Smashed Cucumber Salad

If you're looking for a new, simple low-carb and keto cucumber salad recipe, here is one you're likely to love: smashed cucumber salad.

This smashed cucumber salad recipe, adapted from Julia Moskin at New York Times Cooking, is based on a Chinese dish in which the cucumbers are smashed (to help release seeds and create rough edges to absorb the dressing) and topped with a dressing made of rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar-free sweetener, garlic and red pepper flakes. It's a refreshing summer salad that's meant to cool you down on hot days.

The dressing is quite flavorful since it's made with soy sauce, sweetener, and garlic, but the red pepper flakes give the dressing a real tasty kick. If you prefer less heat, you can simply reduce the amount of red pepper flakes. We also like to top with chopped peanuts and cilantro, but that is optional.

And, yes, this is an easy summer salad to prepare. It takes roughly 25 minutes to make, but most of that time (15 to 20 minutes minutes) is waiting for the cucumbers to "sweat" water before combining them with the rest of the ingredients. Each serving of this smashed cucumber salad is just 2 net carbs.

Ingredients

Just 8 simple ingredients for this smashed cucumber recipe — not unless you add a few optional ingredients. Recipe ingredients include:

• 1 pound of English or Persian cucumbers — English or Persian cucumbers work best — but you can use greenhouse or whatever you have on hand.
• ½ teaspoon salt — for "sweating" the cucumbers
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon Swerve Sweetener (granular)
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes — if you prefer less spicy, just use a pinch or so
• ½ tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves to garnish (optional)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts for topping (optional)

How to Make

Only a few steps in making this simple salad:

• Prepare the cucumbers: After rinsing, quarter the cucumbers lengthwise, and place them skin side-up on a cutting board. Then, use the flat-side of a knife blade to push down on or gently smash cucumbers. You'll smash the entire length of the cucumber. After, cut the cucumbers into 1-inch pieces and salt to sweat the cucumbers. Place the cucumbers in a colander and let drain for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, dab the cucumbers with a paper towel to remove excess water.
• Prepare the dressing: While the cucumbers drain, mix together vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, minced garlic, Swerve Sweetener, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl.
• Combine and serve: Once the cucumbers are done draining, toss them with the dressing. Top with cilantro and chopped peanuts if desired. Serve immediately.

Other Low-Carb and Keto Salad Recipes

Here are other low-carb and keto salad recipes you may enjoy:

• The Best Keto Broccoli Salad: This keto broccoli salad is the best! It's made with broccoli, almonds, red onions, cheddar cheese, bacon and a creamy dressing. Yum!
• Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing: Sweet, ripe strawberries take center stage in this salad, but the creamy, sweet yet tangy poppy seed dressing is absolutely delicious!
• Thai Cucumber Salad: Thai cucumber salad, known as ajad, is a quick-pickled cucumber relish that is deliciously spicy, tangy, sweet, and refreshingly crunchy. Our low-carb and keto Thai cucumber salad is similar to an authentic ajad — but with a few minor adjustments to make it low in carbs.