These cucumber cream cheese sandwiches are a simple, delightful addition to lunch or tea parties! These light and refreshing snacks are made with crisp cucumber and dill-flavored cream cheese. They are perfect for afternoon tea or lunch parties.
More amazing party appetizers are – cream cheese dip and jalapeno poppers.
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Why does this recipe work?
- Also called the tea sandwich, it has wonderful crunch and freshness from cucumbers and dill and creamy saltiness from cream cheese spread.
- Perfect with afternoon tea.
- It’s a budget-friendly party snack that’s great for a crowd! Great for Mother’s Day, Baby showers, and more. Another amazing snack for parties and get-togethers is chicken tortilla roll-ups.
- Uses simple ingredients to make it.
- It can be made a day in advance (refer to the FAQ section below). Works great as lunch too.
I love crisp and crunchy salads, especially on hot summer days. My favorites include crisp and crunchy cucumber dill salad, creamy cucumber salad, Korean cucumber salad, and smashed cucumber salad.
Ingredients
- Cucumbers – Persian cucumbers or English cucumbers are best as they have thin skin and little or no seeds. It has a sweeter taste and its crisp bite works great for making sandwiches. You can also use Japanese cucumbers, or Korean cucumbers, and cocktail cucumbers can also be used. I don’t recommend using American cucumbers as they have thicker skin and large seeds.
- Bread – white bread is best as it is light, airy, and has a sweeter taste. For gluten-free options use gluten-free white bread.
- Cream cheese – make sure it’s at room temperature and softened so mixing is easier.
- Mayonnaise – any type of mayo will work, use full-fat regular mayonnaise for a richer taste.
- Lemon juice and zest – add a lovely tang to the sandwich. The acidity from lemon zest and juice helps balance some of the richness from the cream cheese spread.
- Fresh dill – dill gives the sandwich a citrusy, aniseed-like savory taste.
- Green onion – adds a slight kick and freshness.
- Onion and garlic powder – adds a savory taste to the sandwich. It also helps flavor cream cheese mayo spread and cut the richness of the spread.
- Salt and pepper – cucumbers are great with a touch of salt. Adding a touch of fresh ground pepper makes it tastier.
Variations
- Herbs – if you don’t have fresh dill you can use dried dill. Substitute 1 teaspoon of dried dill for every 1 tablespoon of fresh dill. Substitute fresh dill with chives, tarragon, parsley, or mint.
- Bread – you can substitute white bread with brown bread, wheat bread, or multigrain bread.
- Other spreads – swap cream cheese with goat cheese, sour cream, or Greek yogurt.
- More veggies – you can pack the sandwich with slices of onion and tomato. You may also add a layer of baby spinach or salad greens.
- Add meat – add shredded chicken or sauteed/BBQ shrimp to the sandwich. A little smoked salmon, ham, or prosciutto is a lovely addition as well.
- If you feel like experimenting with seasoning and flavors, use homemade seasoning salt.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1: Remove the crust from the sandwich bread and place it on a dry cutting board.
Step 2: Thinly slice the cucumbers. You can leave the skin on. Place aside.
Step 3: In a bowl add softened cream cheese and mayonnaise.
Step 4: Using a hand beater, beat until creamy.
Step 5: Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, lemon zest, freshly squeezed lemon juice, dill, and green onion.
Step 6: Mix well until combined.
Step 7: Generously smear one side of each bread slice with cream cheese dill spread. Arrange thin slices of cucumber overlapping so they fit well on the bread.
Step 8: Optional step – sprinkle salt, pepper, dill, and green onion over the cucumbers.
Cover the sandwich with another slice, and press gently so the sliced cucumbers stick to the cream cheese spread.
Using a sharp bread-cutting knife carefully cut the sandwich without pressing too much into half lengthwise or you can cut it into quarters or triangles.
Arrange the sandwich on a serving platter and enjoy with afternoon tea. Great for baby showers, and bridal showers.
Pro Tips
- Be sure the cream cheese is softened before you start making sandwiches.
- Using a hand beater helps quickly beat the cream cheese mixture. It also ensures that the cream cheese and mayo mix is cream and easy to spread.
- To get perfectly thin and even slices of cucumber use a mandolin slicer.
- Be sure to spread cream cheese dill mixture on both slices of bread.
- Feel free to spread butter on the inside of the bread before adding the filling. Butter not only adds a richer taste but also prevents the bread from turning soggy.
- Salt the cucumbers to prevent a soggy sandwich. Sprinkle salt on the cucumbers, and let them rest for 15-20 minutes. Drain the liquids from the cucumbers, pat dry with a kitchen towel. This additional step will keep the sandwich from getting soggy.
Recipe FAQs
A generous smear of cream cheese spread on the bread will act as a barrier to moisture from cucumbers. Buttering the bread inside first before adding the filling helps greatly.
You can go an extra step to prevent a soggy sandwich by salting cucumbers. Please refer to pro tips note #6 for details.
In England, cucumber sandwiches are made without crust. Without the crust the sandwiches are light.
You can leave the crust on if you like it.
English cucumbers that are ideal in these sandwiches have thin skin and do not need to be peeled. It’s a personal preference, you can peel if you prefer.
These tea sandwiches are best enjoyed within a few hours of making them. I recommend you serve it 3-4 hours of making them. If left to sit for longer, the sandwich tends to become soggy. If you want to make a day ahead, you must salt the cucumber (refer to Pro Tips section note #6)
Related Cucumber Recipes
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📋Refreshing Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- â…› teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- â…› teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 teaspoons fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon green onion
- 1 large English cucumber or 2-3 small English cucumbers
- 1 loaf white bread sliced
Instructions
- Remove the crust from the sandwich bread and place it on a dry cutting board.
- Thinly slice the cucumbers. You can leave the skin on. Place aside.
- In a bowl whisk softened cream cheese and mayonnaise until creamy. Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, lemon zest, freshly squeezed lemon juice, dill, and green onion. Mix well until combined.
- Generously smear one side of each bread slice with cream cheese dill spread.
- Arrange thin slices of cucumber overlapping so they fit well on the bread.
- Optional step – sprinkle salt, pepper, dill, and green onion over the cucumbers.
- Cover the sandwich with another slice, and press gently so the sliced cucumbers stick to the cream cheese spread.
- Using a sharp bread-cutting knife carefully cut the sandwich without pressing too much into half lengthwise or you can cut it into quarters or triangles.
- Arrange the sandwich on a serving platter and enjoy with afternoon tea. Great for baby showers, and bridal showers.
Video
Notes
- Be sure the cream cheese is softened before you start making sandwiches.
- Using a hand beater helps quickly beat the cream cheese mixture. It also ensures that the cream cheese and mayo mix is cream and easy to spread.
- To get perfectly thin and even slices of cucumber use a mandolin slicer.
- Be sure to spread cream cheese dill mixture on both slices of bread.
- Feel free to spread butter on the inside of the bread before adding the filling. Butter not only adds a richer taste, but it also prevents the bread from turning soggy.
- Salt the cucumbers to prevent a soggy sandwich. Sprinkle salt on the cucumbers, and let them rest for 15-20 minutes. Drain the liquids from the cucumbers, pat dry with a kitchen towel. This additional step will keep the sandwich from getting soggy.
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
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I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and I’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2014 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
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