• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS

Dish up the simple joy of healthy, down-home foods your family will LOVE… tonight.

Join 12,000+ families served since 2010!

  • Join Now
  • About
    • About Wardee & TCS
    • Our Team
    • FAQs & Help
    • Contact
  • Recipes
  • Blog
    • Recipes
    • Archives
  • Podcast
    • #AskWardee
    • Know Your Food with Wardee (retired)
  • Shop
    • Bible-Based Cooking Program
    • Print Textbooks
    • eBooks & eCourses
    • Recommended Tools & Supplies
    • More Books We Love
    • Complete Idiot’s Guide To Fermenting Foods
      • Errata
  • Login
You are here: Home » Food Preparation » Recipes » Middle Eastern Foods » Cucumber Yogurt/Kefir Salad

Make a healthy dinner in 30 minutes or less... while spending $0 extra! Click here for the FREE Eat God's Way “30-Minute Skillet Dishes” formula!

Cucumber Yogurt/Kefir Salad

We only recommend products and services we wholeheartedly endorse. This post may contain special links through which we earn a small commission if you make a purchase (though your price is the same).

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

cucumber yogurt salad

Nothing says summer to me more than crisp, cool, cucumber salads. They remind me of my Middle Eastern heritage and favorite growing-up foods. Cucumber-yogurt salad was a staple of my childhood.

In my house, we have kefir around, not yogurt. In the past, I’ve only eaten this salad with a yogurt base. But, I like it a little bit better with kefir! The kefir’s effervescent and more tart qualities combine with the garlic, salt and crunch of cukes for a tasty dish.

You can use either plain kefir or plain yogurt, preferably with active cultures. The beneficial organisms make this salad a delicious and easy probiotic addition to any summer meal.

If using kefir instead of yogurt, you might use less kefir or more cucumbers to account for the kefir being more thin than yogurt.

You're thriving on the Trim Healthy Mama plan, losing weight, balancing your blood sugar, experiencing more energy, and feeling great! Until it's time leave the comfort of your own kitchen and go to a place where THM rules don't exist -- potlucks. Arrive to any potluck with one or two of these Trim Healthy Mama potluck dishes to keep you on track without skipping a beat!
5 from 1 vote
Print

Khyar bi Laban

Arabic for "cucumbers with yogurt"
Course Cultured, Salad, Vegetable
Author Wardee Harmon

Ingredients

  • 2 to 3 large cucumbers
  • 2 to 3 cloves of garlic
  • sea salt to taste, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon
  • 1 quart kefir plain or plain yogurt
  • dried mint

Instructions

  1. Wash, peel and dice the cucumbers.

  2. Peel the cloves of garlic and mash together with the salt (I use a mortar and pestle).

  3. Combine cucumbers, mashed garlic and salt, and kefir or yogurt in a medium size bowl.

  4. Mix.

  5. Sprinkle on dried mint and mix in.

  6. Taste to adjust mint and salt amounts.

  7. Chill, or serve and enjoy!

We make kefir in the Fundamentals eCourse. Please join us to learn how to make this tasty, beneficial cultured food!

We only recommend products and services we wholeheartedly endorse. This post may contain special links through which we earn a small commission if you make a purchase (though your price is the same).

Posted in: Food Preparation Middle Eastern Foods Middle Eastern Foods (Gluten-Free) Recipes Salads Salads (Gluten-Free) Trim Healthy Mama Recipes

About Wardee Harmon

Wardee lives in the Boise area of Idaho with her dear family. She's the lead teacher and founder of the Eat God's Way online cooking program as well as the author of Fermenting, Sourdough A to Z, and other traditional cooking books. Eat God's Way helps families get healthier and happier using cooking methods and ingredients from Bible Times like sourdough, culturing, and ancient grains.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elizabeth E says

    August 16, 2010 at 10:05 am

    I just added this to the list of things to make for myself while DS is away! I also love tzatziki (sp?) sauce from cucumber and yogurt.

    Reply
  2. Wardee says

    August 16, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Elizabeth — Oh, me too! Do you have a good recipe for tzatziki?

