Lemon Dill Cucumber Salad (Creamy)

This fresh lemon dill cucumber salad is a summer favorite. Our kids all love cucumbers. They ask for them and eat them without complaint. When I want to offer them more flavors and variety, I try to attach them to a known favorite. That way I have a better chance they’ll like something new.

We eat a lot of veggie burgers in the summer. We are a camping family so anything we can throw on the BBQ is right up our alley. Anything plant-based, of course. When it comes to side dishes, I’m always looking for something I can throw together quickly. And it has to have simple ingredients.

Spices and Substitutions

I have tried this recipe with dried dill and fresh. They both work well. You will need more fresh dill to achieve the same flavor. 1 tablespoon of fresh dill = 1 tsp of dried dill, is the rule of thumb. But you may find adding a bit fewer works better for you since fresh dill releases its flavor faster than dried dill. Keep that in mind and make this salad a little bit ahead of time when you can if using dried dill. An extra hour in the fridge will give it more time to release the dill flavor.

All of our favorite salad dressings seem to have garlic. In one way or another, we just love the stuff. I have tried both fresh and granulated garlic in this recipe. Both work really well. I use whichever one I have most readily available. When we’re camping, I always have granulated garlic in my spice cabinet. I’ve also found that granulated garlic has made its way into a lot of my everyday cooking since having kids. Sometimes there just isn’t time to start peeling cloves when everyone’s starving! So use whichever version of garlic you have around. It will be delicious either way.

A note about Mayo

I like to use vegan mayonnaise in this recipe because it’s fast and easy. It doesn’t take a lot of mayo to cover the entire salad. And the flavor is something my kids love. When I’m trying to get them to eat lots of vegetables, there are always trade-offs. They will devour more cucumber and red pepper in one serving of this salad than they would eat in 2 days otherwise.

When I first made this vegan lemon dill cucumber salad, it was all about using the ingredients we had around. When we’re camping, there are always burger toppings like mayo in the fridge. But it’s not a time when I keep cashew cream ready to go. I have since made another version of this salad with a tofu-based dressing. And it is amazing. But I still find this recipe has its place on busy days and in places where we just don’t have time to pull out the Vitamix and complicate the process. Quick and easy dishes loaded with vegetables will always have a place at the table.

So here it is. One of our favorite camping side dishes. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!