This Sour Cream Cucumber Salad Is the First Thing Gone at Every Barbecue

Summer is my favorite season because it’s the time I get to eat many of my most beloved ingredients at their prime, and the one I eat the most of every year? Cucumbers. I started growing them in my backyard a few seasons ago and when your crop is solid, you can’t eat them fast enough. (This is why people start to pickle, but I have no patience for projects like that.)

Thanks to my surplus of cukes, I tend to be the one who’s always showing up to a potluck or cookout with a cucumber salad. When I first started experimenting with this summer side dish, I didn’t totally know what to expect. It felt retro — but not in a cool way. Now I’m a total cucumber salad convert and have tried plenty of variations, most recently this top-rated version on our site for a sour cream and dill cucumber salad.

Get the recipe: Sour Cream and Dill Cucumber Salad

What Makes This Cucumber Salad So Good?

There are seemingly endless variations of cucumber salad dressings — our classic recipe uses vinegar, we also have a delicious Japanese-inspired option with sesame oil and fish sauce, and many use mayo — and this one uses sour cream, which gives the dressing a luxurious texture and delicate tang. You whisk together the sour cream with apple cider vinegar, Dijon, and a little olive oil; it’s super simple and takes two minutes.

Salting and letting the cucumbers drain for a solid 30 minutes is a step you don’t want to skip. If you’ve experienced a soggy cucumber salad before, you know just how disappointing it can be. This hands-off trick keeps the cucumbers super crunchy and ensures the dressing stays rich (the last thing you want is for it to be watered down!).

No matter where I take this salad it’s a hit. So if you’re not already on the cucumber salad train, it’s time to hop on. There’s a potluck somewhere waiting for you, where this is about to be devoured.

Get the recipe: Sour Cream and Dill Cucumber Salad