Simple, bright, and refreshing, this recipe for cucumber tomato salad is a great low-carb option and is full of flavor thanks to the bacon in it!
You can definitely make your own Ranch dressing for this recipe. If you need another great salad, my Creamy Bacon Cauliflower Salad is another tasty low carb option!
Cucumber Tomato Salad
Salads are not just a tasty side dish to serve with the main meal but can be highly delicious things in their own right. This simple low-carb salad combines the juiciness of tomatoes with the refreshing coolness of cucumbers to make something truly delicious.
Plus, a massive amount of bacon and bacon fat mixed with ranch dressing certainly helps as well.
Cucumber Tomato Salad Ingredients
Don’t forget to look at the recipe card at the very bottom of the page for the exact ingredients needed here.
- Thick-cut bacon slices
- Bacon drippings
- Ranch dressing
- Sliced cherry tomatoes
- English cucumbers
How To Make Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Put the tomatoes and cucumbers into a large bowl
- Mix together the bacon, bacon fat, and the ranch dressing until thoroughly combined
- Pour the mixture over the cucumber and tomatoes and gently mixed
- Taste and season as desired
How Much Should You Season Your Cucumber Tomato Salad?
A lot of recipes call for you to “taste and season as you want” without a great deal of actual explanation of what that means.
In this recipe, you want the salt level to be definitely a little bit high, as any good dish with bacon needs to be reasonably salty. However, depending on the type of bacon you have chosen, you might find that this salad doesn’t need any seasoning at all, mainly because you include the bacon fat mixed into the salad.
The best way to test the saltiness is to take one of the tomato slices, shake it slightly free of any extra dressing and then taste it. It should be salty, but not overpoweringly so. Tomatoes and cucumbers really do need salt to become delicious, so don’t feel bad about adding in a few sprinkles if you think it needs it.
What Kind Of Bacon Should You Use?
Bacon is not always the exact same thing everywhere; a recipe calling or bacon might be expecting you to use a very different type of bacon than you usually buy.
The best bacon for this recipe is thick-sliced fatty bacon, the kind that you would typically get at an excellent butcher, but you can now get in most stores. The fat cooks out well and leaves you with the most delicious bacon pieces around!
Don’t go for Canadian bacon, which is really a lot closer to ham, or traditional British back bacon, which is its own thing entirely – stick to the fatty, salty, good stuff that crumbles easily when cooked, and you should be good.
Looking for more delicious salad recipes? Try these out:
Enjoy! Low carb or not, this is a delicious salad for the Ranch and bacon lovers, and one that is a crowd-pleaser for sure! It’s also a great way to use up cucumbers and tomatoes that you have hanging around.
Love,
Karlynn
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Cucumber Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 5 slices thick-cut bacon cooked and diced
- 1-2 teaspoons bacon drippings reserved from cooking bacon (if desired)
- 1 cup Ranch Dressing low fat is ok
- one pint cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 2 large English cucumbers diced
Instructions
- Place the prepared tomatoes and cucumbers in a large bowl.
- Mix the bacon drippings and ranch with the crumbled bacon until thoroughly combined, then pour over the tomatoes and cucumbers. Mix gently until the dressing and ingredients are all combined.
- Taste and add salt and pepper if desired. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- the bacon drippings are for extra flavor if desired. You can leave them out if you want.
Charlene says
Love everything with bacon, tomato and cucumber. This was quick and simple to throw together. A great alternative to having a tossed salad. I love the flavor of English cucumbers. Just for our preference, I’ll probably cut the ranch dressing amount next time.
Wendy says
Delish and it hasn’t even chilled for the hour yet. Very fresh and everything is better with bacon!
Joanne Hooff says
This is a simple and delicious way to use the bountiful summer tomato/ cucumber crop. I didn’t have ranch dressing so subbed out for blue cheese. I think any dressing would be great!
Debby says
It is also good made with mayonnaise instead of Ranch dressing! (If you don’t have ranch on hand)
Jessika Asman says
Thank you! Delicious and easy. My pup wants me to make it often because I give him a couple of slices of bacon in his dog food lol.
Denise says
This is an easy and delicious salad. 😋
Marilyn says
Can you add avocado to this recipe?
Joyce Sudlow says
I made this for our family reunion. It was the first time we were together physically since covid hit. I have to tell you this was a great hit among the family. Most of the food is potato salad mac n cheese. I like looking for vegetable recipes that sound good. One cousin was amazed it was just ranch. She thought it was a complicated dressing. Thanks for sharing this recipe
Julie says
In the ingredients, it calls for ranch dressing. In the instructions, it says mayonnaise. Which is correct?
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Ranch is correct, recipe fixed. Thanks
Rob says
In the ingredients, it calls for ranch dressing. In the instructions, it says mayonnaise. Which is correct?