Salade Marocaine, Moroccan Tomato and Cucumber Salad, Shlada
Moroccan cucumber salad is the everyday table salad of Morocco: cucumber and tomato diced fine, tossed with red onion, parsley and cilantro, and dressed with lemon, olive oil and a pinch of cumin. This moroccan cucumber salad recipe keeps it simple and bright, the way it sits beside a tagine. One serving is about 218 g.
Salade marocaine is the everyday salad of Morocco, served with nearly every home-cooked meal. Tomatoes and cucumber are diced fine — often with the feqqous, the curved Armenian cucumber — and dressed with lemon, olive oil and cumin, the spice that marks the salad as Moroccan. It is a quiet side dish by design: it sits beside the tagine rather than competing with it, cooling the palate between bites of the rich main.
Pairs well with: Tagines, couscous & grilled meats
Provenance
Morocco
Everyday Moroccan Table Salad
Middle Eastern
Time Dedication
20m
20m prep • 0m cook
Batch Yield
4 Servings
103 kcal per serving
1 serving ≈ 218 g
Technical Skill
Easy
Easy (No Cooking)
Meal Timing & Digestive Fit
Breakfast
Not Advised
Lunch
Prime Metabolic Fit
Dinner
Ideal Hearty Main
Snack & Tea
Inappropriate
Everyday Moroccan Table Salad
Photo: Tamorlan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Heritage Formulary
Estimated cost: Low — about $1–2 per serving at home (USD)
A good Moroccan cucumber salad is finely diced, bright with lemon and just warm with cumin, never watery.
Execution Methodology & Culinary Technique
Prep Stage: Dice, Herbs, Dressing
15 Mins • Chopping Board
Wash the cucumber, tomatoes, onion, parsley and cilantro well. Peel and seed the cucumber, seed the tomatoes, and dice everything small and even — the fine dice is what makes this salad Moroccan, not a rough chop. Chop the herbs last so they stay bright, and have a small jug ready for the dressing.
Maestro Tip: Dice everything the same small size, about 1 cm — even pieces mean every spoonful has cucumber, tomato, onion and herb together.
5 Mins No heat — room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Peel the 300 g of cucumber, halve it lengthways and scoop out the watery seeds with a spoon. Dice the flesh into small cubes, about 1 cm across, and put them in a wide salad bowl.
Scoop the seeds out — they are mostly water, and leaving them in is the fastest way to a watery salad.
Done when: Neat small cubes of cucumber, with the seeds removed so the salad stays crisp.
5 Mins No heat — room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Halve the 400 g of tomatoes, scoop out the seeds, and dice the flesh into cubes the same size as the cucumber. Finely dice the 80 g of red onion and add both to the bowl.
Seed the tomatoes too — their juice is welcome in the dressing, but the seed pockets make the salad soggy.
Done when: Tomato and onion diced to match the cucumber, all in the bowl together.
3 Mins No heat — room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Pick the leaves from the 15 g of parsley and the 15 g of cilantro, chop them finely and sprinkle them over the vegetables in the bowl.
Chop the herbs last, just before tossing, so they stay green and fragrant instead of bruising and darkening.
Done when: A bright green scatter of chopped herbs over the diced vegetables.
2 Mins No heat — room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
In a small jug, whisk the 30 ml of lemon juice with the 30 ml of olive oil, the 2 g of ground cumin, the 2 g of salt and the 1 g of black pepper until the dressing looks lightly cloudy and combined.
Whisk the dressing separately first — pouring oil and lemon straight onto the salad leaves pools of oil and bare patches of lemon.
Done when: A lightly cloudy, pale-gold dressing that smells warmly of cumin.
5 Mins + 10 Mins Rest Chilled, about 4°C (40°F)
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently with two spoons until everything glistens. Rest the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes so the flavours settle, then toss once more and serve cool.
Ten minutes is the sweet spot — long enough for the cumin and lemon to reach the vegetables, short enough that the cucumber stays crisp.
Done when: Every piece coated and glistening, with the herbs evenly mixed through.
Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve the salad cool, after its short rest, in a wide shallow bowl so everyone can spoon it beside the tagine or grilled meat. Eat it the same day — it is at its best within a few hours of tossing.
Nutritional Physiology & Benefits
Energy
103
kcal / serving
Protein
2g
Complete AA
Carbs
10g
Complex
Fats
7g
Healthy
| Energy | 103 kcal |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 10 g |
| Fat | 7 g |
| Fibre | 2.3 g |
| Sugar | 5.0 g |
| Sodium | 206 mg |
| Energy | 47 kcal |
| Protein | 0.9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 4.4 g |
| Fat | 3.3 g |
| Fibre | 1.1 g |
| Sugar | 2.3 g |
| Sodium | 94 mg |
Nutrition values are estimated — calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients.
Vitamins & minerals: Vitamin C and potassium (tomato, cucumber), vitamin K (parsley, cilantro), vitamin A (parsley).
Hydrating and Light
Cucumber and tomato are mostly water, so the salad is cooling and hydrating — the reason it sits on Moroccan tables through the hot months.
Fresh Herbs, Real Fibre
Fresh parsley and cilantro bring vitamin K and folate, and the vegetables add fibre without any cooking at all.
Gentle on the Stomach
The dressing is just lemon, olive oil and a pinch of cumin — light, simple and gentle on the stomach.
Food Pairings
To optimize nutrient absorption and elevate the sensory depth, pair with these authentic accompaniments:
Sides
Couscous
A mound of fluffy couscous soaks up the lemony juices from the salad and turns a side into a full plate.
Grilled Meats
Grilled lamb or chicken is rich and smoky, and the cool, sharp salad resets the palate between bites.
Full Menus
Tagine Dinner
Serve the salad as part of a tagine meal — it is the fresh, raw counterpoint to the slow-cooked, spiced main.
Drinks
Mint Tea
Sweet mint tea after the meal is the Moroccan finish; the salad's lemon and cumin lead naturally into it.
Complete menu
Serve the salad beside a chicken or lamb tagine with couscous and warm bread, and finish with mint tea.
Digestive Guardrails
To prevent digestive distress, sluggishness, or palate clash, avoid pairing the dish with these elements:
Dressing It Hours Ahead
Salt draws water out of the cucumber and tomato, so a salad dressed hours ahead turns watery and the vegetables go limp; dress it 10 minutes before serving. This is general information, not medical advice.
Preserved Lemon Plus Full Salt
Preserved lemon is already very salty; if you add it, leave the salt out entirely, or the salad becomes far too salty to eat. This is general information, not medical advice.
General information only, not medical advice — consult a doctor for personal dietary decisions.
Who Should Eat It
Health Conditions — Adjust or Avoid
If you have a medical condition, consult your doctor before changing your diet.
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