How thin should you slice cucumbers for salad? About 1.5-3 mm, roughly 1/8 inch, on a mandoline. Recipe developers land in the same range: Korean Bapsang slices oi muchim “1/8 to 1/4-inch thick,” and Kimchimari spells out “around 1/8 inch (3 mm).” That one setting makes the salad. Cut too thick and the dressing sits on top. Slice unevenly by hand and you get some soggy pieces next to bland ones. A mandoline set near 2 mm makes every slice the same, so the vinegar, sesame, and garlic reach the center of each one. Love and Lemons reaches for one for exactly this reason: it “yields uniform, paper-thin slices.”
This salad takes 10 minutes start to finish. Serve it alongside grilled fish, chicken, or anything off the barbecue. A fresh, non-pickled version keeps a few days in the fridge.
How thin should you slice cucumbers for salad?
Aim for 1.5-3 mm (about 1/8 inch). That target lines up with how recipe authors describe their own slices. Korean Bapsang calls for 1/8 to 1/4 inch; Kimchimari equates 1/8 inch to 3 mm; Love and Lemons reaches for a mandoline to get “uniform, paper-thin slices.” Thin slices around 1.5-2 mm turn tender, curl a little, and take up dressing in minutes, which suits a marinated, Asian-style salad. Slices at 2.5-3 mm keep more crunch and bite, better for a chunkier dill-and-vinegar style. The table below maps each setting to the texture you get.
Mandoline thickness guide for cucumbers
| Slice thickness | Approx. inches | Texture | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 mm | ~1/16 in | Paper-thin, curls, very tender | Quick-marinated Asian-style salad, soaks dressing in minutes |
| 2 mm | ~1/12 in | Thin, tender, slight bend | Everyday cucumber salad (the setting in this recipe) |
| 3 mm | ~1/8 in | Crisp with noticeable crunch | Dill-and-vinegar or Greek-style salad |
| 4 mm+ | ~3/16 in | Thick, very crunchy | Cucumber “chips,” dipping, snacking |
For most home cucumber salads, the 1.5-3 mm range hits the sweet spot: thin enough to absorb dressing, thick enough to keep some bite. The 1/8-inch end of that range is the figure Kimchimari and Korean Bapsang both name.
What recipe sources say about cut and salt
Cucumber salad splits into two camps: thin slices for marinated styles, and bashed or chunked pieces for smashed styles. Either way, the salt step does the real work. It pulls water out before the dressing goes on, so the dressing stays a dressing instead of turning into soup. The table below collects the cut size and salting time each source actually published, so you can match a method to the texture you want.
| Recipe style | Cut size | Salt / rest time | Keeps in fridge | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Korean oi muchim (sliced) | 1/8 to 1/4 inch | not specified | a few days, served cold | Korean Bapsang; Kimchimari |
| Korean oi muchim (thin) | ~1/8 inch (3 mm) | not specified | a few days | Kimchimari |
| Fresh mandoline salad | paper-thin, uniform | 20 min, then drain off water | up to 3 days, best same day | Love and Lemons |
| NYT-style (soy, ginger, garlic) | thinly sliced | 15 min in a colander, rinse, dry | not specified | NYT Cooking via iDigThis |
| Smashed cucumber | ~1 inch (2.5 cm) chunks | 20 min to draw out liquid | not specified | RecipeTin Eats |
| Spicy Asian (dressed) | ~1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces | 30 min to draw out water | ~24 hours before too soft | RecipeTin Eats |
Note: the salting times above are for thicker cuts. This recipe uses a quick 5-minute salt because thin mandoline slices shed water faster than 1-inch chunks. Treat 5 minutes as a floor for paper-thin slices and the 15 to 30 minute window as the range for chunkier cuts.
What you’ll need
- Tool: Cambom Mandoline Slicer, straight slicing blade, set to about 2 mm
- Always use the finger guard when you work with the mandoline. The blade is extremely sharp.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large English cucumbers
- 1 tsp salt (for drawing out moisture)
- 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar (or honey)
- 1 clove garlic, minced fine
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- Fresh dill or mint (optional)
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Set up your mandoline slicer with the slicing blade at about 2 mm. Place the catch container underneath to collect the slices.
- Using the finger guard, slice both cucumbers into the container. Keep a steady pace and you’ll go through both cucumbers in about 60 seconds.
- Transfer the cucumber slices to a colander. Toss with 1 tsp salt, then let them sit for 5 minutes. This draws out excess moisture so the dressing doesn’t get watered down.
- While the cucumbers drain, whisk together the rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, and soy sauce in a large bowl.
