Hungarian Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad (Paradicsomsaláta)

This Hungarian marinated cherry tomato salad is *totally* the reason I fell in love with tomatoes. Filled with sweet & juicy cherry tomatoes, Hungarian wax peppers, cucumbers, and thinly sliced onions, this cucumber tomato salad is a perfect simple side dish for any occasion!

This recipe was created in partnership with NatureSweet. All thoughts & opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting me and the brands I love!

Hungarian Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad

As the weather gets warmer, I always start to crave side salads at dinnertime. Often it’s as simple as some peppery arugula tossed with a little fresh lemon juice and oil, sprinkled with salt and freshly ground black pepper… Other times it’s classics from my childhood, like Hungarian sour cream cucumbers or this easy and flavorful Hungarian tomato salad I’m sharing today.

Just a few reasons why I LOVE this recipe:

✔ only FOUR fresh produce ingredients: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers & onions
✔ all tossed with a super simple 4-ingredient vinaigrette
✔ it’s a fresh and light side dish that pairs with just about any entrée
✔ also ideal for potlucks and cookouts (no mayo!)

Before I go on, I should note that this isn’t a truly authentic Hungarian tomato salad recipe. Hungarian tomato salads traditionally include only tomatoes and onions, occasionally with some chopped fresh parsley sprinkled in.

While the dressing in this recipe IS traditional, my mom always added some sliced Hungarian wax peppers and thickly sliced cucumber to the salad. Whether that’s because they were fresh from our garden or just an attempt to bulk it up a bit for a crowd, I’m not really sure. But I make and love both versions equally!

The Best Sweet & Juicy Cherry Tomatoes

Also a bit nontraditional is the fact that I love to use sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes in this salad — specifically NatureSweet Glorys. They’re for sure the star of this cherry tomato cucumber salad!

I started buying them when my oldest son was just a toddler. Cherry tomatoes were his favorite snack, so I always made sure to pick up a container on each grocery trip. These days he doesn’t snack on them quite as much, but old habits die hard, so you’ll still always find them in my cart.

I’ve always chosen NatureSweet Glorys because I knew I could count on them being fresh and flavorful. But now that I’ve had a chance to work with the brand, I adore them even more.

NatureSweet tomatoes are:

• hand-picked and hand-packaged at the peak of perfection and then shipped within 24 hours
• ALL of their tomatoes are non-GMO
• they’re also quality tested before shipping for firmness, color, and blemishes
• AND they ensure traceability, meaning every product can be traced from the customer back to the point of production within hours

Knowing all of this just makes me an even bigger NatureSweet fangirl for life!

Cherry Tomato Salad Ingredients

In addition to the NatureSweet Glorys, you’ll need a few more simple ingredients for this marinated cucumber, onion, and tomato salad.

Hungarian wax peppers — wax peppers can be pretty easily found in grocery stores. I slice them in half vertically, deseed them, and then slice them into half moons. They can be a little spicy, so if you prefer something milder, look for banana peppers or substitute chopped green peppers.

cucumbers — I tend to use English cucumbers for this recipe since they have little to no seeds, but you can absolutely use regular cucumbers, as well. In either case, peel and slice them vertically and then into thick half circles.

onions — while I used a white onion, any type of onion can be used in this recipe. I’m personally not a huge fan of raw onions, so I only used half of a small onion and sliced it very thinly. As the salad marinates, the onion will lose some of its bite. If you prefer to add more, by all means go for it!

vinegar — apple cider vinegar was always our go-to vinegar growing up, but you could use red wine vinegar or even plain white vinegar in the dressing for this tomato cucumber onion salad. Whatever you already have on hand is fine!

additional cucumber tomato salad dressing ingredients — olive oil, minced garlic, sugar, and salt & freshly ground black pepper.

How To Make This Cherry Tomato Salad Recipe

Making this cherry tomato salad recipe really could not be easier. After a bit of peeling, slicing, and chopping of the fresh veggies up front, all that’s left is to whisk up the vinaigrette dressing and toss it all together. Easy-peasy!!

1| In a large bowl, combine the NatureSweet Glorys cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, Hungarian wax peppers, and onions.

2| In a separate small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, minced garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper.

3| Pour the cucumber tomato salad dressing over the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and onions, and toss to combine.

4| Refrigerate to marinate for 1-2 hours. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste before serving.

A Few Quick Tips For Best Results:

• Slice the NatureSweet Glorys vertically. You wouldn’t think this makes a difference, but it really does maximize the juicy goodness in every bite!
• Allow the cherry tomato salad to marinate for at least an hour in the refrigerator before serving. Marinated salads always taste better with time — you know? While it won’t hurt to serve it immediately, I strongly prefer the way the flavors intermingle and the onion mellows out after a short stint in the fridge.
• Season with additional salt and pepper after marinating. As the tomatoes and cucumbers release their juices while marinating, the dressing will thin out some. Add more salt and pepper until the flavors “sing”. If the tomato salad still tastes bland, it’s because you haven’t added quite enough, so give it a taste before serving.
• If you want to add some fresh chopped herbs, parsley and/or dill would be ideal!

Serving Marinated Cucumber and Tomato Salad

We typically serve this marinated cucumber and tomato salad family style, passing around a large bowl filled to the brim. It pairs beautifully with grilled dishes in the summertime, especially since all of the ingredients in this recipe are fresh and bountiful at this time. However, it’s still an excellent side dish option year round!