Quick Marinated Vegetable Salad
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This Quick Marinated Vegetable Salad is the perfect side dish or snack! Peppers and cucumbers are lightly pickled for a crunchy, savory dish! Great on salads, sandwiches or tacos!
If you easily get bored with bland veggies – this marinated vegetable salad is for you!
Packed with flavor and easy to make, quick pickled veggies are great as a side dish (I could eat the whole bowl!) or as a topping for tacos, salads, or sandwiches! This salad would pair perfectly with our Taco Skillet!
Made with a few simple ingredients like white wine vinegar and lime juice, these veggies are flavorful, crunchy, and delicious!
Quick pickling veggies is a shorter process than traditional pickle recipes because no fermentation or heating is needed! Quick pickles also tend to stay crispier than canned pickles because they’re not heated as long.
liz’s tips for marinated vegetable salad
- Slice your veggies thinly! Thinly sliced veggies are best in this recipe. They will absorb the flavors of the marinade well and are easier to eat.
- Make it fresh. This quick pickle recipe is best prepped and eaten within an hour. As the vegetables sit in the mixture, they’ll start to get softer and can get mushy if they sit too long.
ingredients you’ll need:
SUBSTITUTIONS
Cucumbers: We like English cucumbers because they aren’t seedy!
Bell Peppers: You can use orange, yellow, or red bell pepper!
Lime Juice: lemon juice will work too, but we prefer lime.
Olive Oil: You can substitute olive oil for avocado oil, but it won’t be as flavorful.
White Wine Vinegar: We haven’t tried this recipe with other vinegars. Red wine vinegar should work, but it would give the dish a different flavor. I wouldn’t recommend using balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
other pickled veggies for the marinated salad
This recipe is delicious as is, but you could add some thinly sliced red onion or white onion. You could also try adding in some shaved carrots! Zucchini or mushrooms could be good too!
how to pickle vegetables quickly
- Slice your peppers and cucumbers into thin matchsticks.
- Add your peppers, cucumbers, vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, and spices in a large bowl.
- Toss together with a spatula or tongs until the vegetables are evenly coated.
- Let the vegetables sit at room temp for at least 5 minutes then serve.
storing suggestions
Storing: This will last in the refrigerator for up to 2 days in an airtight container, but they’re best eaten fresh. The vegetables will start to soften after 24 hours and lose their crisp-ness.
Freezing: You can’t freeze this recipe. The veggies will get soggy.
pickled veggies FAQ
Quick pickling is basically the same as marinating. True pickling actually preserves whatever is being pickled, but quick pickled or marinated vegetables need to be eaten quicker because they aren’t preserved.
Pickles are pickled cucumbers that are preserved and shelf-stable, but marinated cucumbers should be eaten quicker because they are not preserved.
what to serve with this recipe
We love to eat a bowl of these veggies as a side dish for picnics or a potluck, but they’re also great with a number of different recipes.
- Make them a meal with our Chili Lime Chicken and Cilantro Lime Rice
- Put them in a taco made with our Taco Seasoning
- Have them as a side with our Taco Casserole or Chicken Fajita Casserole
- Use them as a topping on a Taco Salad
Easy Marinated Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large english cucumber cut into thin matchsticks (⅛ inch) about 2.5 cups cucumber
- 2 cups red bell peppers sliced thinly (⅛ inch) – 2 bell peppers
- 3 tablespoons lime juice juice of one lime
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Slice your peppers and cucumbers into thin matchsticks.
- Add your peppers, cucumbers, lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, chili powder, black pepper and salt in a large bowl. Toss together with a spatula or tongs until the vegetables are evenly coated.
- Let the vegetables sit at room temp for at least 5 minutes then serve.
Easy and satisfying
I made this using the tiny cucumbers from Trader Joe’s. We loved it and we’re not your usual cucumber lovers! I may add some chopped celery next time, thank you for the great summer salad!
Excellent taste! Very refreshing
This is delicious and easy to make. It’s still crunchy after 3 days in the refrigerator. I ate it with some hummus for easy lunches.
I don’t think this could have been an easier recipe to make!! So good and so easy!!
Made this last night for a side with dinner. SO easy and so good. The whole family loved it. Will definitely be one of our go-to summer sides!
The longer is sits, the better the flavor. I tasted it when I first made it and it wasn’t anything special. I sat it in the fridge for about 2 hours until dinner. The flavors had melded and were really good. I am taking it to my book club luncheon later this month. It is very refreshing but I like vinegar anyway. Easy to put together. Only had a regular cucumber and it worked fine.