How many calories are in cucumber salad?
A 1-cup serving of cucumber salad tossed in Italian dressing is 191 calories, and per 100 g it runs 120 calories. Almost none of that comes from the cucumber. The oil in the dressing carries about 15.8 g of fat into the bowl, which is 20% of a day's fat in a side dish.
You'd need to walk about 38 minutes to burn the 191 calories in a 1-cup (159 g) serving.
How long does it take to burn off cucumber salad?
A 1-cup (159 g) serving is 191 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 191 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 38 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 24 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 27 min |
| Jogging | 22 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 42 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (159 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Cucumber salad quick facts
- US servings, from one ounce to a full cup
- Vinegar, sour cream and tomato versions
- The sodium hides in the lightest bowl
- How does cucumber salad compare?
- Most popular cucumber salad brands
- FAQ
Cucumber salad quick facts
The record below is FNDDS 2709820, "Cucumber salad, made with Italian dressing", from the 2021-2023 survey cycle. That is the version most people actually mean when they type the phrase into a calorie app: diced cucumber, sometimes tomato and a little cheese, glossy with a bottled vinaigrette. A plain cucumber sitting in vinegar is a different food and gets its own record further down.
Two rows you would see on a package label are missing here. USDA does not publish added sugars or trans fat for this prepared dish, so both are left out rather than guessed at.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 cup (159 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 120 | 191 | — |
| Total fat | 9.96 g | 15.8 g | 20% |
| Saturated fat | 1.34 g | 2.1 g | 11% |
| Carbohydrate | 6.19 g | 9.8 g | 4% |
| Dietary fiber | 0.5 g | 0.8 g | 3% |
| Total sugars | 4.78 g | 7.6 g | — |
| Protein | 0.46 g | 0.7 g | 1% |
| Sodium | 207 mg | 329 mg | 14% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Cholesterol is 0 mg, since nothing in the bowl comes from an animal unless you add cheese. Potassium is 123 mg per 100 g, so 196 mg in a cup, about 4% of the Daily Value. Protein is the row to give up on: 0.7 g per cup is a rounding error next to the 50 g reference intake, and cucumber salad is a volume food, not a protein source.
US servings, from one ounce to a full cup
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 34 kcal |
| Half-cup side | 80 g | 96 kcal |
| Three-quarter cup | 119 g | 143 kcal |
| One full cup | 159 g | 191 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 120 kcal |
The 1-cup and half-cup weights come from USDA's own household measures for this record. The three-quarter cup and the ounce are our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not USDA servings, which matters if you are logging a deli container by weight rather than by scoop.
That deli container is where cup measurements go wrong. Cucumber salad settles and drains, so a cup packed straight out of the tub weighs more than a cup spooned loosely onto a plate, and the dressing pooled at the bottom is the calorie-dense part. If you can, weigh it. A 6 oz (170 g) deli portion is 204 calories by the same math, more than most people picture when they see a bowl of cucumber.
Supermarket tubs also run lighter than the FNDDS dish, because they are usually brined rather than oiled. Farm Ridge Foods Cucumber Salad is 96 calories per 100 g and 25 for its 1 oz (26 g) label serving; Belveder Cucumber Salad is 19 per 100 g. Read the panel on the tub rather than assuming the homemade number applies.
Vinegar, sour cream and tomato versions
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical cup | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italian dressing | 120 kcal | 1 cup, 159 g | 191 kcal |
| Sour cream dressing | 66 kcal | 1 cup, 133 g | 88 kcal |
| Cucumber and vinegar | 34 kcal | 1 cup, 159 g | 54 kcal |
| Tomato and cucumber, oil and vinegar | 122 kcal | 1 cup, 159 g | 194 kcal |
Cucumber and vinegar is the outlier, and the reason this page exists. The same cup of the same vegetable falls from 191 calories to 54, a drop of about three and a half times, because there is no oil in it: 0.2 g of fat per cup against 15.8 g. What it does have is sugar dissolved in the brine, 8.5 g per cup, and 10.8 g of carbohydrate.
Sour cream dressing surprises people. It is lighter than the vinaigrette on calories, 66 per 100 g and 88 for a cup, because sour cream is mostly water while oil is pure fat. The trade is in the saturated fat row: 4.0 g in that cup, 20% of the Daily Value, against 2.1 g and 11% for the oil-dressed bowl. Same salad, roughly half the calories, nearly double the saturated fat.
Tomato and cucumber salad with oil and vinegar lands at 122 calories per 100 g and 194 for a cup, essentially identical to the Italian-dressing version. Tomato adds water and a little sugar; the oil still sets the number. German-style tubs are a fourth road: Kuhne German Cucumber Salad is 71 calories per 100 g, 20 for its 1 oz (28 g) serving.
