Cucumber sandwiches are simple to make and incredibly reinvigorating.
There are a few tricks that you need to know before you make this delicious treat.
Let’s dig in!
Up until a few years ago, I had never even heard of a cucumber sandwich.
I didn’t grow up eating this sandwich variety in the south.
However, one day, when I was searching for a simple lunch idea, Andi suggested that we had to have cucumber sandwiches.
I laughed out loud.
She was serious!
Thank goodness because cucumber sandwiches are now in my normal rotation.
We eat a lot of cucumbers in this house.
We love to make cucumber water, and we are also big fans of a simple cucumber tomato salad.
What is a cucumber sandwich?
Contents
A cucumber sandwich uses white bread with mayonnaise, sliced cucumbers, and seasonings.
There are many different versions of this delightful sandwich, but we keep ours fairly simple.
You can make one in five minutes or less, and you’ll likely have everything you need in the kitchen.
How do you keep cucumber sandwiches from getting soggy?
The trick to keeping cucumber sandwiches from getting soggy is slicing the cucumbers as thinly as possible and then sprinkle them with salt.
After you’ve salted them, lay them out on a paper towel and allow them to drain for a few minutes.
Next, pat them dry with a paper towel.
Then add them to your sandwich.
Note that we don’t bother with this extra step because these we eat them pretty quickly.
The best bread for cucumber sandwiches
We prefer to serve these sandwiches on the softest white bread that we can find.
We prefer a “normal” white sandwich bread, not a Texas toast style thick bread.
Meanwhile, that kind of bread to have for these sandwiches is a hotly-debated topic.
This is a delicate sandwich, so you want to avoid overly flavored bread or seedy bread.
What kind of cucumber is best?
We recommend English or “mini” cucumbers.
They are always crisp, firm with a thin skin, and easy to cut evenly.
English cucumbers also don’t have chunky seeds that interfere with the texture.
However, we’d also often make this sandwich with traditional cucumbers found in almost every grocery store.
The trick, really, is to cut the cucumbers into thin round slices, not chunks or spears.
Recipe variation ideas
You can dress this sandwich up in many different ways.
Your options are practically endless.
Use our recipe below as a foundation and then experiment from there.
- Add fresh thyme. Remove the sprigs of thyme from the stem and sprinkle it on top of the mayo before you put down the cucumbers. The mayo will help keep the sprigs from falling off of the sandwich.
- Add cream cheese. Replace the mayonnaise with whipped cream cheese for a tangier sandwich option.
- Add radish slices to the sandwich. Radishes have a peppery flavor and will add crunch to the sandwich.
Ingredients
Bread
We love to use the freshest white bread that we can find.
Many people like to use rye bread, and that is tasty as well.
Whichever kind of bread you use, make sure that it’s fresh and soft.
Mayonnaise
There is always a time for low-fat and no-fat mayo, but we love the richness of Duke’s or Hellman’s for this one.
Yes. Go full-on with a rich mayonnaise in this recipe!
Salt
Pinch of table salt. But if you want to be fancy, use fleur de sel, sea salt, pink Himalayan, or a steak seasoning.
We love to use sea salt or pink salt.
We’d even use garlic salt or lemon pepper mix in this recipe.
We love to mix it up but don’t skimp on this touch of salt.
Cucumbers
We prefer to use English cucumbers, but any ol’ cucumber should be perfectly fine.
For regular cucumbers, best to peel it first since the skin is tough on this kind of cuke.
Pepper
We very much prefer cracked pepper over ground pepper on this sandwich.
White pepper is also a nice touch.
Paprika
This is the secret ingredient that makes this sandwich tasty and unique.
Experiment with plain paprika and smoked paprika. (
(We love the smoked paprika.)
Let us know which one you prefer.
How to make cucumber sandwiches
How to make cucumber sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2 slices of white bread
- ½ cucumber
- 2 T mayonnaise
- ½ t salt
- ½ t pepper
- ½ t paprika
Instructions
- Roughly peel the cucumber. You want to remove about 90% of the peel.
- Slice the cucumber into thin round slices.
- Lay the cucumber slices flat on a paper towel and allow them to drain. Allow them to sit for a couple of minutes. Then, gently pat them with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
- Spread mayonnaise on both bread slices.
- Distribute the cucumber slices on top of the mayonnaise evenly.
- Sprinkle the cucumber with salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Cut the slices into fours.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Be sure to wash and dry all fresh produce.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 374Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 1645mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 7g