Polish Cucumber Salad

5 from 1 vote

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The most iconic and delicious 🥒 Polish Cucumber Salad is this creamy Mizeria salad. The word “mizeria” in Bulgarian means “misery” but this salad is the opposite of that. This salad is so creamy and refreshing and very similar to this Cucumber Salad. Mizeria is a salad that originated in Poland and consists of thinly sliced or grated cucumbers, often with sweet sour cream or kefir, and in some cases oil. Other possible ingredients you can use here include onions, sweet peppers, lemon juice, dill, chives, mint or parsley. I hope you give this recipe a try and I hope I made all my Polish friends proud with it. 🌿

Why You’ll Love Polish Cucumber Salad

This is hands down one of my favourite salads 🥗 and I know it will become one of yours, too! It’s so simple to prepare, literally takes minutes to make and comes together with just a few ingredients that you probably already have on hand. It’s a wonderfully fresh side dish that’s great for family BBQs or to bring along for a potluck.

How to Prepare Polish Cucumber Salad

💦 First, wash one large cucumber and pat it dry.

🔪 Now, slice the cucumber into super thin slices. You can use a sharp knife like I did or a mandolin. The thinner, the better.

🥣 Next, in a separate bowl, mix the sour cream together with the salt, chives, dill and vinegar.

🥒 Finally, toss in the cucumbers and enjoy!

Nonna’s Tip

Remember, the thinner the better when it comes to slicing up the cucumber for this Polish Cucumber Salad! You can use a sharp knife like I did, or a mandolin would work great to get super thin slices.

Polish Cucumber Salad

Variations and Substitutions for Polish Cucumber Salad

  1. Instead of sour cream, you can make this salad with yogurt or try a 50/50 mix of yogurt and sour cream to lighten it up.
  2. If you’re dairy-free, you could absolutely try a thick, dairy-free yogurt or sour cream here instead.
  3. To balance the flavours here, try adding in some cracked black pepper or even a traditional pinch of sugar.
  4. Instead of dill, you can also use parsley, or mint.
  5. If you don’t have chives, finely sliced green onions will also work.

More Cucumber Recipes

Best Served With

  • You can enjoy this salad on the side of any main dish or 🍗 grilled meats like my Chicken Souvlaki Skewers.
  • Serve this salad with a totally Polish meal featuring grilled sausages and a Borscht soup.
  • Go completely vegetarian and serve this with 🍤 Grilled Shrimp Skewers or my Best Grilled Salmon Skewers.

Common Questions

What’s The best way to slice the cucumber?

Remember, the thinner the better when it comes to slicing up the cucumber for this Polish Cucumber Salad! You can use a sharp knife like I did, or a mandolin would work great to get super thin slices. You could even make this with grated cucumber. Overall, take your time, this should be therapeutic.

how can i make this recipe dairy-free?

You can definitely make this dairy-free by swapping the sour cream for your favourite thick and creamy dairy-free yogurt or dairy-free sour cream.

What type of vinegar works best for a polish cucumber salad?

I usually use red wine vinegar here, but you could absolutely use another acid. Instead, try a splash of white vinegar, white wine vinegar or even lemon juice.

What other herbs work in this salad?

Dill and chives are traditional, but you could use certainly use parsley, mint or green onion instead.

Can i use any seasonings in this polish cucumber salad?

Since this salad is so simple, a good quality salt really shines. Everyone here knows I use Redmond Real Salt in all my cooking and I also sometimes add a pinch of cracked black pepper in this salad as well.

What other vegetables can be used?

You can absolutely toss in thinly sliced bell peppers, or red onion which would also add great colour to the Polish Cucumber Salad.

Polish Cucumber Salad

Polish Cucumber Salad

Also known as Mizeria, this is a Polish salad that features thinly sliced or grated cucumbers tossed with sweet sour cream or kefir. It's fresh and cool, perfect for summer.
5 from 1 vote
Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: Polish
Servings: 2
Author: The Modern Nonna
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 1 cucumber , sliced very thin, or use a mandolin
  • cup sour cream, or as much as you like
  • ¼ teaspoon salt , more or less to taste
  • 1 tablespoons chives, finely chopped, more or less to taste
  • 1 tablespoon dill, fresh, more or less to taste
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar, I used red wine vinegar but you can use any

Instructions 

  • Wash one large cucumber, pat it dry and cut it into thin slices. You can use a sharp knife like I did or a mandolin. The thinner, the better.
  • In a separate bowl mix the sour cream with the rest of the ingredients.
  • Toss in the cucumbers and enjoy.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 96kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 23mg, Sodium: 306mg, Potassium: 258mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 428IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 62mg, Iron: 0.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: Polish
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Hi! I'm Sneji. Nice to meet you!

I am more commonly known as “The Modern Nonna” on social media where I create easy home cooked meals with a modern twist. I was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria and learned how to cook at the best culinary school in the world – my grandma’s kitchen. I lived in Greece on the Island of Crete with my parents for a while and then moved to Toronto, Canada when I was in grade 5. I started to really cook and experiment with food 11 years ago when I was 21 years old. Everything I currently know is a reflection of some part of my life…

Keep up to date with me on social media! Follow @themodernnonna

5 from 1 vote

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