The sodium hides in the lightest bowl
The cup with the fewest calories has the most salt. Cucumber and vinegar salad is 236 mg of sodium per 100 g, so 375 mg in a cup, 16% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value the FDA uses on the label. The oil-dressed bowl is 329 mg, or 14%. The sour cream one is 291 mg, 13%.
That inverts what most people expect. In a cup of the vinegar version, sodium is the highest single %DV on the plate at 16%, ahead of carbohydrate at 4% and fiber at 3%, while calories are only 54. In plain terms, 375 mg is roughly a sixth of a teaspoon of table salt, which is a lot for a side of cucumber.
None of this makes cucumber salad a problem food. It is a vegetable dish, and MyPlate counts it toward the vegetable group whichever dressing you use. If you are watching sodium, the honest move is to rinse or drain a store-bought tub and dress it yourself. If you are watching calories, cut the oil. The two goals pull in opposite directions here, which is unusual and worth knowing before you pick a version.
How does cucumber salad compare?
| Salad | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cucumber salad, Italian dressing | 120 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 34 kcal |
| Coleslaw | 117 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 33 kcal |
| Broccoli slaw salad | 123 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 35 kcal |
| Mozzarella, tomato and basil with oil and vinegar | 139 kcal | 1 oz, 28 g | 39 kcal |
Our take: dressed cucumber salad is not the light choice people assume it is. Of the three neighbors above, only coleslaw comes in lighter per 100 g, and only by three calories, so the mayonnaise slaw at the barbecue and the oil-dressed cucumber next to it cost you about the same. The caprese-style salad is the heaviest at 139 per 100 g, but it also brings 7.2 g of protein per 100 g against 0.46 g for cucumber salad, which buys something. If you want the genuinely cheap side, it is the vinegar version at 34 calories per 100 g, and no other dish in the tables above is close.
Most popular cucumber salad brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Farm Ridge Foods Cucumber Salad | 96 cal |
| Farmer's Market Cucumber Salad Pickles | 96 cal |
| Kuhne German Cucumber Salad | 71 cal |
| Golden Taste Cucumber Salad | 53 cal |
| Tuv Taam Cucumber Salad | 35 cal |
| Belveder Cucumber Salad | 19 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Cucumber salad FAQs
How many calories are in 1 cup of cucumber salad?
191 calories for a 1-cup (159 g) serving made with Italian dressing, based on USDA FoodData Central. Half a cup is 96 calories and a single ounce is 34. If your bowl is dressed with vinegar instead of oil, the same cup drops to 54 calories.
How many calories in creamy cucumber salad?
88 calories in a 1-cup (133 g) serving of the sour cream version, or 66 per 100 g. It is lighter than the oil-dressed bowl on calories but heavier on saturated fat: 4.0 g per cup, 20% of the Daily Value, against 2.1 g for the Italian dressing.
How many calories in cucumber and vinegar salad?
54 calories in a 1-cup (159 g) serving, or 34 per 100 g. That is the lightest cucumber salad in USDA's survey records, because there is no oil in it, only 0.2 g of fat per cup. The sugar dissolved in the brine still adds up to 8.5 g.
Is cucumber salad good for weight loss?
At 34 calories per 100 g, the vinegar version is one of the cheapest sides you can put on a plate. The Italian-dressing version is 120 per 100 g, roughly the same as coleslaw at 117. The dressing decides this, not the cucumber. Vinegar for volume, oil for staying power.
How much sodium is in cucumber salad?
329 mg in a 1-cup serving with Italian dressing, which is 14% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value. The vinegar version has more, not less: 375 mg per cup, or 16%. The brine is salted even when the calories are low, so the lightest bowl is the saltiest one.
How many carbs are in cucumber salad?
9.8 g of carbohydrate in a 1-cup serving with Italian dressing, 4% of the Daily Value, including 7.6 g of total sugars and 0.8 g of fiber. The vinegar version has more carbs, 10.8 g per cup, because sugar is usually dissolved into the brine.
Cucumber salad vs coleslaw: which has fewer calories?
Coleslaw is 117 calories per 100 g and oil-dressed cucumber salad is 120, so they are within three calories of each other. Per ounce that is 33 against 34. The gap only opens up if you take the vinegar cucumber salad, which is 34 calories per 100 g.
How many calories in German cucumber salad?
Kuhne German Cucumber Salad, a USDA Branded item, is 71 calories per 100 g, or 20 for the 1 oz (28 g) label serving. USDA does not publish a separate survey record for German-style cucumber salad, so that is the closest match. A creamy homemade version sits nearer 66 per 100 g.
Similar foods
- Ear of Corn — 99 cal per medium ear
- Sweet Potato — 103 cal per medium, baked
- Papaya salad — 190 cal per plate
- Potato wedges — 138 cal for 3 oz
- Carrot — 53 cal per cup chopped
- Onion — 46 cal per cup sliced
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the bowl and BodyPal counts the cucumber salad for you, dressing and all.
