Light and refreshing, this cucumber pomegranate salad is full of flavor with sweet berries paired with fragrant mint. Equally perfect for summer BBQs and holiday celebrations, this fresh fruit salad has no cook time and takes just 10 minutes to come together!
Do check out my popular fennel cucumber salad and raw carrot salad for more light side dish recipes!
Fresh and bright salads are one of my favorite recipes to make as they are nourishing, colorful and, best of all, so quick to make! This cucumber pomegranate salad has fast become a go-to recipe in my home, alongside my apple cucumber salad and mango cucumber salad. All light and refreshing side dishes that are so simple to make!
So let me talk you through how to use just a few ingredients of fresh fruits, veggies, herbs and pantry staples to make a pomegranate mint salad that's perfect for taking to potlucks or enjoying as a Christmas salad recipe.
Have a peek at my broccoli pomegranate salad, pak choi salad and air fryer lettuce for more light side salad recipes!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Deliciously light and sweet. The combination of refreshing cucumber and pops of sweetness from pomegranate seeds is so delicious! For extra sweetness, swap the mint dressing for my blueberry pomegranate vinaigrette.
Just a few ingredients. We use fresh fruits (cucumber is botanically a fruit!), herbs and pantry staples.
Quick and easy. It takes just 10 minutes with no cook time to make this pomegranate cucumber salad as a vegetarian, gluten free and low histamine salad.
🥒 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Cucumber - I like to use an English cucumber for this recipe, but Persian cucumbers are also delicious. Either dice your cucumber into rounds, then quarter them as I do, or slice thinly if you prefer.
- Pomegranate seeds - also called pomegranate arils, these give a lovely sweet yet tangy and tart taste and look so pretty too!
- Red onion - this gives us a little hint of spicy flavor. If you're here for low histamine recipes, you may wish to swap for white onion which is low histamine per the SIGHI list.
- Mint - I suggest to use fresh mint leaves for this salad for their bright sweet, and slightly cooling flavor.
📖 Swaps and variations
Adjust the dressing. I use a touch of apple cider vinegar for its acidity, but my low histamine readers may wish to use white distilled vinegar (scores 0 on SIGHI), or if vinegar doesn't work for you then tangy pomegranate juice is a good swap (you'll get a fun pink salad!). For those who are good with citrus, lemon juice or lime juice can be used.
Add some leafy greens. A handful of massaged kale, butter lettuce or arugula works well with the fruits in the salad.
🧀 Optional toppings
One of the fun things about this cucumber and pomegranate salad is just how versatile it is. Serve as it is, or add some tasty toppings for a heartier salad:
- Fresh cheese such as crumbled feta cheese (may not be suitable for low histamine readers), mozzarella or ricotta cheese. A side of my cottage cheese tzatziki would be good, or serve the salad as a topping for my cottage cheese bowls!
- Pumpkin seeds or unsalted pistachios, or other low histamine nuts and seeds.
- Freshly cooked shredded chicken or turkey.
- Add some leafy greens such as arugula or butter lettuce.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this cucumber pomegranate mint salad is very easy, has just a few ingredients and a few very simple steps. It's impossible to mess it up!
The full instructions are in the recipe card below, but these photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Prep the salad ingredients
Finely dice the red onion and either thinly slice the English cucumber, or dice into rounds and then dice those into quarters (image 1).
Step 2: Make the honey dressing
Combine extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, diced mint leaves and salt. Whisk to make your dressing (image 2).
Step 3: Combine salad ingredients
In a large bowl, combine your diced English cucumber, red onion and pomegranate seeds (image 3).
Step 4: Add the dressing
Drizzle on the dressing and toss the salad until it is coated. Spoon onto your serving plate or bowl, and then scatter over fresh mint leaves (image 4).
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Dice the cucumber into small pieces. You can either slice very finely (use a sharp knife or mandolin) or dice into rounds, then quarters. Up to you which you like best!
- Add the pomegranate seeds just before serving. They can easily make everything a little pink so stir through at the last minute!
- Adjust the dressing to taste. Add more oil, mint or vinegar to preference.
📋 Frequently asked questions
Both English cucumber and Persian cucumbers work well in salad recipes. They are light and refreshing, don't have the bitterness that some other types of cucumber have and neither require peeling or have many seeds.
It isn't necessary to peel English cucumber or Persian cucumbers as they have light edible skin. But if you prefer to do so, that's fine too!
Pomegranate seeds are a mix of sweet, tart and tangy flavors.
There are few ways to remove the seeds from a pomegranate. You can use a small teaspoon to scoop them out, or halve the pomegranate and place it flesh side down in your hand with your fingers apart. Then use the back of a wooden spoon to tap the pomegranate and loosen the seeds.
🥗 More fun salads
Find so many more tasty salads here including my light chicken salad without mayo as well as my butternut beet salad and ricotta 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 ⭐⭐⭐ if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Cucumber Pomegranate Salad
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber diced
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
- ¼ red onion finely diced, or white onion
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
For the mint dressing
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lime juice*
- 1 tablespoon mint leaves finely diced
- 1 teaspoon honey
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Dice the cucumber into either thin slices, or into rounds that you then dice into quarters. Finely dice the onion.
- Combine the extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, diced mint leaves, honey and salt and whisk to make your dressing.
- Combine the cucumber, onion and fresh mint leaves in your serving bowl and drizzle over the dressing. Stir through your pomegranate seeds just before serving (they make everything a bit pink otherwise!).
Notes
- There's no need to peel English cucumbers or Persian cucumbers as the skin is thin and edible.
- Add the pomegranate seeds just before serving so they don't make everything pink!
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- red onion is not listed. You can swap for white onion, which scores 0 or omit from the recipe.
- apple vinegar, which scores 1. If sensitive to vinegar, you can omit and replace with fresh pomegranate juice.
- honey scores 0, with a note 'To be debated. Uneven. Naturally contains benzoic acid'.
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