    Reply
  3. nancy says

    August 16, 2010 at 1:35 pm

    Are you Lebonese???? I am and it’s so awesome that you grew up on MiddleEastern food. Growing up I didn’t (and still don’t) know anyone outside of my family that was Lebonese. The food we ate was very different than most of my friends. My kids love this cucumber/lebon salad, although we’ve be trying to use more kefir lately.

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      August 16, 2010 at 2:55 pm

      Hi, Nancy! My family is half Palestinian. 😀 I am happy to meet you!

      Reply
  4. Sarah Schatz - Allergy-Free Menu Planners says

    August 16, 2010 at 1:53 pm

    This looks so yummy. I have mint growing in the garden so I’ll have to try this out.
    thanks Wardee!

    Reply
  5. Thomas says

    August 17, 2010 at 6:37 am

    This sounds like it would be really nice, is it similar in taste to Tzatziki? Isn’t it funny how different countries come up with similar dishes independently?

    Reply
  6. Tiffany says

    August 17, 2010 at 7:31 am

    Yum, it looks like raita!

    Reply
  7. Sally says

    July 15, 2011 at 10:14 am

    Hi Wardee!

    I live in Lebanon & I am trying to find kefir or kefir grains. Do you know what is the name of it in arabic?

    Thank you

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      July 17, 2011 at 9:00 pm

      Sally — No, I don’t. I’m not sure the Middle East does much kefir-ing. Mostly yogurt over there. But I could be wrong. None of my relatives have ever heard of it. 😉 Let me know if you find out something.

      Reply
  8. lenseffect says

    April 14, 2014 at 2:23 am

    Hello and thanks for the great blog 🙂

    Here in Bulgaria we do this receipt from ages, but we add chopped fresh dill and this is optional crushed walnuts, and then … 🙂 we called Tarator, check out google images for tarator 🙂

    thanks again,
    Kiril

    Reply
  9. Gitti says

    November 8, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    Hi,
    In Iran we have the exact same dish… Mast va Khiyaar = yogurt and cucumber.

    Reply
5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Hi and Welcome!

I’m Wardee Harmon and I help Christian families who know they should eat healthy but are tired of complicated, time-consuming, weird-tasting, and unsustainable “healthy” diets…

…who want to look and feel better, save time and money, and have more energy for enjoying family life and serving Him fully!… like I was. Click here for more…

Recently on the Blog

  • Fizzy Apple Cider Switchel (VAD)
  • VitaClay Review & Buyer’s Guide
  • How to Make Healthy Cookies #AskWardee 006
  • Bean and Barley Soup (Instant Pot, Stove Top)
  • Soaked Spelt Banana Bread (VAD)
  • Ancient Grains 101
  • How to Heal Digestive Issues Naturally (Leaky Gut, SIBO, IBS, Celiac & more)
  • How To Meal Plan In 4 Easy Steps (KYF103)
  • Debunking 4 Sourdough Myths (& How To Overcome Them)
  • How To Use A Pressure Cooker 101

Recently Commented

  • Rehoboth on MORE Nourishing Soups & Stews… For Special Diets!
  • Bunty on 6 Tips to Prevent “Sour” Sourdough
  • Danielle on Naturally Sweetened & Nourishing Chocolate Marshmallows
  • Stacey Hingson on Naturally Sweetened & Nourishing Chocolate Marshmallows
  • Lori Gintner on The Connection Between Mental Illness & Candida (+ why you need more than anti-fungals)
  • Tiranga on Homemade Sauerkraut In A Stoneware Crock
  • ronald ryan on 10 Tips For Using A Gas Grill As An Oven

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Before Footer

g-NOWF-glinz

…are what we eat! God’s Natural, Organic, Whole Foods, Grown Locally, In Season.

We love working with other Christian families who love good food and want to eat according to God’s design…

Not only because we believe it’s the healthiest way, but because we want to give Him glory for creating good food as the best medicine!

Learn more about GNOWFGLINS here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOcH27DM1dI

Eat God’s Way Cooking Program

Our Eat God’s Way cooking program is for Christian families who know they should eat healthy but are tired of complicated, time-consuming, weird-tasting, and unsustainable “healthy” diets…

…who want to look and feel better, save time and money, and have more energy for enjoying family life and serving Him fully!

Join 12,000+ families served since 2010! Learn more here…

Copyright © 2025 Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS • About • Help • Privacy • Partners

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.