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These cucumber sandwiches are perfect for a hot summer’s day or a tea party any time of the year! Freshly sliced cucumbers and a herb and garlic cream cheese filling are sandwiched between crustless white bread for the perfect snack or light lunch!
For more great sandwich recipes, why not try a Classic Tuna Melt Sandwich or a Meatball Sub instead?
Cucumber Sandwiches
Cucumber sandwiches are a summer picnic tradition, along with a cool glass of lemonade and freshly cut strawberries. The combination of refreshing cucumber and tangy cream cheese work perfectly together, sandwiched between two thick white slices of bread, and cannot help but conjure the feeling of summer.
No one wants to spend hours in a hot kitchen preparing a picnic when they could instead be out enjoying the sun. One of the great things about a cucumber sandwich is that they are super easy to make. This is part of the reason they have become known as a must-have item at any summer picnic.
Making a tasty cucumber sandwich can be achieved in less than ten minutes with just a few day’s steps.
Cucumber Sandwiches Ingredients
Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts, as there are a few fiddly ingredients here.
• English cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
• White bread, crusts removed
Cream Cheese Filling
• Cream cheese
• Mayonnaise
• Minced fresh dill
• Minced chives or green onions
• Lemon juice
• Garlic powder
• Worcestershire sauce
• Salt & pepper
How To Make Cucumber Sandwiches
• Place the prepared cucumber slices between paper towels to drain
• Combine the cream cheese and mayo until smooth using a hand mixer. The softer, the better!
• Stir in the dill, chives, lemon juice, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper, adjusting as desired
• Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on one side of each bread slice
- Top with a layer of sliced cucumbers and then top with the other slice of bread
- Press gently, slice into 4 triangles or squares, or cut them in half for lunch.
• Don’t leave this out for longer than 2 hours, or it might get soggy!
How To Slice Your Cucumbers Properly for This Recipe
The texture of cucumber sandwiches is almost as important as the taste. It is, therefore, worth taking those few extra minutes to make sure that your cucumber slices are perfectly cut.
The most traditional way to cut cucumbers for a sandwich is into thin rings. This method makes it easy to cover the entire surface of the bread with cucumber without getting annoying clumps of overlapping cucumber.
In order to achieve perfectly thin rings, place a whole cucumber onto a chopping board and grab a sharp chef’s knife. If you do not have a chef’s knife on hand, don’t worry. Most straight-edged sharp knives should work just fine.
Place your fingers on top of the cucumber and ensure a good grip. Fold your fingers over slightly to avoid the chances of cutting yourself should your knife slip. Once you are happy with the grip, cut the end of the cucumber and discard it, as this will not sit right within the sandwich.
Start cutting thin slices, no more than a few millimeters, by moving the knife forward and through the cucumber. Don’t worry if the first few slices are not perfect and appear too thick. As you work along with the cucumber, your confidence will grow, and you will find yourself slicing through a whole cucumber in just a few minutes.
Alternatively, some people prefer thin shreds of cucumber in their sandwiches. This is easy to achieve by taking your cucumber rings and further cutting them first horizontally and then vertically. Flake the pieces apart, and you will be left with thin cucumber shards ready to be mixed into your cream cheese.
How To Pack Cucumber Sandwiches for a Picnic
Despite being such a loved picnic food, cucumber sandwiches do not hold up well when left for several hours before eating. This can be problematic when heading out for a day in the sun with a picnic that won’t be eaten straight away.
Luckily some clever packing skills can help to lengthen the life of your cucumber sandwiches so that they can be enjoyed even after a few hours in the picnic basket.
After cutting your sandwiches into picnic-ready triangles, grab some parchment paper to place them between. Using parchment paper to layer your sandwich prevents them from becoming stuck together, and the water from the cucumbers soaking through the sandwich is stored below it.
Once all of your sandwich triangles are safely wrapped in their individual pieces of parchment paper, you can stack them together, ready to be wrapped in a sheet of tinfoil. The foil helps the bread to keep its shape and stops them from falling apart in the picnic basket. The tinfoil also doubles as a handy plate at the picnic making it super easy to clean up after eating.
Looking for more delicious sandwich recipes? Try these out:
• The Ultimate Clubhouse Sandwich
• Classic Toasted Tomato Sandwich
Enjoy!
Love,
Karlynn
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Cucumber Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 1 large English cucumber peeled and thinly sliced
- 12 slices white bread crusts removed
Cream Cheese Filling
- one 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
- 2 tablespoons finely minced chives or green onions
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 dash Worcestershire sauce to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the prepared cucumber slices between paper towels to drain while you prepare the filling.
- With a hand mixer, combine the cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. The softer you have the cream cheese the less likely you are to have lumps!
- Stir in the dill, chives, lemon juice, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Adjust the seasonings to taste as desired,
- Take two slices of bread and spread cream cheese mixture evenly on one side of each bread slice.
- Place a layer of the sliced cucumbers on top of the cream cheese on one slice of bread.
- Place the other slice on top, cream cheese side in and on the cucumbers.
- Press gently, then slice into 4 triangles or squares for tea, or slice in half for lunch.
- These will last for 2-3 hours covered in the fridge but will get soggy.
Notes
- The filling will keep in the refrigerator covered for up to 3 days if you want to split it up.
- This makes 6 whole sandwiches, or 24 mini, depending on how you cut them.
- You can also cheat and just use herb and garlic whipped cream cheese for the filling!
Bunny Peters says
My family loves these sandwiches. We also make a carrot and crystal ginger version that we serve with these sandwiches. They are all perfect for game watching parties, appetizers, picnics……..
My mom had this really neat kitchen gadget (that sadly, grew feet & walked out of her kitchen)…… it would slice cucumbers and carrots and radishes to whatever thickness you needed (& they would be “even” so the sandwiches were very “aesthetic”)……
I have asked about it at several local cooking stores, described the tool (& been given looks like I am absolutely crazy)…….. if I knew the name of this kitchen tool, I would have replaced it a long time ago……. Any ideas on what this tool is? I would really like to replace the original tool that “grew feet”…….. I hope I can find out and buy a new kitchen tool.
goody says
You can buy vegan cream cheese, check the vegan section, or ask someone at the store for help.
Bob Johnson says
Is there something that can replace the cream cheese in this? My wife has crones, can’t eat cheese and loves cucumbers.