Gordon Ramsay Cucumber Salad

Gordon Ramsay’s cucumber salad recipe is a light, Asian-inspired dish made with peeled and deseeded cucumber, king prawns (shrimp), baby gem lettuce, and a spicy yoghurt dressing with fish sauce, sweet chilli and lime. It takes about 15 minutes and serves four.

The recipe appears as “Prawn and Cucumber Salad with Spicy Yoghurt Dressing” in Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Home Cooking, where he calls it a modern replacement for the classic prawn cocktail. He writes: “I used to love prawn cocktails in the Seventies, but to modern tastes that mix of ketchup and mayonnaise is too heavy and gloopy.”

The technique that sets this apart is how he handles the cucumber. In his YouTube video for this recipe, he peels the skin off entirely and scoops out all the seeds with a teaspoon. Most salad recipes just chop cucumber and toss it in. Ramsay strips it back so the salad stays crunchy instead of going watery, because the seeds and skin hold most of the moisture.

FAQs

Why does Gordon Ramsay peel the cucumber completely?

Most cucumber salads leave the skin on for colour and crunch. Ramsay does the opposite because the skin holds a mild bitterness that competes with the delicate yoghurt dressing.

On his YouTube channel, he explains he wants the salad to “taste light and fresh.” Removing the skin also changes the texture from firm snaps to softer, more absorbent slices that pick up more dressing in every bite. His Hoisin and Cucumber Salad in the same book also peels the cucumber first, then cuts it into long ribbons with the peeler instead of slicing it.

Why does he scoop out the seeds?

Cucumber seeds sit in a watery pulp that starts leaking the moment you cut into them. In a dressed salad, that extra liquid dilutes the dressing and turns the bowl into a puddle within minutes.

Ramsay says on YouTube: “while it sits in the dish it doesn’t make the salad go all soft cause that cucumber is nice and crunchy.” He uses a teaspoon to scrape the seeds out cleanly after halving the cucumber lengthways. It takes ten seconds and makes the difference between a crisp salad and a soggy one.

Why put dressing on the bottom of the bowl first?

This technique only appears in his YouTube demonstration, not the cookbook text. He spoons a tablespoon of dressing into the bottom of the bowl before adding the prawns, cucumber and lettuce on top.

The lettuce sits on the prawns rather than directly in the dressing, so it doesn’t wilt during transport or fridge time. When you’re ready to eat, the remaining dressing goes on top and you toss everything together. The bottom layer coats the ingredients from underneath while the top layer hits them from above, so you get even coverage without overdressing.

How is this different from his Feta, Watermelon and Cucumber Salad?

Both appear in Ultimate Home Cooking, but they go in completely different directions. The feta version is Greek-inspired with chunked watermelon, crumbled feta, toasted pecans, sumac and mint. The cucumber is chunked rather than sliced, and there’s no dressing beyond olive oil and lemon juice.

This prawn version is Asian-inspired with fish sauce, sweet chilli and lime driving the flavour. The cucumber is the foundation here rather than a supporting ingredient, and the yoghurt dressing ties everything together. If you’re after something summery and sweet, go with the Greek-style salad. If you want something lighter and sharper, this is the one.

Why fish sauce in a yoghurt dressing?

Fish sauce adds a salty, savoury depth that regular salt can’t match. It’s the same umami backbone used in Thai and Vietnamese dressings, which is why Ramsay calls this an “Asian-inspired version” of the prawn cocktail.

The yoghurt tempers the fish sauce’s intensity, the lime cuts through both, and the sweet chilli adds a gentle heat. You only need 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons for the whole batch, so it doesn’t taste fishy. It just makes the dressing taste more complete, the same way a splash of Worcestershire sauce lifts a salad dressing without anyone knowing it’s there.

Can you make this ahead for a picnic?

Ramsay designed this specifically for picnics. In the cookbook he says to make the dressing in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and transport it separately. The layering technique, dressing on the bottom with salad stacked on top and covered, means you can prep it hours ahead and keep it in the fridge.

Just don’t toss everything together until you’re ready to eat. The moment the dressing fully coats the lettuce, the clock starts ticking on wilting. Ramsay wraps the bowl in cling film (plastic wrap) and adds the remaining dressing at the picnic site.