This cucumber celery salad with green apple and herbs is light, refreshing and so easy to make! It combines affordable ingredients, is perfect as a summer BBQ side dish or as picnic food and takes just 15 minutes (or less!) to come together.
When the hot weather hits, light and hydrating salads like my apple cucumber salad and cucumber pomegranate salad are always on my table! This recipe joins my other cucumber salads in being refreshing side dish ideas, and makes the most of fragrant fresh dill and mint.
Making this cucumber celery salad couldn't be easier! We simply finely slice the fruits and veggies, and blend up a fresh herb dressing that's packed with flavor. It's also been recipe tested by the kids in my family at a summer BBQ, and they definitely approved!
Have a peek at my fennel cucumber salad and mango cucumber salad for more fresh summer salad ideas!
Jump to:
⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Refreshing summer side dish. In the words of my niece, this salad is 'light and refreshing' as we use hydrating cucumber, celery and apple.
A hint of zing. I love the addition of green apple to the salad as it gives that delicious slightly tart taste.
Quick and easy. No cook time and no complicated steps, we make this celery cucumber salad in about 15 minutes (or less!).
🥒 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Cucumber - I suggest to use either English cucumber or Persian cucumbers. You don't have to peel either as they have edible skin, but feel free to peel if you wish!
- Celery - this gives a nice crunch to the salad. Give it a good wash and remove any stringy bits first.
- Apple - this is the 'special ingredient' I think! While you can use red apple, I suggest that the zingy tart flavor of green Granny Smith apples works well with the cucumber and celery and makes the salad extra special.
- Mint and dill - we are using fresh herbs rather than dried for this recipe.
- Apple cider vinegar - this gives the acidic tang to the dressing and scores 1 on the SIGHI list. White vinegar, which scores 0, can also be used. Or leave out if preferred (I suggest to reduce the amount of oil if so).
🔪 How to make cucumber celery salad
It's so easy to make this cucumber celery salad with dill and mint as a summer side dish! Just grab your fresh produce and pantry staples, and let me show you how.
All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Make the dill dressing
Pour the olive oil and apple cider vinegar into your blender cup, and add the mint and dill (remove hard stems first), garlic, salt and optional black pepper. Blend to a herb vinaigrette consistency (image 1).
Step 2: Remove cucumber seeds
Slice the cucumber in half, lengthways. Use a small spoon to remove the seeds from the cucumber (image 2). Optional: peel the cucumber.
Step 3: Dice the veggies
Either use a sharp knife or mandolin and slice the cucumber into half moon shapes. Slice the celery, finely dice the onion (if using) and de-core then slice the green apple (image 3).
Step 4: Toss the salad
Add all the diced veggies to a large bowl and pour over half the dressing. Toss the salad in the dressing, taste test, and add more of the dressing to preference (image 4). Spoon onto your serving plate.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Slice the apple just before making the salad as it will brown quite quickly if left out.
- It's optional whether to peel the cucumber or not. If using English cucumber or Persian cucumber it isn't necessary, but it's down to preference.
- If you like a more zingy flavor, then add a touch more apple cider vinegar to the dressing.
📋 Frequently asked questions
It isn't necessary to peel English cucumbers as they have a soft edible skin. Some people prefer to peel them though, so it's down to taste preference.
You can make the salad without vinegar, but it won't have the same taste. If you're not using vinegar then I suggest to use less oil (it will taste too oily otherwise), add some fresh pomegranate juice for the tart flavor and perhaps add more green apple and a pinch of salt.
🥗 More salad recipes
Choose from so many refreshing salad recipes here, including my broccoli pomegranate salad and raw carrot salad, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Cucumber Celery Salad
Equipment
- Salad servers
Ingredients
- 1 large English cucumber or Persian cucumbers, seeds removed, finely diced
- 3 celery stalks finely diced
- 1 Granny Smith apple de-cored, finely sliced
- ⅛ cup red onion optional, or white onion
For the mint dill dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup dill
- ¼ cup mint leaves
- 1 garlic clove
- pinch salt
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar adjust amount to preference
Instructions
- Slice the cucumber in half, lengthways, and use a small spoon to remove the seeds. Optional: peel the cucumber. Finely dice the cucumber into rounds, finely dice the celery, de-core then dice the apple and, if using, dice the red onion.
- Add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dill, mint, garlic, salt and black pepper (optional) to a blender. Blend so you have a herb vinaigrette consistency.
- Combine the cucumber, celery, green apple and red onion in a large bowl and drizzle on half the dressing. Toss to coat the vegetables, taste test, then add more of the dressing to preference.
Notes
- For a more 'zingy' taste, you can add another tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
- If vinegar doesn't work for you, I suggest to use less olive oil, and add a little more salt to the dressing. A splash of fresh pomegranate juice would add some tart flavor.
- Slice the green apple right before assembling the salad as it will brown if left out.
- The red onion is optional, and to be used if well tolerated. Alternatively, white onion (scores 0 on the SIGHI list) can be used. You may wish to soak in iced water first to reduce the sharper taste.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- apple cider vinegar, which scores 1. White distilled vinegar scores 0. Be mindful that some cannot tolerate any form of vinegar.
- garlic, which scores 1.
- dill, which scores 1 with a note,' Small amounts not usually a problem. High salicylate content'.
- red onion is not listed. White onion can be used, which scores 0.
Kimberly says
I want to try this so badly, but I'm allergic to mint. Do you think it would work to just omit the mint or is there another herb you would recommend?
Claire says
Yes, you can easily just omit the mint. Or, depending on what you tolerate, add dill or parsley to the salad. Hope you enjoy!