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Cucumber Yogurt Salad (With Labne Kefir Cheese) – Bulgarian style Tzatziki (dip/salad). Light, low-calorie, fresh and delicious, this is the best creamy cucumber yogurt salad you can make.
Diced cucumber mixed a creamy, garlicky sauce, made with either thick strained Greek yogurt or Kefir stye cheese. Perfect for a spread, dipping sauce or side dish. Low-carb and very quick and easy to make, great addition to your grilling season menu.
What ingredients do I need to make this cucumber yogurt salad?
- english cucumber
- salt
- dill
- Full Fat Greek yogurt or Labne Kefir style cheese (can be made with low-fat yogurt as well)
How to make cucumber yogurt salad with either Greek Yogurt or Kefir Cheese?
- Wash and peel the cucumbers. Trim off the ends.
- Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and if they appear to have huge seeds on the inside, scrape them off with a spoon.
- Dice cucumbers into small cubes. Place in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl.
- Add salt and stir. Let cucumbers sit with the salt for 10 minutes, then gently press to remove as much water as you can.
- Transfer diced cucumbers to a bowl, then add garlic and dill. Add in the Greek yogurt or Kefir style cheese and stir to combine.
- Add more salt of needed. Add lemon juice (optional).
- Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, then serve. Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week
Tips to make creamy cucumber salad with Greek Yogurt:
- Use seedless cucumbers and if they appear too moist on the inside, when you cut them in half scrape off some of the inside soft flesh (mini seeds).
- Make sure you let the diced cucumber sit with some salt sprinkled overt in a colander so it can extract moisture, to ensure that the salad is not watery, but creamy. Gently press the cucumber cubes with paper towel to extract water.
- Use full fat plain Greek yogurt, strained yogurt or Kefir style cheese.
What type of cucumbers to use in cucumber salad recipes?
Any type of cucumbers will work in this yogurt salad.
English, Persian or even pickles.
Make sure you peel the cucumbers and scrape out any large seeds that they have on the inside.
How to press cucumbers for a salad?
You can use this method for diced or sliced cucumbers. The trick is to add salt to the surface of the cucumbers and let it sit for 10-15 minutes to draw out the moisture.
To be able to easily drain the water easily, place cucumbers in a colander or a fine mesh strainer and place it over a bowl.
To extract even more moisture, pat dry cucumbers with paper towels, once the water has drained.
What is Labne Kefir Cheese?
To me Labne Kefir cheese tastes like a thick and rich sour cream.
It is traditionally made by draining whey from slightly salted yogurt, Labne is a thick & creamy yogurt cheese and usually used as a healthier alternative to regular cream cheese.
Rich enough to be used as a substitute for sour cream or thick Greek yogurt.
This is why in this cucumber salad, you can use either kefir cheese or thick Greek yogurt (some lemon juice can be added to reproduce the sources of the Kefir style cheese, if you decide to use Greek yogurt).
Benefits of Kefir Cheese :
- contains more powerful probiotics than yogurt
- rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals like Magnesium, vitamin B12 and Riboflavin and it is low in lactose
- it is known to improve bone health and eases digestion
How to make Kefir Cheese?
While I’ve never made Kefir cheese or even Kefir yogurt drink at home, there are multiple resources, blog posts and videos on how to do it.
Here is a detailed resource of how to make Kefir Cheese with yogurt/sour cream consistency at home.
For regular yogurt kefir drink:
What goes with cucumber yogurt salad with dill?
This Greek yogurt cucumber salad (or Kefir cucumber salad) goes well with so many things – serve it on an appetizer platter with other salads, fritters or cold cuts of meat.
Serve with pork, poultry or vegetables. Ad to pita pockets or grain bowls.
Can you make this cucumber yogurt salad in advance?
The best part about this creamy yogurt cucumber salad recipe is that it can be made in advance and kept in in an air-tight container (or a bowl covered with plastic wrap) the fridge for up to one week.
This makes it perfect for parties and potlucks.
Keep in mind that even though we tried to extract a lot of water from the cucumber, before adding to the salad, they will most likely release more water while the salad is in the fridge, but water will remain on top. You can easily spoon it out and stir the salad when ready to serve.
More cucumber salad recipes:
- Cucumber Onion Salad With Olives
- Spiralized Cucumber Salad
- Cucumber Radish Salad
- Bulgarian Shopska Salad
Cucumber Yogurt Salad (Made With Kefir Cheese)
Video
Ingredients
- 2 large English cucumbers
- 1/2 tsp salt or more to taste
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb Kefir style cheese or thick Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp lemon juice, optional, add of using Kefir cheese, if using Greek yogurt you may not need it
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, or less to taste, leave out if you don’t like dill
Instructions
- Peel cucumbers and if they appear to have large seeds on the inside, scrape them out.
- Cut into small cubes. Place in a mesh strainer and put the strainer over a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and let it sit for 10 minutes. Press the cucumber cubes gently to remove some of the water so it drains in the bowl.
- Place the cucumber cubes in a bowl.
- Add garlic, yogurt or Kefir style cheese, lemon juice and dill. Stir to combine. Add more salt to taste.
- Seve or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Never thought to do it