Cucumber and tomato salad with spicy dressing

Spicy Tomato Salad

When you do a summer barbecue that is full of meaty stuff, all you want on the side is a cooling salad. Something that gives freshness after your heavy delicious barbecue. 

So this spicy tomato salad is a perfect choice for that. 

With tomatoes, cucumber, and pineapple as the main ingredients, this salad offers simplicity but a satisfying taste. 

Its tangy dressing uses a dash of chili sauce that gives the salad a kick of spiciness.

Unlike many other salad recipes alike, this cucumber tomato salad recipe I’m sharing here doesn’t use onions of any kind. It only uses fruits. 

Therefore the salad has a fruity smell. 

The salad goes very well with any meaty dishes such as chicken kebab patties or lamb burger kebab. But really, you can pair this crunchy cucumber tomato salad with pretty much any food you like.

Why I like this tomato cucumber salad

I love making this salad because everybody in my household can enjoy it.

I have two boys who are not very keen on raw onions. Not yet. I admittedly despised raw onions myself when I was their age. So I can understand why my sons try their best to stay away from any type of raw onions.

Therefore, I very rarely put raw onions in a salad as I prefer the whole family can enjoy the food that I make.

So, when my mom shared her recipe for this tomato and cucumber salad, I was so chuffed. 

On top of that, the dressing has chili sauce in it. Super. Because we all like a bit of heat in our food. 

Food to serve with spicy tomato cucumber salad

The salad goes very well with barbecue food such as ground chicken kebab, lamb burger kebab, chicken seekh kebab, or chicken tikka. 

But really, you can pair this crunchy cucumber tomato salad with pretty much any food you like.

Luscious curries like aloo gosht, chicken karahi, lamb kofta curry, or chicken achari will be good too. 

However, my mom used to serve this hot tomato salad with dishes like Ayam Suwir (shredded chicken), Ayam Kecap (chicken soy sauce), or Sop Buntut (oxtail soup).

Main ingredients for spicy cucumber tomato salad

Discounting sugar and salt, there are seven items that you need to make this spicy tomato salad. 

Those main ingredients are tomatoes, cucumber, apples, pineapple, chili sauce, lime juice, and tomato ketchup.

The reason I don’t include sugar and salt as our key items is that you may find that you don’t need it. Because some chili sauce and tomato ketchup are quite high in sugar and salt you don’t need extra addition.

In theory, you can use any kind of tomato. But I personally prefer cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes. 

And for this recipe, I bought a packed mix of cherry, plum, and baby tomatoes that came in different colors. This color variety makes the salad looks more appetizing. 

You can use regular salad tomatoes or even big ones such as beef tomatoes. But you need to deseed the tomatoes before you cut them into small pieces. Otherwise, your salad will be too watery and runny. 

As for cucumber, deseed it before you cut it into small pieces. So your salad will be nicely crispy and not watery. 

Choose any crispy apple that you love. I personally prefer Granny Smith. This green apple is crunchy and slightly tangy. And just fresh.

All kinds of pineapple are good for this salad.

Although you can use any chili sauce that you like, I’d say try to stick to either Indonesian chili sauce or Thai sriracha sauce. 

Because these two chili sauces are very similar. 

I must admit that the original recipe from my mom uses white vinegar. But I swap it with lime juice for a more refreshing flavor.

If you don’t have lime juice, you can use lemon juice too. 

How to make cucumber tomato salad

Just cut the fruits in a similar size. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, then pour it and mix it with the fruits. 

It’s as simple as that. It should take 10-15 minutes to prepare and make this tomato salad recipe. 

How long can we prepare the salad in advance?

Just like any salad, this one tastes better when you make it and serve it fresh.

However, a few times I made the salad the night before and found it still tasted nice the following day. Even though the salad had been in the refrigerator overnight.

But I did notice that the fruits were not as crispy as the day before. 

So, if you’re planning to serve the salad the next day and thinking that you may not have enough time to make it from scratch on a serving day, I suggest you prep the day before. Cut all the fruits and store them separately in individual food containers. You can also make the dressing and keep it in a jar.

Then on the following day, when you need to serve the salad, you can just mix everything in a big bowl, and serve.

Sorted.

More salad recipes

Thank you for reading this spicy tomato salad recipe. Hope you’re now wanting to try it out. 

When you do, I’d love you to share what you think about it in the comments below. I really appreciate it 

And before you go, don’t forget to check out my other Indonesian salad recipes that you’ll equally like.

• Gado-gado Jakarta: Indonesian salad with peanut sauce dressing.
• Ketoprak Jakarta: vermicelli and beansprout salad with garlicky spicy peanut sauce.
• Asinan Jakarta: crispy salad with tamarind and spicy peanut dressing.
• Rujak Serut: sweet potato slaw with spicy tamarind dressing.

Thank you and all the best.