Cucumber Pasta Salad – The Stingy Vegan

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March 21, 2025

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This cucumber pasta salad with ranch dressing is a fresh and tasty side dish, potluck or bbq contribution.

A white bowl of cucumber pasta salad on a wooden board with a fork in the bowl.

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If you need a quick and flavorful dish for your next get together, you can’t go wrong with pasta salad.

This easy pasta salad has just three main ingredients that are the perfect combination of textures and flavors.

Adding a few dried herbs and seasonings to your mayo gives you a quick and easy ranch dressing that’s more interesting that just straight up mayonnaise and sour cream.

The cucumbers

Should you peel cucumbers for a salad?

It’s really your choice if you want to peel your cucumber to make a salad or not.

English cucumbers, the long ones that come wrapped in plastic, have a thin skin that’s easy to eat. You don’t need to peel them.

Field cucumbers or “regular” cucumbers, the ones with the bumpy skin, have a thicker skin than can sometimes taste bitter.

People usually prefer to peel field cucumbers for salads but it’s not obligatory if you don’t feel like it.

A common way to peel cucumbers is in strips alternating skin on and skin off so that some of the skin remains for the texture is adds to the salad (and that’s also where the vitamins are!)

Should you remove seeds from cucumber for salad?

For a fresh vegetable salad that you’re going to be eating right away, it’s not necessary to remove the seeds from a cucumber.

The problem with cucumber seeds is that they contain a lot of water and this water will leach out into your dish as it sits.

Since pasta salads usually call for refrigerating before serving and can sit out for a while, removing the seeds from the cucumbers will prevent the salad from going soggy and watering down the dressing.

A spoon scraping the seeds out of a cucumber.

How to cut cucumber for pasta salad

Cut both ends off the cucumber, then cut it in half in the middle into two pieces.

Slice the pieces in half lengthwise (from the top of the cucumber to the bottom).

Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.

Now cut the cucumber into quarter to half inch slices.

Should I salt cucumbers before making salad?

Salting cucumbers before making salad draws out the juice from the cucumbers.

This helps prevent your salad from getting too watery.

It’s usually recommended to allow salted cucumber to sit for 30 minutes.

Personally, I’m too lazy and impatient for this step so I don’t usually bother salting my cucumbers.

I find that remove the seeds is good enough to prevent excessive amount of juice from watering down my pasta salad.

A small bowl of dill, chives, parsley, garlic powder and onion powder.

The pasta

What pasta should I use for pasta salad?

Listen, there’s no right or wrong answer here; everyone has their favorite pasta shape for pasta salad.

While spaghetti or linguini isn’t really practical, any short pasta shape will work in pasta salad.

Pasta shapes that have lots of nooks and crannies, corkscrew, elbow, tubular or shell shapes will hold on to the dressing better than smooth shapes.

How to cool down pasta for pasta salad

The best way to cool down pasta for pasta salad is to rinse the cooked pasta with cold water.

Without getting too science-y, the starches go through changes while cooking and cooling.

For a pasta salad with the best texture, the correct technique is to cook the pasta past the point of al dente until it’s soft all the way through, then shock the starches back into shape with cold water.

This way you end up with tender yet firm pasta for your salad.

Furthermore, refrigerating pasta salad allows the pasta to soak up too much of the dressing, resulting in bland pasta salad as well as making the pasta too firm.

So it’s better to cool the pasta under cool water, dress it and serve it at room temperature.

Pouring vegan buttermilk into a bowl of herbs, seasonings and vegan mayo.

How to prevent pasta from soaking up dressing?

While most pasta salad recipes call for refrigerating it for several hours, pasta will soak up any liquids surrounding it and result in a rather bland, dry salad.

If you’re not serving the pasta salad right away, use just half the dressing to start with. This will prevent the pasta from sticking together and allow some of the flavors to soak in.

Then, just before serving, stir in the remaining dressing.

This keeps the flavors bold and adds back the moisture that was lost while the pasta was sitting.

Ingredients

This pasta salad calls for just 3 main ingredients, mayo and some herbs and seasonings. It’s cheap and easy to make!

Pasta: I used a small, ridged elbow pasta shape for this recipe. As mentioned above, there isn’t really a right or wrong answer for which pasta shape is best for pasta salad. Use your favorite pasta shape.

