Agurksalat, also known as Norwegian Cucumber Salad is a classic side dish for a variety of main dishes, like a lovely piece of salmon, meatballs, and more. They're a little sweet, a little sour, and very fresh. They cut right through rich dishes and enhance the meal! Ready in no time and made with kitchen staples.
You will find these crunchy, quick-pickled cucumbers on many Norwegian dinner tables. The Norwegian way of making quick pickled cucumbers is traditionally with a little bit of sugar. They strike a perfect harmony of salty, sweet, sour, crunchy, and fresh.
We substituted sugar for a sugar replacement, and you can easily do the same (or not, it's up to you!) This dish is incredibly easy to make and will liven up meals with ease.
Serve alongside keto Swedish meatballs served with mashed turnips and lingonberry sauce for a fantastic and classic Scandinavian meal!
In the mood for more Nordic flavors? Check out this Finnish salmon soup, or this rutabaga hash with cabbage and bacon!
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❤️Why you'll love this
- Simple ingredients: While bright and refreshing, these pickled cucumbers are great any time of year! You only need 6 ingredients to bring these together.
- Refined sugar free: While we love the flavor of preparing these cucumbers the Norwegian way with sugar, we can also do without the sugar. We want to hit that perfect balance of sweet and sour flavor, so we used a sugar replacement that works wonders! These cucumbers are also gluten free and vegan.
- Quick & easy: We didn't call it a quick pickle for no reason! These pickled cucumbers are ready in under an hour.
- No special equipment needed: The setup needed for this recipe is super simple. If you have a saucepan pan, mixing bowl and a whisk, that's all you need.
🥒Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need. You can find full quantities and nutritional information in the recipe card.
✏️Ingredient notes
- Cucumber - English cucumbers work best, because of their thin skin and small seeds. Cut them into thin slices.
- Water - To dilute the acidic brine.
- Vinegar - White vinegar is preferred, but apple cider vinegar will also work well.
- Kosher salt & black pepper - Black peppercorns can also be used here to infuse flavor without muddling the color of the brine.
- Sweetener or sugar - A sweet flavor is integral to the flavor of these pickled cucumbers. We opt for granular erythritol instead of sugar, but sugar is the traditional ingredient.
- Parsley - Flat leaf parsley is used for a bit of freshness and flavor. Dill is also common and very delicious!
📖Instructions
Add water and vinegar to a saucepan.
Add sweetener and salt. Heat to dissolve the sweetener, whisking often.
Once sweetener is dissolved, remove from heat and place in a mixing bowl. Stir in black pepper to taste.
Place the cucumber slices in the bowl, and mix to make sure everything is covered. Cover, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to come together.
After 30 minutes, stir in chopped parsley.
Serve with a plate of Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce!
✨Substitutions
- Sugar- Use regular sugar or your preferred sweetener instead of granular erythritol.
- Peppercorns- When we have whole peppercorns, we use those instead to infuse flavor without diluting the color of the brine.
- Dill- Use dill instead of flat leaf parsley if you like dill. You can also use a combo of both!
🔪Equipment
Luckily, this recipe is pretty standard and you actually don't need any special equipment to make it! Here are some different tools you can use.
- Mandoline - A mandoline is going to save you a lot of time making these cucumber slices really thin, really fast. Just be careful when handling them.
- Cheese slicer or ostehøvel - Ever seen a Nordic style cheese slicer, also known as an ostehøvel? They work great for getting lovely thin slices of cheese, or veggies, like cucumbers!
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🥣Storage
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Just be aware that the flavor will intensify as time goes on.
We do not recommend freezing these cucumbers.
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📖 Recipe
Agurksalat - Norwegian Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 medium English cucumber, cut into thin slices
- 4 ounces white vinegar
- 4 ounces water
- 36 grams granular erythritol (3 tablespoons, or to taste)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Add water, vinegar, sweetener, and salt to a saucepan, and heat to dissolve the sweetener, whisking often.
- Once dissolved, add the vinegar mixture to a bowl, and add pepper to taste. Add cucumber slices and make sure they are covered by the pickling solution. Cover, and let sit for at least half an hour refrigerated. Before serving, stir in chopped parsley.
- Enjoy with salmon, meatballs, or any protein you like!
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. The flavor will intensify as time goes on.
Notes
- Use a mandoline or cheese slicer (osethøvel) for very thin cucumber slices.
- Sugar can be substituted 1:1 for granular erythritol.
- Black peppercorns can be used in place of ground black pepper.
- Parsley can be substituted or combined with fresh dill, it's delicious!
- Apple cider vinegar can be used.
- We don't recommend freezing this recipe.
Nutrition
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
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