13 Cooling Cucumber Appetizers

Cool vegan cucumber soup — The Spruce Eats / Emily Hawkes

Transform crisp and crunchy cucumbers into the ultimate fresh bites for summer and year-round parties. From creamy soups to crunchy vegan spring rolls, cute canapes to from-scratch sushi rolls, these are the best cucumber appetizers to serve a crowd.

How to Seed a Cucumber

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Cool Vegan Cucumber Soup

The Spruce/Emily Hawkes

Go beyond gazpacho with a cool, refreshing, flavorful cold cucumber soup. This delicious soup is entirely vegan and vegetarian, using soy milk for its delightfully creamy texture. Make it up to 2 days ahead, and store covered in the fridge. For a fun serving idea, decant into shot glasses , and garnish with crouton crumbles or cucumber dice.
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Cucumber Pineapple Thai Salad

The Spruce/D.Schmidt

Impress your guests with this sweet, and salty Thai-style salad appetizer. It tastes gourmet, but is easy to assemble in minutes. Simply chop all the ingredients, including cucumber, pineapple, red bell pepper, scallions, cilantro, and basil, and toss with roasted peanuts in an out-of-this-world-delicious, garlicky lime-soy dressing.
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Cucumber Cream Cheese Party Sandwiches

The Spruce / Loren Runion

Delicate miniature sandwiches filled with refreshing cucumber slices and tangy cream cheese are ideal when you want a lighter appetizer. Assemble a platter to offer at baby and bridal showers, or kids' tea parties, with this easy recipe that can serve a crowd.
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Japanese Cucumber and Daikon Salad

The Spruce

Japanese cucumber salad is healthy, delicious, and incredibly refreshing. Make it a day ahead, marinating thinly-sliced cucumber and daikon radish in a sweet and simple vinegar and sugar dressing. With its light and crunchy texture, and sweet and sour taste, it's a fabulous palate-opener before big meals.

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Kentucky Benedictine Dip

Diana Rattray

Benedictine dip is a yummy Louisville tradition. Whip up a batch of this party spread easily in your food processor, with cucumber, onion, cream cheese, and simple seasonings. Parsley and dill would also be tasty additions.
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Summer Slaw

Diana Rattray

Cooling, no-mayo summer slaw with chopped cucumber, cabbage, and bell pepper is an essential warm weather salad to know. It makes a great picnic salad, or a tasty topping for fish tacos, grilled sausages, and pulled pork sandwiches at cookouts.
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Israeli Salad

The Spruce

Israel's famous chopped cucumber and tomato salad is a marvellous, Mediterranean-style addition to summer gatherings. Whether you serve it as an appetizer, alongside burgers and dogs, or stuffed into a pita with falafel, your guests will appreciate this simple, iconic version.
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Couscous Salad

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For a fun appetizer presentation at barbecue parties, stuff this healthy, fluffy, bright couscous salad with mint and fresh veggies into cored red bell peppers, and arrange on a platter for guests to help themselves.

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California Rolls

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Wow party guests with homemade California maki (sushi rolls) that look and taste just like the mega-popular Japanese restaurant rolls. Your guests will love these scrumptious avocado, crab, and cucumber bites, and the recipe multiplies easily to serve a crowd. It takes some practice, but once you master the rolling technique, you will be ready to conquer every type of sushi!
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Greek Cucumber Yogurt Dip (Tzatziki)

The Spruce / Julia Estrada

Tzatziki is a creamy, garlicky Greek dip that makes a refreshing summer party nosh with pita bread triangles or bread. It couldn't be easier to whip up in the food processor, with cucumbers, Greek yogurt, and a few other ingredients. Use leftovers as a spread for grilled meat sandwiches.
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Light Vegan Cucumber Noodle Spring Rolls

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Totally vegan, gluten-free, and low in calories, these soft and crunchy cucumber spring rolls with bean thread noodles, scallions, and sprouts make a virtuous appetizer idea. Serve them to your book club, or roll up a batch for bridal shower guests, doubling or tripling the recipe as needed.
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Indian Cucumber Salad (Kachumber)

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

In India, the refreshing trio of raw cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions is known as kachumber. But what makes this appetizer salad unique is its light and zesty dressing of bright, freshly-squeezed lemon juice, salt, and pepper. This summery version adds carrot, radish, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper to the usual mixture, for a colorful, slightly spicier starter.

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Spicy Korean Cucumber Pickles

The Spruce / Andrew Bui

These spicy cucumber pickles are a tasty treat you could expect to find at Korean restaurants, where they are often served as an appetizer with other marinated vegetables. Include them in your crudite platters at parties. You can also layer them on burgers, or use them to dress up a Bloody Mary cocktail.

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