Cucumbers: You could use either English or field cucumbers for this cucumber pasta salad. I use field cucumbers because their cheaper. To avoid any bitter aftertaste from the skin, I peel them first.

Red onion: If your red onion has a bite to it, do the trick of soaking it in ice water for about 20 minutes to remove the spiciness.

Mayonnaise: This is a vegan recipe so use your favorite vegan mayo. I use Hellman’s, which is the only brand that is sold where I live.

Milk: Use your choice of unsweetened plant-based milk. I like to use soy milk when making vegan buttermilk because the higher protein content helps it to thicken more than other nut or oat milks.

Vinegar: We make a quick buttermilk with milk and vinegar. I use white wine vinegar but white vinegar or apple cider vinegar also work.

Spices and seasonings: To make an easy ranch dressing you’ll need dill, parsley, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. All the herbs are dried.

A bowl of vegan ranch with a wooden spoon in it.

How to make cucumber pasta salad

This creamy cucumber pasta salad combines crisp cucumber and perfectly cooked pasta with a creamy homemade ranch dressing that’s easy to make and full of flavor.

Make the dressing

Ranch dressing always tastes better when given a bit of time for the flavors to meld.

So start by preparing the dressing and set it aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.

In a measuring cup or bowl combine the vinegar and plant milk. This creates a vegan buttermilk.

Measure out your mayonnaise and add in the herbs and seasonings.

Pour in the vegan buttermilk and mix well to combine.

Refrigerate.

Cook the pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a healthy pinch of salt.

Cook the pasta for the length of time indicated on the package directions.

I find that when making pasta, the package directions usually overcook the pasta past the point of al dente.

That’s terrible for pasta but good for pasta salad!

So cook the pasta past the point of al dente until it’s tender all the way through – about two minutes past al dente.

Drain the pasta into a colander and rinse it under cool water.

Shake it well to remove as much water as possible and transfer it to a large bowl.

Pouring vegan ranch over the chopped cucumber, red onion and pasta in a bowl.

Prep the veggies

While the pasta is cooking you can prepare the vegetables.

Peel and halve the cucumbers. Use a spoon to remove the seeds.

Chop the cucumbers into half to one inch half moons.

Thinly slice half a red onion.

Bring it all together

Combine the pasta, cucumbers, red onion and dressing in a large bowl.

This cucumber pasta salad is best served immediately or within 30 minutes at room temperature.

If you are making this ahead of time, toss the pasta salad with half the dressing to start with. When you’re ready to serve, add the other half of the dressing.

Variations and substitutions

Veggies: There are lots of other veggie options you can add to this salad: cherry tomatoes, corn, bell peppers, kalamata olives etc. If adding watery vegetables like tomatoes, add them immediately before serving so that the salad doesn’t get soggy.

Dressing: Don’t want ranch? Just use mayo. For a lighter dressing, replace some of the mayonnaise with vegan yogurt, ideally thick Greek-style yogurt.

Where’s the protein? Plants have protein, okay? But if you want to add something more substantial, toss in some chickpeas or your favorite vegan chicken substitute product.

FAQs

How long can creamy pasta salad stay out?

Although mayo-based pasta salads are a popular bbq side, they can be a food safety risk. Don’t leave it out for more than 2 hours and keep it out of direct sunlight.

Can I make this gluten free?

Sure, just use gluten-free pasta.

Why is my pasta salad bland?

If you made your pasta salad and refrigerated it for several hours, the pasta has probably soaked up all the dressing and muted the flavors. Try adding half the dressing before refrigerating and then the second half of the dressing just before serving.

An overhead photo of cucumber pasta salad in a white bowl with a fork in it.

Make ahead and storage tips

As I’ve mentioned in the post, pasta salad is actually best served at room temperature within 30 minutes of preparation.

However, if you need to make this ahead of time, only add half the dressing to the salad until you’re ready to serve. Then stir in the other half.

You can cover and store leftover cucumber pasta salad in the fridge.

It will keep for 3 – 4 days without going bad but it will undergo changes as the cucumber releases water and the pasta gets soggy.

Leftover pasta salad isn’t as good as freshly made.

This recipe cannot be successfully frozen.

How to serve cucumber pasta salad

Cucumber pasta salad makes a great side dish for a barbecue or potluck. During the summer try this Spanish pisto, stuffed tomatoes, or black bean burgers.