Cooling Cucumber Salad Sandwiches Recipe

Cucumbers, unless they're in their more flamboyant pickled form, are an often-overlooked vegetable. They may be a salad standby, but did you know they can also be used as a sandwich filling? Developer Feta Topalu describes the sandwiches in her recipe as "a refreshing twist of a creamy cucumber salad and a classic sandwich."

Topalu's recipe does not resemble the cucumber-pepper salad that went viral on TikTok, nor is it anything like the Chinese-inspired cucumber salad Andrew Zimmern makes. Instead, this salad consists of sliced cucumbers mixed into a cream cheese-mayonnaise base that is then used as a sandwich spread. 

Topalu tells us the sandwiches are "easy to put together and assemble [with] no cooking required" and, as such, feels they are "a perfect treat for warm days" since you won't need to heat up the kitchen to prepare them. Topalu not only cuts the crusts off her sandwiches to make them extra-fancy, but she also garnishes them with additional sliced cucumbers, a cute touch that serves the purpose of letting everyone know what's inside them.

The sandwiches are made from sliced white bread with a filling of cucumbers mixed with cream cheese and mayonnaise. Garlic, chives, dill, lemon juice, and salt add additional seasoning and flavor to the cucumber salad.

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, chives, dill, and lemon juice. Mix until well-combined and season with salt.

Set aside 8 slices of cucumber and fold the remaining into the cream cheese mixture.

Arrange the bread slices on a clean work surface or cutting board.

Spoon the cucumber salad, approximately 2 tablespoons, evenly onto half of the bread slices. Top with the other bread slice.

Gently press down and cut in half. Top each sandwich half with a cucumber slice and a sprig of dill.

Arrange on a serving plate and serve immediately.

Topalu makes her cucumber salad with unpeeled English cucumbers. She explains these have a thinner peel than that of American slicing cucumbers, the standard found in many supermarket produce sections. "The skin is not as noticeable in the sandwiches," Topalu says. Although you can certainly go ahead and peel the cucumbers if you don't care for having any skin at all.

If you do use an American slicing cucumber, however, Topalu says "I highly recommend peeling the dark, thick skin before using in the recipe." You might also need to scrape away the seeds if you don't want them in your salad. Persian cucumbers are another option. Like English cucumbers, they are thin-skinned and do not have many seeds, so there's no need to do anything but slice them. They're smaller, though, so you'll probably need to use two.

"These sandwiches are ideal for picnics, tea parties, brunches, or a light lunch," Topalu says. She suggests pairing the cucumber sandwiches with a side of fruit or chips and recommends iced tea as a beverage pairing. If you'll be packing them in a lunchbox or to take along for a picnic, though, you'll need to keep in mind that they won't be quite so cooling if left at room temperature for a long time. For this reason, it's best to keep them chilled with an ice pack. 

These cucumber salad sandwiches would be at their most elegant as part of an afternoon tea party. (Not high tea, as that's an entirely different meal and not one where dainty sandwiches tend to be on the menu.) In this case, you could serve them alongside scones and jam, tea cakes, petit fours, and, of course, a pot of tea — hot, not iced.