Green Talk®

Whole Body, Healthy Home, and Sustainable Garden Inspiration

 Get Inspired.  Sign Up for Our Free Newsletter

  • About
    • Press
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
  • New Here?
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Hire Me
  • 5 Reasons to Subscribe!
  • Build Green
  • Gardening
  • Green Business
  • Green Living
  • Green Home
  • Recycling
  • Tech

Freeze Cucumbers & Learn How to Use Them.

February 4, 2015 By: Anna53 Comments

freeze cucumbers

I started off writing a post about all the food you can’t imagine that you can freeze–singing the praises of my freezer. But as I drafted the article, I realized very quickly I could spend a whole article simply talking about what to do with an overabundance of cucumbers! Now, I am not talking about throwing them into dishes right and left or pickling them;  I am talking about freezing cucumbers.

Yeah. I got your attention.

Here is the rub. When you face the possibility of losing 100 pickles because everyone in your family is sick of pickles including Hubs, who pickled 15 cans already, you have to get creative.

Okay. Maybe not creative but desperate.

Yes, I am bordering on crazed.

Yes. I could have given them away but by the time I realized I was in trouble it was too late. The cucumbers were getting a little soft. No one would want them. Right?

So here are four ways to fight the plight of the cucumber explosion in your garden besides pickling, creating salsa or other cucumber based food.

 Freeze Cucumbers!

You heard me right. Throw them in the freezer whole. They will get ice on them if you simply put them in a bag or a glass jar. Consider putting them in an airtight container.

And no, I am not nuts.

And yes, I realize if you defrost them, they will be pure mush.

Okay. I got it. Those cucumbers will be soggy.

I am okay with this.

Why? You can make a couple of dishes with these soggy cucumbers.

#1 Make a Cucumber Dip

You can use them to make dips. Why? (I sound like a three-year-old. Sorry.) You need process the cucumbers, so it does not matter if, the cucumbers are soggy. I didn’t find the taste that different than a fresh cucumber because it is not the star in the recipe.

I used the cucumbers to make tzatziki sauce (which is yogurt and cucumber sauce.) You can either make a dairy free raw version or the old standby yogurt based recipe.

Here are some other cucumber based dips to use:

Mint Cucumber Dip  from Whole Living
Garlic Cucumber Dip  from allrecipes.
Herbed Quark (Cottage Cheese) with Cucumber Dip from Omnomally. (Note: The author used grass-fed gelatin in her recipe.)
So, if you want to make a cucumber based sauce, just grab one of your sorry-looking-soggy cucumber from the freezer. No one needs to know but you.

#2 Cucumber Soup

Again, you are grinding up the cucumber. Grab a cucumber and let it defrost in its jar.

Creamy Cucumber Soup from Eating Well.
Chilled Curried Mint Cucumber Soup from Serious Eats.
Vegan Cucumber Soup from Warm Kitchen. (To make it gluten free, you could probably substitute the flour for arrowroot to thicken it.)

#3 Cucumber Smoothies or Juices.

I got so sick of seeing the cucumbers that I started juicing them. I have twenty-one jars of the juice sitting in my freezer.

(Yes.  I am pretty addicted to freezing cucumbers.)

Cucumber juice contains vitamin K, calcium, and copper.

Vitamin K helps build strong bones, plays an important role in clotting, and nourishes the kidneys
Calcium helps retain bone density, strengthens teeth, and helps to maintain your body’s hormone balance.
Copper helps to produce healthy red blood cells, make neurotransmitters, strengthens connective tissue and boost your immune system as well as protect you from cellular damage that develops from exposure to environmental toxins or sunlight.
So juice away! Here are some recipes to get you started. I would just add a half a cup to a cup of the cucumber juice to your finished juice product.

  • Cucumber Apple Juice
  • Cucumber, Carrot, Ginger, Apple Juice
  • Drink it straight.  I have done this.  Very refreshing.
  • Strawberry Cucumber Juice

#4 Eat them Whole

If you skin or de-seed the cucumbers, you can eat the pieces whole.

Watch the below video how to prep your cucumbers. According to the video, the slices taste just like cucumber without any diminishing taste. They just aren’t rigid.

P.S. Just in case you still want to pickle your cucumbers, this is one of my favorite recipes.

Join the Conversation:

Do you freeze cucumbers?

