Name: Thai Cucumber Grapefruit Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 cups grapefruit segment chunks (with 3 tablespoons juice reserved); 2 cups cucumber (seeded and chopped); 2/3 cup chopped red onion; 1/3 cup chopped cilantro; 1/3 cup green onions (whites and greens chopped); 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil; 1 teaspoon fish sauce (*); 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon honey; ½ teaspoons dried red pepper flakes

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My Thai Cucumber Grapefruit Salad is a crunchy and crazy-tasty way to bring color to your winter dinner – and add a welcomed punch of vitamin C. I love citrus season and coming up with new ways to use all the different varieties –like lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines and, today, grapefruit in a citrus salad!

Read on to get all the juicy details on this 15-minute recipe inspired by the tastes of Thailand.

Cucumber salad is a pretty popular dish in Thai cooking, don’t know if they put grapefruit in it – that was just my ah-ha moment. But, most of the Thai cucumber salad variations I have seen have a dressing based in lime juice, so I figured a sweet-tart grapefruit would work too!

The cucumbers add a satisfying crunch and it’s best to use English cucumbers, they have a thinner skin and much smaller seeds. Even though they have small seeds, they are also often referred to as seedless cucumbers or hothouse cucumbers. If you are eating your salad STAT, you don’t need to scrape out the small channel of seeds you see when you slice the cuke in half. However, if making the cucumber grapefruit salad ahead of time, remove these seeds with a spoon to prevent a watery salad.

The dressing that pulls the Thai Grapefruit Cucumber Salad ingredients together is tang, salty, sweet and just a bit spicy. You will see in the instructions that it calls for just a bit of fish sauce – if this seems strange or yucko for a grapefruit salad, it’s not. Fish sauce (made from the first pressing of salted anchovies) is a common ingredient in Thai cooking and imparts a magical umami taste to the ingredients it meets. It’s a must. However, if you are a vegetarian, there are some kinda complicated sounding recipes for vegan fish sauce (google it) or you can find a seaweed-based bottled vegan “fish” sauce at various markets or Amazon.

Because I don’t use soy sauce, this remains a gluten-free recipe. Also, if you don’t have a nut allergy, this cucumber Thai salad is amazing sprinkled with crushed cashews or peanuts . . . and also served right up in the grapefruit skin!

Thai Cucumber Grapefruit Salad – color and crunch you’ll crave this citrus season!

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What is your favorite citrus? Are you into cucumber salads or Thai salads? Fish sauce or no fish sauce? Please share in the comments – XOXO, Jennifer

Thai Cucumber Grapefruit Salad

Prep Time

15 mins

Total Time

15 mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: thai

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups grapefruit segment chunks with 3 tablespoons juice reserved
2 cups cucumber seeded and chopped
2/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup green onions whites and greens chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce *
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoons dried red pepper flakes

Instructions

In large bowl, add grapefruit, cucumber, red onion, green onion, and cilantro.
In small jar, shake together reserved grapefruit juice, olive oil, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, honey and. red pepper flakes.
Pour dressing over salad ingredients and stir to combine. Keep chilled until serving.

Recipe Notes

*vegans may substitute a seaweed based "fish" sauce or soy sauce

21 thoughts on “Thai Cucumber Grapefruit Salad”

I love using grapefruit in salads. The extra tang is always amazing. This looks delicious. I am in the no-fish sauce group, though I never knew that there was a vegan version. Nice to know!

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