
  • Mix up a dressing of equal parts vinegar, water, and sugar. I start with 1/2 cup each of my dressing ingredients.
    water, white vinegar, sugar
  • Pour the vinegar dressing over the vegetables and refrigerate (ideally overnight).
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

 

Be more concerned about your character than your reputation because your character is who you are and your reputation is just what others THINK of you.

~Submitted my Southern Plate Reader, Emily. To submit your quote, and make someone’s day a little brighter, click here.

Similar Posts

211 Comments

  1. Ya know.. after runnin around town all day gettin parts for my truck and trying to have the A/C fixed.. this salad would hit the spot.

    I bought the truck from a friend who said he had never had the Air Conditioner serviced. A/C man tells me different. I now realize that friend who didn’t remember he was married on at least three occasions and is now getting a divorce, probably forgot a repair or two on the truck.

    Ok.. sorry for the tangent…

    Man that salad looks good! I love sweet and sour type stuff.

    Thanks Christy!

    1. Funny how some people suffer failing memories like that. Although I have to admit that I’ve seriously considered driving on past my house for an extended mountain vacation myself from time to time.
      But in the end, I come home. The kids are just too darn cute to stay away from for long!
      Gratefully,
      Christy 🙂

  2. My sister and I were just talking about this salad this morning on the phone. I don’t like raw onions…

      1. You and my mama and the onions! lol If you ever eat at my house I’ll just set you near her and y’all can pick onions out of things for each other, lol.
        My husband doesn’t like onions either. ~breathes out~ but as you can tell, I do!!

        So glad y’all liked it!! Thank you for passing it on!
        Gratefully,
        Christy

  3. My family loves this salad but I have never made it with cukes. Next time I will throw them in (the cukes not my family)!!
    Love the name… Fire and Ice!

    Bountiful Blessings!

    Will be sending in my cookbook order! Thanks so much for the update!!

      1. Christy & Tina….couldja at least have the kids take their shoes off first???
        Puuuul–eeeezzze?

  4. Thanks Christy for reminding me of this wonderful recipe.
    You’re right it is a light, refreshing dish that I’m going to serve tonight with beans and cornbread and sweet tea.

  5. Hey ya’ll wow I get to be the first to comment! Yeah me. Well we call it another name but the same taste it is sssoooo yummy!!! Ya’ll can add some mircle whip too and make it creamy if ya wish.
    Both way are great

    1. WOW, GREAT question! I always forget something!
      Shipping is 2.50 and the cookbook is $14.95 so total is $17.45.

      Ouch! I did math!
      lol
      I went in and added all of this into the post thanks to you. I really appreciate you reminding me!!
      Gratefully,
      Christy 🙂

  6. I love this too-sort of similar to the Amish style swett and sours. I often add a big glob of mayonnaise too and some diced bell pepper. A glob is a scientific term for all a serving table spoon will hold in one dig!

    1. Oh yes, I am also a fan of the ancient measurements such as globs! You know, its crazy that I have never thought of using bell pepper in this because I LOVE bell pepper! Oh my! Now you have me wanting to add corn, too! lol

      If it is similar to ANYTHING the Amish make, that right there gives it five stars and a sixth star as a bonus! Amish food is amazing.

      Gratefully,
      Christy 🙂

      1. As far as I know I have never had Amish food! I’ve never been to Amish country! I’ve hardly let Louisiana!!! Boy, I need to get out more!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe or Post Rating