 

Similar Posts:

  • 6 Foods You Can Freeze! I Bet You Didn’t Know.
  • Lemon Cucumber: When Are They Ripe?
  • Apple Core Apple Juice Recipe. Use those Cores!
  • How to Cook with Frozen Peppers from Summer Harvest
  • Preserve Vegetables For Year Round Use in 6 Easy Ways

Grow From Seed Mini Course

Grow From Seed Mini Course

About Anna

Anna Hackman is the editor of Green Talk, and owner of The Naked Botanical and a avid (okay obsessed) gardener. She also loves video and podcasting and hosts Green Talk TV and Green Talk Radio. Her most important role is being a mother of four boys.

Chat with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest , and Google+.

Comments

  1. 1

    green Bean says

    February 4, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    Shut up!! This is genius! I am totally trying this next summer.

    Reply
    • 2

      Anna@Green Talk says

      February 4, 2015 at 11:02 pm

      Green Bean, you know me. I can’t let anything go to waste. Anna

      Reply
  2. 3

    Lindsay says

    February 4, 2015 at 5:04 pm

    I love how creative you are. One of my favorite things about your blog is you push me to re-think about ways to reduce waste in my life. I love cucumber dip and usually have lots of cucumbers, great idea. Off to go eat a pickle now!

    Reply
    • 4

      Anna@Green Talk says

      February 4, 2015 at 11:02 pm

      Lindsay, LOL. I wrestle with guilt so I have to find a way to reuse things. Anna

      Reply
  3. 5

    Lori Popkewitz Alper says

    February 4, 2015 at 10:55 pm

    We love cucumbers over here, but unfortunately our yield was low this year. Great ideas! I have high hope for next season!!

    Reply
    • 6

      Anna@Green Talk says

      February 4, 2015 at 11:03 pm

      Lori, my faith is with Jr Gardener. You can’t imagine how many screws up I have had over the last 9 years. Anna

      Reply
  4. 7

    Krystal says

    February 5, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    Such great ideas. Waste not want not!!

    Reply
  5. 8

    sommer @greenmom says

    February 5, 2015 at 5:01 pm

    Too funny! I just wrote about freezer cucumbers and how I make my grandmothers salad as a guest post! I’m linking to your post on my blog today! Love it! Great ideas! http://kgi.org/blog/sommer-poq.....-cucumbers

    Reply
  6. 9

    Jessica says

    February 5, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    I love this! Summer cukes are the best! Now I have gardening fever…

    Reply
  7. 10

    linda spiker says

    February 5, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    I learned something new today! I never knew you could freeze cukes!

    Reply
    • 11

      Anna@Green Talk says

      February 6, 2015 at 11:29 am

      Linda, knowing you, you will come up with a scrumptious beautiful looking frozen cuke recipe. Anna

      Reply
  8. 12

    emily @ Recipes to Nourish says

    February 5, 2015 at 7:34 pm

    I had no idea! So cool! I love cucumbers. Pinning this.

    Reply
    • 13

      Anna@Green Talk says

      February 6, 2015 at 11:29 am

      Emily, out of desperation comes ingenuity. Thanks for pinning. Anna

      Reply
  9. 14

    Megan Stevens says

    February 5, 2015 at 11:23 pm

    Really cool, Anna. You are so thrifty; I love that!! All your suggestions are ones we can and would use in our home! I’ll definitely plan on implementing your ideas this summer when we have a lot of cukes. Love that guy up top, the cool cucumber with his shades. 😉 Pinning.

    Reply
    • 15

      Anna@Green Talk says

      February 6, 2015 at 11:28 am

      Megan, I like him too! Let me know how frozen cukes work for you.

      Reply
  10. 16

    Renee Kohley says

    February 6, 2015 at 10:41 am

    No way! I didn’t know you could do this!

    Reply
  11. 17

    Chloe @ How We Flourish says

    February 6, 2015 at 12:58 pm

    How cool! I didn’t know you could freeze cucumbers! Thanks for the great ideas for how to use them!

    Reply
  12. 18

    karen says

    February 6, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    I never get to freeze cukes. We finish them right off the vines or eat them with every meal. I doubt you can pickle frozen cukes. Thx for linking to my pickle recipe though. 🙂

    Reply
  13. 19

    Geoff says

    February 7, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    Anna,
    I confess … never thought of freezing cucumbers. Thanks for the info. I did however, try freezing a bag of fresh baby spinach. I was certain it would thaw back into crispy fresh baby spinach. WRONG! It thawed into a cold, squishy blob of green ickyness. But, like you, I hate to waste good food … so I mixed it in a salad and tried to ignore the yucky texture amongst the crisp greens and veggies.

    Luckily, after 6 hours of vomiting and 2 hrs in the emergency room, I survived the spinach debacle.

    OK fine, I made that up … but the point is … tell all your readers … at least the ones who don’t already know … DON’T freeze spinach … eat it … if you’ve got it!