- Pat the cucumber slices dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel.
- Add the cucumbers to the dressing bowl and toss well to coat every slice.
- Taste and adjust the dressing: more vinegar for brightness, more sesame oil for richness, more sugar to balance.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and fresh dill. Serve right away, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Tool note
We used the Cambom Mandoline Slicer on the straight slicing blade at about 2 mm. The uniform thickness is what makes this salad work, since every slice absorbs the dressing at the same rate. This is the same reasoning Love and Lemons gives for slicing cucumber salad on a mandoline: it “yields uniform, paper-thin slices.” The mandoline ships with 6 replaceable stainless-steel blades (2 slicing, 2 shredding, plus julienne and wave) and a 2 L catch container, so the slices fall straight in as you work. Use the finger guard here. The blade is extremely sharp.
Do you have to salt the cucumbers first?
For a crisp salad that doesn’t turn watery, yes. Salt pulls water out of the slices before they ever meet the dressing. Love and Lemons puts it plainly: the salt “will also cause them to release a lot of water,” and after a 20-minute rest you “transfer the salad to another bowl or serving dish, leaving the water behind.” RecipeTin Eats salts smashed cucumbers for 20 minutes “to draw excess liquid out,” and salts an Asian-style version for 30 minutes “to draw out water.” An NYT Cooking-style recipe salts thin slices in a colander for 15 minutes, then rinses and dries them on a towel.
This recipe uses a quick 5-minute salt because thin mandoline slices at 2 mm shed water much faster than the 1-inch chunks those smashed recipes call for. If you cut thicker than 3 mm, lean toward the longer 15 to 20 minute rest. No source I could read measured exactly how many grams of water salting removes, so treat these times as recipe-tested guidance, not a lab figure.
Which mandoline blade should you use for cucumbers?
Use the straight slicing blade, not the julienne or wave blade, set to about 2 mm. That gives you the round, even discs a cucumber salad wants. For matchstick cucumbers (for a slaw or a noodle-style salad), swap to the julienne blade. The Cambom set includes both, plus a wave blade for crinkle-cut and shredding blades for other vegetables, so you don’t need a separate tool.
How long does cucumber salad last in the fridge?
A fresh, non-pickled cucumber salad keeps for a few days in an airtight container in the fridge, and it tastes best early. Love and Lemons says theirs “is best on the day it’s made” but keeps “up to 3 days” in an airtight container. Kimchimari says a Korean oi muchim “can refrigerate for few days and can be served cold.” A fully dressed Asian-style salad fades faster: RecipeTin Eats finds leftovers “good for 24 hours, after this the cucumbers go a little too soft.” Cucumbers keep releasing water, so the dressing dilutes and the slices soften over time. The salting step helps, but for the crispest result, dress the salad close to serving.
(Pickled or quick-pickled cucumber salads with a vinegar brine last longer, since the brine itself preserves them, but that’s a different style from this fresh salad.)
How to keep it crisp
| Step | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Salt and drain | Pulls out water so the dressing doesn’t turn watery (Love and Lemons drains off the released water entirely) |
| Pat slices dry | Removes surface moisture before dressing |
| Store airtight, cold | Slows softening; serve straight from the fridge |
| Dress just before serving (if making ahead) | Keeps slices crisp instead of limp; dressed Asian-style salad softens within ~24 hours per RecipeTin Eats |
Tips for the best result
Salt the cucumbers. This step is quick and earns it. Skip it and the cucumbers weep into the dressing, since Love and Lemons notes the salt keeps drawing water out as the salad sits.
Serve cold. This salad tastes best straight from the fridge. Kimchimari serves oi muchim cold. Toss it with dressing right before serving if you’re making it ahead.
Adjust the thickness. A 2 mm cut gives thin, tender slices that curl a little. For more crunch, bump up to 3 mm, the 1/8-inch end of the range Korean Bapsang and Kimchimari both name. Pick the texture you want.
English cucumbers work best. They have thinner skin, fewer seeds, and less water than regular cucumbers. You can peel them or leave the skin on.
Variations
- Korean-style: Add 1 tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) and a splash of fish sauce in place of the soy sauce
- Greek-style: Swap rice vinegar for red wine vinegar, skip the sesame, add oregano and crumbled feta
- Smashed-style: Bash whole cucumbers until they split, then cut into ~1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks the way RecipeTin Eats does, salt 20 minutes, and skip the mandoline
- Simple: Rice vinegar, salt, and dill. The restrained version often wins.
