You can find both of these ingredients at your local grocery store and together, they make a delicious cooling snack. You could even try growing your cucumbers in your garden!
Simply mixing them with some sugar and vinegar will give you a snack or a side that promises a punch and cools you down.
Although they are mostly only seen together in a salad, or as part of a pasta salad, serving these two ingredients up on their own could be your new favorite go-to summer food!
In this article, we tell you why they go together and give you some suggestions on how you can serve them up. Let’s jump in.
Cucumbers
Although thought to be a vegetable, cucumbers are a fruit and are high in nutrients. They contain many antioxidants and can even help to treat and prevent a few conditions.
They are low in calories which makes them the perfect snack for weight loss and they even contain a large amount of water, which means they promote hydration and help with weight loss.
Cucumbers contain very important vitamins and minerals and to benefit from these, you should eat cucumbers with the peel left on them.
The antioxidants in cucumbers include flavonoids and tannins and these stop the accumulation of harmful free radicals.
Onions
Onions are also a perfect source of vitamins and minerals and have been shown to promote health in a variety of ways.
They even have medicinal properties that have been recognized in ancient times and they were used to treat ailments such as heart disease, mouth sores, and headaches.
Onions are also low in calories and high in nutrients such as vitamin B and C and loaded with potassium. Eating onions can lower the risk of heart disease by lowering blood pressure and triglyceride levels with inflammation.
Cucumber And Onion Recipes
As we have established, cucumber and onions have plenty of health benefits and because of this, you might be encouraged to eat a few more of them.
However, onions can have a very strong taste on their own, and cucumbers can be bland. So here are a few recipes to help them taste a little better.
Sugar And Vinegar
As we mentioned, you could serve up your cucumbers peeled and sliced, along with your peeled and sliced onion and 1 cup of sugar, and ½ cup of vinegar.
All you have to do is mix up the sugar and vinegar, before pouring it over the cucumbers and onions. If you want to make more of the juice, simply use more sugar. You will need to use twice as much sugar as you do vinegar.
Oil, Sugar, And Vinegar
You could also do this recipe but add vegetable oil. For this recipe, you would need to combine the oil, vinegar, and sugar in a large bowl and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
You can even heat this dressing but ensure you allow it to cool before adding it to the cucumbers and onions.
Add the dressing to the cucumbers and onions and toss to ensure all the cucumbers and onions are covered. You will then need to cover and chill for at least 2 hours. The longer you leave it to chill, the better.
Pickled Cucumbers And Onions
If you decide to completely pickle your cucumbers and onions, this is the recipe you need to follow.
We promise pickled onions and cucumbers are more popular than you think, and you will be left with a lovely crispy, crunchy salad with lots of tang and flavor.
Pickled cucumbers are also great when you have too many cucumbers than you know what to do with as when pickled, their shelf life increases drastically.
To make pickled cucumbers and onion, all you need to do is make a brine of water, sugar, and vinegar-like in the previous recipes, but add in a little lemon juice and some celery seeds.
You could also add some summer squash, bell paper, and cherry tomatoes for some extra volume.
If you’re a fan of spice, you can also add in a sliced jalapeno or ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. You can use a variety of vinegar, depending on what you have in the kitchen.
You could either use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or rice wine vinegar and of course, this applies to the cucumber too.
Cucumbers straight out of the garden are often the best, however, you can also use them from the grocery store.
You can switch between large cucumbers or small pickling cucumbers but if you want fewer seeds, opt for English cucumbers.
To make them, you will need to combine ¾ cup of apple cider vinegar, ¾ cup of rice vinegar, ¾ cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
Heat these in a small saucepan on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Let this cool for around 10 minutes.
Next, you place ½ teaspoon of celery seeds 2 chopped small cucumbers, ½ large Vidalia onion, and ½ large red onion in a large bowl, before pouring over the brine cover this and refrigerate for around 12 hours.
To store your pickled cucumber and onions, you should use a mason jar and when kept refrigerated, they will keep for at least 3 weeks.
When it comes to serving cucumbers and onions, you can serve them up with burgers or hotdogs but they also taste lovely with pulled pork dishes.
Final Thoughts
We hope you have learned all about why cucumbers and onions are so great to eat together in this article and have taken note of some recipes, including how to pickle your cucumbers and onions.
They are both super healthy and nutritious and when combined with sugar and vinegar can make the perfect summer snack or side at any BBQ!
Hi, my name is Brett White, and I have a passion for cooking, and following a raw diet. Eating raw has completely changed how I view food, and has led me down a much healthier and happier path in life over the last three years.
Through Addicted To Veggies, I want to share with you my favorite raw recipes. From brownie recipes, to recipes containing pumpkin, my site is full of delicious and wonderful options to consider.