    Geoff

    Reply
    • 20

      Paige says

      July 20, 2016 at 12:41 pm

      I eat frozen spinach all the time. Cooked and pureed in soup. Or I put it in the food processor frozen, chop it up, and add it to casseroles. We have never gotten sick on it.

      Reply
      • 21

        Anna@Green Talk says

        July 26, 2016 at 6:16 pm

        Paige, great idea!

        Reply
      • 22

        ontherigdge says

        December 17, 2016 at 12:16 am

        Frozen greens are great to use in green smoothies. I freeze spinach, kale and lettuce all the time. Just throw it in the blender container before it thaws.

        Reply
        • 23

          Anna says

          December 17, 2016 at 4:15 pm

          On the Ridge, I love frozen greens too. Anna

          Reply
  14. 24

    Lana says

    February 9, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    OMG! You have no idea how many times I thought about freezing cucumbers, but have never tried it! Thank you so much for posting this 🙂

    Reply
    • 25

      Anna@Green Talk says

      February 11, 2015 at 12:58 pm

      Lana, let me know what you use your frozen cucumbers! Anna

      Reply
  15. 26

    Sabrina says

    March 4, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    Had know idea! I am so doing this too…thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • 27

      Anna@Green Talk says

      March 4, 2015 at 1:10 pm

      Sabrina, glad you liked the post. Anna

      Reply
  16. 28

    Sandy says

    August 8, 2015 at 9:19 am

    Thank you for the great ideas! My husband and I were talking about juicing the cukes but our juicer is a cheaper wimpy one so we worried that the frozen veggies might break it. He suggested juicing just the cukes, then freezing the juice in an ice cube tray, then use the cubes for juices. I’m gonna try it and see how it works!

    Reply
    • 29

      Anna@Green Talk says

      August 10, 2015 at 9:42 pm

      Sandy, let me know how you like the juice. Anna

      Reply
  17. 30

    K. edwards says

    March 8, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    Wow, awesome. I couldn’t find the cucumbers I bought yesterday, assuming I had left them at the store or hadn’t bought them altogether. When I opened the freezer today, imagine my surprise when I found them, hard as rock. I will try your recipes – thanks!

    Reply
    • 31

      Anna@Green Talk says

      March 8, 2016 at 11:35 pm

      K, let me know how your frozen cucumbers work for you. Glad you found my article. Anna

      Reply
  18. 32

    Harvester says

    May 29, 2016 at 11:27 am

    I suggest, if you enjoy a cold glass of V8, combine frozen tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, all home grown with basil, worchester sauce, a touch of lemon juice, salt and pepper. convert this to juice, I use our blender. Depending on the texture of the liquid, you may prefer adding a bit of H2O. Chill and stir before pour.

    BTW, my primary ingredients are frozen and as we proceed through the year, we mix a quart or two of juice about once a week depending on our taste buds.the juice is very good for you!

    Reply
    • 33

      Anna@Green Talk says

      June 5, 2016 at 5:11 pm

      Brillant, Harvester. Do you add 1 to 1 of each ingredient? Anna

      Reply
      • 34

        Harvester says

        June 5, 2016 at 5:22 pm

        Let me try to refine this: two quarts of tomatoes blended to liquid, add 1 cup carrots blended to juice form, add 1 cup cucumbers blended to juice form. 1 teaspoon basil, 1 tbls worchester, lemon juice 1 tbls, salt to taste, add 3 tbls balsamic vingar, a dash of paprika.

        Taste and twick to your taste. Often I will add a dash of hot sauce or vingar from our Japalanos.

        I’m not a drinker but some add volka and produce a blood mary.

        Reply
        • 35

          Harvester says

          June 5, 2016 at 5:24 pm

          Refer to comment 29

          Reply
        • 36

          Anna@Green Talk says

          June 5, 2016 at 6:42 pm

          Sounds delicious. Have you ever pressured canned this recipe?

          Reply
  19. 37

    Cara says

    July 20, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    Either you are a life saver pr a total prankster. Lol. Either way, we still have jars from last year, and didn’t have the heart to yurn cucumbers down, when my mom asked me if I wanted,… like a trillion (it feels at least). Thank you!

    Reply
  20. 38

    Patricia says

    August 2, 2016 at 11:29 am

    I read this post this morning and thought I would try it. I did add 2 more small steps. #1 I took paper towels and dried the extra moisture from the cucumber and #2 placed them on a paper plate to freeze them. After frozen I will place them in an air tight container.