How We Sourced These Numbers
Every slice thickness, salting time, and shelf-life figure in this post comes from a published recipe, linked below, with what it actually specified and the honest limits. These are recipe-author guidance, not peer-reviewed food-science tests, so we frame them as ranges.
- Korean Bapsang, Oi Muchim / Korean-Style Cucumber Salad: instructs to “Thinly slice the cucumber (1/8 to 1/4-inch thick).” Source of our lower-bound slice range.
- Kimchimari, Simple Korean Cucumber Salad: “Slice cucumbers into thin slices. Around 1/8 inch (3 mm),” and notes you “can refrigerate for few days and can be served cold.” Source for the 3 mm equivalence and the “few days” fridge note.
- Love and Lemons, Cucumber Salad: uses a mandoline because it “yields uniform, paper-thin slices,” rests salted cucumbers 20 minutes then transfers them “leaving the water behind,” and says the salad keeps “up to 3 days” but is “best on the day it’s made.” Source for the mandoline rationale, the salt-and-drain method, and the 3-day figure.
- RecipeTin Eats, Smashed Cucumber Salad: cuts cucumbers into “2.5cm/1” chunks” and salts 20 minutes to draw out liquid. Source for the smashed-style cut and salt time.
- RecipeTin Eats, Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad: salts 1-inch pieces 30 minutes “to draw out water” and finds leftovers “good for 24 hours, after this the cucumbers go a little too soft” (the author’s own taste note, not a measured test). Source for the 30-minute salt and the 24-hour dressed-salad limit.
- NYT Cooking-style Cucumber Salad with Soy, Ginger and Garlic, reprinted at iDigThis: salts thin slices “in a colander in the sink for 15 minutes,” then rinses and dries. We cite the third-party reprint because the original NYT Cooking page is paywalled; treat the 15-minute figure as from the reprint, not verified against the original.
Honest gaps: no source we could read gave a cucumber slice thickness in millimeters from a food-science test (every figure is recipe-author guidance), and none quantified how many grams of water salting removes. We left those numbers out rather than invent them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How thin should you slice cucumbers for salad? Slice cucumbers about 1.5-3 mm thick (roughly 1/8 inch) for salad. Korean Bapsang’s oi muchim recipe calls for 1/8 to 1/4 inch, and Kimchimari spells out 1/8 inch as 3 mm. A mandoline set near 2 mm gives thin, tender slices that absorb dressing evenly, which Love and Lemons describes as uniform and paper-thin; bump up to 3 mm if you want more crunch.
How long does cucumber salad last in the fridge? A fresh (non-pickled) cucumber salad lasts a few days in an airtight container in the fridge. Love and Lemons says theirs keeps up to 3 days and is best the day it’s made, and Kimchimari says a Korean oi muchim refrigerates for a few days. A dressed Asian-style salad goes softer faster: RecipeTin Eats notes leftovers are good for about 24 hours before the cucumbers turn too soft.
Can you make cucumber salad ahead of time? Yes. Slice and salt the cucumbers ahead, and mix the dressing separately. For the crispest result, toss the cucumbers with the dressing just before serving rather than hours in advance, since Love and Lemons notes the salt keeps drawing water out as the salad sits.
Which mandoline blade should you use for cucumbers? Use the straight slicing blade, not the julienne or wave blade, set to about 2 mm. The Cambom Mandoline Slicer includes 6 replaceable stainless-steel blades (2 slicing, 2 shredding, plus julienne and wave), so you can switch to julienne for matchstick cucumbers if you prefer.
Do you have to peel cucumbers for cucumber salad? No. English and Persian cucumbers have thin skin and few seeds, so you can leave the skin on for color and crunch. Peel waxed standard cucumbers, or peel in stripes for a decorative look.
Is a mandoline safe to use for slicing cucumbers? Yes, if you always use the finger guard. The blade is extremely sharp, so never slice freehand. The Cambom Mandoline Slicer has a safety lock and finger guard, and you should stop slicing once the cucumber gets too small to hold safely in the guard.
Do you have to salt cucumbers before making the salad? For a crisp, non-watery result, yes. Salting pulls water out of the slices before they meet the dressing. Love and Lemons rests salted cucumbers 20 minutes, then moves the salad to a fresh bowl leaving the released water behind; RecipeTin Eats salts smashed cucumbers 20 minutes and an Asian-style version 30 minutes; an NYT Cooking-style recipe salts thin slices in a colander 15 minutes, then rinses and dries. This recipe uses a quick 5-minute salt for thin mandoline slices, since thinner pieces shed water faster.
Reviewed by the Cambom Kitchen Team. Updated June 26, 2026.
