How to Freeze Cucumbers

Learn how to freeze cucumbers the easy way! If you have an overabundance of cucumbers in your garden, buy too many at the grocery store, or just want to have cucumbers prepped and on hand for the future, then this is for you!

How to Freeze Cucumbers

Freezing cucumbers is an easy way to preserve them and have fresh cucumbers on hand all year round! It only takes a few minutes of hands-on time, and it’s truly easy as can be!

Following this method to freeze diced or sliced cucumbers will ensure you’ll avoid the pieces sticking together, too. This means you get to use whatever amount of cucumbers you need at a time, and it making them easier to puree in blended recipes later down the road.

Once you defrost frozen cucumbers, their flavor will be identical to fresh, however, the texture will be changed. But when cooked into dishes or blended up, you can’t tell the difference at all. Freezing fresh fruits and veggies is one of my favorite kitchen hacks!

There are many ways to enjoy your frozen cucumbers! Use frozen cucumbers (like frozen garlic, strawberries, ginger, oranges, bell peppers, and pineapple) in place of fresh in smoothies, soups, infused water, and more!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

A quick food preservation method, like this one, is easy to love:

• Cucumbers are low in calories and fat, and they contain fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, magnesium, among other healthy benefits!
• This is a fabulous way to reduce food waste. Instead of letting your veggies go bad in the crisper drawer, you can freeze and use later!
• It seriously only takes a few minutes of prep work to freeze cucumbers. Just wash, slice and then pop into the freezer.

Ingredients and Equipment

You don’t need any ingredients other than fresh cucumbers here! But here’s a list of the kitchen tools you’ll need to make this happen too:

• Cucumbers: You can freeze any type of cucumber, including english cucumbers, mini cucumbers, and garden cucumbers. Whatever extra cucumbers you have on hand, they can be frozen for later use!
• Knife: Use a sharp knife to slice up the cucumbers really easily. A dull knife will just make cucumber mush.
• Parchment paper: If you don’t have parchment paper, a suitable substitute is wax paper. I do not recommend using foil.
• Baking Sheet: This is the easiest way to flash freeze your sliced cucumbers so that they’re not stacked on top of each other.
• Freezer-safe bag or any other airtight container: Once flash frozen, use a freezer-safe container to store the cucumbers.

How to Freeze Cucumbers

This super helpful resource is really a simple method. Here’s step-by-step instructions on how to freeze cucumbers the easy way:

Wash the outsides of the cucumbers and use a towel to dry them off. You can peel them if you prefer that, but I like to leave the skins on.

Slice the cucumbers into even slices, about 1/4 inch thick. Alternatively, you can dice them, depending on how you like to use cucumbers in your cooking.

Lay the cucumber slices in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Set the baking sheet in the freezer and allow them to freeze for at least 2 hours. Freezing each piece separately in a single layer ensures that you won’t end up with a frozen clump of cucumbers, so this is important!

Lastly, transfer the frozen cucumber slices to an airtight freezer bag. Store in the freezer until you’re ready to enjoy them!

To defrost frozen cucumbers, set them on a rimmed dish or bowl at room temperature for 3-4 hours.

Ways to Use Frozen Cucumbers

As a rule of thumb, frozen cucumbers can be used in place of fresh cucumbers in any blended or pureed recipes, or for use to infused flavor in water, cocktails, and mocktails.

They’re so yummy use in infused water! Use in my lemon cucumber ginger water or in any infused detox water you enjoy. As an added bonus, they’re a delicious way to help keep the water chilled!

Frozen cucumbers are also delicious in smoothies & juice. Make my cucumber pineapple smoothie, or use as a great addition to any smoothie. It adds fiber, vitamins, and lovely flavor!

Use them in dips & soups like tzatziki or cold cucumber soup too. They’re super tasty in savory recipes like pesto chicken salad.

Tips for Success

These simple tips can ensure that your cucumbers freeze perfectly:

• Make sure you wash the cucumbers really well before slicing them up to freeze. This will ensure you don’t have to clean them at all once thawed.
• Because of the high water content of cucumbers, once they’re frozen and defrosted, they won’t have that crisp texture like they do when they’re fresh. For that reason, I do not recommend using frozen, defrosted cucumbers on vegetable trays (crudités), or other recipes that serve them as-is where that crunchy texture is needed.
• I like to make sure that there is plenty of space in my freezing for baking sheets before I actally begin slicing up the veggies. That way, there’s no fighting my freezer after I prep the fresh cucumbers.

FAQ

More Cucumber Recipes

• Tuna Cucumber Cups
• Tomato, Cucumber, and Avocado Salad
• Greek Chicken Salad
• Greek Chickpea, Avocado and Cucumber Salad

Are you making this recipe? I’d love to hear about your experience!
Please leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @cookathomemom.