Keto Thai Cucumber Salad

This Keto Thai Cucumber Salad is a people pleasing side dish for almost any Asian meal.

The Keto diet should mean that you are eating better and not only better for you but better tasting.  Not boring.

Remember cool kids try new things.

Even a newbie cook can make this in a few minutes.

And for those who want quick with their delicious, this recipe is a matter cutting veggies and mixing some stuff up. 

You can make it to go with Keto Fried Rice if you want an easy recipe to go with your dinner.

Or if you want to get fancy how about Coconut Shrimp with Bang-Bang Sauce?

Always remember Keto is supposed to fit in your life and be delicious.

Thai Cucumber Salad Options

With this salad, just like with any Asian salad there varied ways that you can cut your veggies.

In the pictures you see that I cut the cucumbers into chop-stick size chunks.

You could also sliver cut them, kind of like really thin French fries.

Or you could spiralize – make them into cucumber noodles.  It’s fun to eat with chop slicks.

One last way to prepare your cucumber is to use a veggie peeler.  

Once you’re done using it to peel the cukes, just continue and make the whole cucumber into long thinly sliced pieces.

Other Veggies

Cucumbers are great, but this dressing and your imagination will work just as well with zucchini or summer squash.

Just follow the same techniques with different veggies.

You don’t have to use peanuts.

I like peanuts, so we always have them in the pantry.

But cashews or slivered almonds are also quite nice in this salad.

Thai Spice Options

The dressing in this Thai cucumber salad is a great base and super open to modification to your own personal tastes.  

As always I encourage you to use your imagination. 

You know there is a reason that salt and pepper are staple spices – it’s because they taste good

Salt is an essential nutrient which explains salt cravings, but I digress.

Fresh Ginger is ubiquitous in Asian food.

 For this salad, you can chop it or sliver it, or grate it. 

I prefer slivering it because it makes every bit of the salad a little different.  I love the surprise of biting into a piece of ginger.

You could also use dried ginger by adding a small amount to the dressing. 

This would not have the same affect as the fresh ginger.

Dried ginger is not as strong as fresh, and it will blend more with rice vinegar.  If you like ginger it’s a nice flavor, but it’s not the same as fresh.

Fresh Garlic

A couple of cloves of fresh garlic either minced or squished through a garlic press will combine nicely with the rice vinegar and sesame oil.

Same warning with fresh raw garlic as with the ginger.  It can be quite a strong flavor.

Black Pepper (coarse ground)

Black pepper is one of the original Thai spices.

Black pepper originated in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and was introduced to the west first by Greek and Roman traders starting in 1000 BC.

It wasn’t seen anywhere but in Asian cuisine or on the tables of really rich Europeans until the spice trade really picked up in the middle ages.

So if you would like really authentic Asian cucumber salad, use coarse ground black pepper in place of the red pepper flakes which are actually originally from the Americas.

Cashews

Instead of the peanuts, use cashews.  They have a more subtle flavor and a softer texture.

Sesame seeds

You can add sesame seeds to almost any Asian salad.  Just like sesame oil, they have the aroma and flavor of Asia.

The regular blond sesame seeds are great but the lesser known black sesame seeds have a stronger aroma and a little more flavor.

No Soy Sauce in Thai Cucumber Salad

You might think that it is a little weird that a Thai salad does not include soy sauce or amino’s (for the gluten free people).  

Turns out that soy sauce is not as common in Thai food as it is in other Asian cuisines.

Many Thai dipping sauces use sweet soy sauce but it is not used too much in cooking or salads.

If you would like to know more about soy sauce and where and how to use it, check this out.

We provide the nutrition information as a courtesy and we do try to get it right but if it doesn’t look right to you please feel free to do your own calculations.

More Info About Keto