Persian Cucumbers substitute

Best substitute

English or hothouse cucumber

Use about ⅓ of an English cucumber, or 1:1 by weight, roughly 4 to 5 oz each for every 1 Persian cucumber

Best for salad shirazi

Close match

An English or hothouse cucumber is the best swap: one Persian cucumber is about a third of an English one, so three or four Persian cucumbers equal one English cucumber, and the skin and seeds need no attention. Mini or cocktail cucumbers are often literally the same thing under a different label and swap 1:1. Kirby or pickling cucumbers are the crunchiest option and are excellent once you peel the bumpy skin in stripes. A regular waxy garden cucumber also works, but only if you peel it, scrape out the seed core and salt the flesh for 15 minutes first. Understanding why the recipe named them makes the swap easy: Persian cucumbers are chosen for crunch with very little water and no bitterness. Their job is texture, not flavour. Almost every substitute is wetter than they are, so the fix is nearly always the same, salt the cut cucumber and drain it before it goes in the bowl.

Other persian cucumbers substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Mini, cocktail or snacking cucumbers
Close match
Use the same amount
Frequently the identical vegetable sold under a supermarket's own naming, which makes this the least risky swap on the list.
What changes
Best for
salad shirazi, mast-o-khiar, salads, crudites, pickling
If they are smooth-skinned, thin-skinned and about four to six inches long, they will behave exactly like Persian cucumbers and you will not be able to tell in the finished dish. Some bags run slightly more watery, so taste one raw and salt-drain if it seems juicy.
3Kirby or pickling cucumbers
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The firmest of the alternatives and if anything crunchier than a Persian cucumber, which is why they are the ones grown for pickles.
What changes
Best for
salad shirazi, chopped salads, quick pickles, mast-o-khiar
The bumpy skin can be tough and a little bitter, so peel it in stripes rather than fully, keeping some for crunch. The seeds are larger, so scoop the core if they look developed. Excellent texture, slightly more assertive flavour. If you are making preserved pickles rather than a salad, follow a tested pickling recipe exactly and do not change its vinegar or salt quantities.
4American garden or slicing cucumber, with prep
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, but buy about a third extra
The thick dark waxed cucumber most supermarkets sell by the piece, usable once you take the three things off it that Persian cucumbers do not have.
What changes
Best for
salad shirazi, mast-o-khiar, tzatziki, chopped salads
Peel it, since the waxed skin is tough and often bitter, halve it lengthwise and scrape out the watery seed core with a spoon, then salt the flesh and drain 15 minutes. You lose roughly a third of the weight to peel and seeds, hence buying extra. What remains is softer and less sweet than a Persian cucumber but perfectly good.
5Chayote or kohlrabi, raw and finely diced
Different taste
Use the same amount by volume
A genuinely useful swap when the cucumber is there purely for crunch and moisture and you cannot get a decent cucumber at all.
What changes
Best for
chopped salads, mast-o-khiar, salads made ahead, picnic food
Firmer, drier and faintly nutty or sweet, with none of the melon-like aroma cucumber has, so the salad tastes cleaner and less refreshing. The upside is real: neither weeps, so a salad dressed an hour ahead stays crisp instead of turning into soup. Peel both and dice small.
6Celery hearts or firm green apple with lemon
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume, used only as part of the dish
The last resort, worth knowing but not worth pretending about.
What changes
Best for
chopped salads where cucumber is a minor component
Celery brings crunch and a savoury, slightly bitter, stringy quality; green apple brings crunch and sweetness. Both change the flavour of the dish substantially rather than standing in for cucumber. Use them only where cucumber was one ingredient among several, never in mast-o-khiar or salad shirazi where it is most of the bowl.

What is Persian Cucumbers?

Persian Cucumbers is a variety of short, thin-skinned cucumber sold as mini, baby or snacking cucumbers and called khiar in Farsi, with small seeds, dense crisp flesh and far less water than a standard American slicing cucumber, so it brings crunch to a salad without flooding it.

Cooking tips

Do not peel Persian cucumbers. The thin skin is where most of the crunch and a good deal of the flavour lives, and peeling them leaves you with something soft and bland, which is the opposite of why the recipe asked for them.
Salting and draining is the whole trick when substituting a waterier cucumber. Use about half a teaspoon of salt per pound of diced cucumber, leave it in a colander 10 to 15 minutes, then pat dry, and cut the salt in your dressing to compensate.
For salad shirazi, dice everything small, about a quarter inch, and dress it at the last possible moment. The dish is meant to be a crunchy chopped salad, not a marinated one, and it goes limp within half an hour of meeting lime juice.
For mast-o-khiar, grate the cucumber rather than dicing it, then squeeze the gratings hard in your hands or a clean towel. Skip that and the yogurt separates into a watery layer in the fridge within a couple of hours.
Buy them firm and store them dry and loose, not sealed in a bag, and keep them out of the coldest part of the fridge. Cucumbers get soft and slimy quickly in trapped moisture and they suffer at very low temperatures.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Persian and English cucumbers?

Mostly size and water content. Both have thin unwaxed skin and small seeds and neither needs peeling. Persian cucumbers are shorter, four to six inches, with denser flesh and less water, which makes them crunchier and better suited to being diced small. English cucumbers are long, a little more watery and slightly blander. They swap for each other easily, with three or four Persians standing in for one English cucumber.

Can I use a regular cucumber instead of a Persian one?

Yes, with a little work. Peel it, because the waxed skin on a standard slicing cucumber is tough and can be bitter, halve it and scrape out the seedy centre, then salt the flesh and drain it for 15 minutes. Buy about a third more than the recipe's weight, since you throw away the skin and seeds. Without that prep, the salad ends up watery and the yogurt dish separates.

Do I need to peel Persian cucumbers?

No, and you should not. Their skin is thin, unwaxed and completely tender, and it provides most of the crisp bite the recipe wants. Just wash them. The only reason to peel is if you want a very smooth pale puree, such as a chilled soup, where the skin would leave green flecks.

Are mini cucumbers the same as Persian cucumbers?

Usually yes. Supermarkets label the same short thin-skinned cucumbers as Persian, mini, baby, snacking or cocktail cucumbers depending on the brand. If it is smooth-skinned, about four to six inches long and crisp when you snap it, treat it as a Persian cucumber and swap 1:1 without adjusting anything.

Can I leave the cucumber out?

It depends on the dish. In a mixed salad or a wrap you can drop it or swap in something else crunchy such as radish, celery or diced fennel. In salad shirazi or mast-o-khiar you cannot, because cucumber is half the dish and the whole point is its cool crunch against tomato and onion or against yogurt. There, use any of the cucumber swaps above rather than leaving it out.

Related substitutes

More vegetables & aromatics substitutes

Persian Cucumbers substitute

Other persian cucumbers substitutes

2Mini, cocktail or snacking cucumbers

3Kirby or pickling cucumbers

4American garden or slicing cucumber, with prep

5Chayote or kohlrabi, raw and finely diced

6Celery hearts or firm green apple with lemon