    My Dad loves cucumbers but he has no teeth. He mashes them up in a food processor. This is perfect

    Reply
  21. 39

    Carlie Wolf says

    August 20, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    I’ve done sweet freezer pickle but not just raw. Great idea and I have tons of cucumbers out there at the moment. I have on occasion had to take the seeds out of the cucumber though for certain recipes and I’d suggest you give using a teaspoon a try instead of the knife. Just gently scoop. I find it faster and it works very well for me. After peeling and quartering I just sit over the garbage can and scoop away.

    Reply
    • 40

      Anna@Green Talk says

      August 25, 2016 at 4:59 pm

      Great idea, Carlie. Anna

      Reply
  22. 41

    Shirley says

    February 28, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    Easier way to remove those seeds .Just take a spoon and scrape down .

    Reply
    • 42

      Anna says

      February 28, 2017 at 10:28 pm

      Shirley, great tip!Anna

      Reply
  23. 43

    Sarah says

    August 17, 2017 at 2:32 am

    So, what if I freeze whole cucumbers? I didn’t want to throw them, but didn’t know what else to do. So i dropped them in the freezer. Are they still crunchy after freezing at all? Do they hold any nutritional value?

    Reply
    • 44

      Anna says

      August 28, 2017 at 9:34 pm

      I have frozen a whole cucumber. It is mushy but you can use it make cucumber water or a smoothie.

      Reply
  24. 45

    Trizzy says

    February 11, 2019 at 12:21 am

    I peel my cucumbers, throw them in the NutriBullet, blend it then pour it into ice cube trays. Once frozen place them into ziplock bags. Great for smoothies or straight into my glass of water instead of plain ice cubes.

    Reply
    • 46

      Anna says

      February 26, 2019 at 7:26 pm

      Trizzy, love this!

      Reply
  25. 47

    Joshua Howard says

    August 9, 2019 at 12:24 pm

    Thank you for this idea! I like to make smoothies with cucumbers but I’ve never tried to freeze them. I will definitely try it.

    Reply
  26. 48

    Maria says

    August 11, 2019 at 8:26 am

    So glad I came upon your blog . I have been freezing cucumbers and. Grinding them for a couple of months. The water is so refreshing. Thank you for the wonderful information.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Easy Freezer Cucumber Salad says:
    February 5, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    […] how to freeze and use the cucumbers, my friend, Anna Hackman with Green-Talk, just wrote about how to freeze cucumbers. Great […]

    Reply
  2. Frozen Food Snobbery Is Just That | American Council on Science and Health says:
    March 20, 2016 at 8:01 am

    […] are ways around this, though, with the use of cooking or pulping and even changing the way you use your food. But on the whole, meat, fish, peas, sweetcorn and aromatic spices all respond well to […]

    Reply
  3. Let’s stop with the frozen food snobbery | New Statesman International says:
    March 20, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    […] are ways around this, though, with the use of cooking or pulping and even changing the way you use your food. But on the whole, meat, fish, peas, sweetcorn and even aromatic spices all respond well to […]

    Reply
  4. Let’s stop with the frozen food snobbery says:
    March 21, 2016 at 8:18 am

    […] are ways around this, though, with the use of cooking or pulping and even changing the way you use your food. But on the whole, meat, fish, peas, sweetcorn and even aromatic spices all respond well to […]

    Reply
  5. 16 Ways to Use Excess Cucumbers from the Garden says:
    November 28, 2018 at 10:42 am

    […] Did you know you can freeze cucumbers? Check out how here. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Shop from Anna’s Farm– The Naked Botanical– Farm Fresh Teas, Salts & Body Products

The Naked Botanical " Click HERE

Save Money By Growing Your Plants Indoors.

Three Must Have Equipment "

Grab My Free Mini Course

Connect with Me

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Popular Posts

  • Organic Color Systems: Wash those Grays Away with a Safer Hair Color
  • Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?
  • Celery Leaves: Cook or Discard them?

RSS Green Talk Radio

  • An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.

Popular Posts

  • Organic Color Systems: Wash those Grays Away with a Safer Hair Color
  • Coffee Grounds in the Garden: Friend or Foe?
  • Celery Leaves: Cook or Discard them?
  • Freeze Cucumbers & Learn How to Use Them.
  • Hydrogen Peroxide + Ears = Bye to Colds. A Remedy that Works

RSS Green Talk TV

  • Turmeric indoor sowing time!
  • Short snippet of creating a rose hydrosol
  • Elderberry, more uses than just for health
  • The Naked Botanical's Gift Boxes
  • The Naked Botanical salts

Copyright Green Talk © 2023 · Website Designed by Clever Kiwi