While freezing cucumbers is probably not the first thing people think of when they want to preserve cucumbers, it’s actually a very useful thing to do. Here’s the thing with freezing cucumbers, the texture will be different when they’re thawed. If you can accept that fact, you can successfully freeze cucumbers.
You can freeze cucumbers in a variety of ways and use them for dips, drinks, and other recipes all year long!
“Fresh cucumbers are 90 percent water. Normally, freezing a vegetable with such a high water content would have quality issues because the water forms large ice crystals piercing its tender cell walls. When the food thaws, water is released from the cells, and they collapse, producing a mushy product.”
Martha Zepp
Former Program Director
Penn State University
Best Methods for Freezing Cucumbers
Always start with the end in mind when you’re preserving food. How do you want to use the end product and then work backwards. Do you want to infuse your daily water with cucumbers? Add frozen cucumbers to smoothies? Add flavor to salad dressings? Use on sandwiches or in chopped salads?
To prepare the cucumbers for freezing, wash and dry them. I use cucumbers that I grow or that I know are grown without pesticides so I don’t ever peel them. However, if you want peeled cucumbers, peel them before freezing them.
The one way you don’t want to freeze cucumbers is freezing them whole. If you try freezing whole cucumbers, you’ll end up with a soggy mess when it thaws out.
Freezing Cucumber Slices
Freezing fresh cucumber slices is the most versatile way to freeze cucumbers. Slice the cucumbers into 1/4-inch slices and put them on a baking the sheet lined with parchment paper.
Pop the baking sheet into the freezer for a few hours. Put the frozen cucumber slices in a freezer bag. Label the bag and put it back into the freezer.
Pro Tip: Use several smaller freezer bags instead of one large freezer bag to store frozen cucumbers. Every time you open the bag to take out cucumber slices, air will get into the bag which increases the risk of freezer burn.
Freezing Cucumbers in Ice Cubes
Another way to freeze cucumbers is to use ice cube trays. Cube the cucumber and put the cubes into ice cube trays. Cover the cucumbers with water and put them in the freezer until the water is frozen.
Once the cucumbers are frozen pop them out of the ice cube trays and put them in a freezer bag. Label the bag and put it in the freezer. These are great for adding to water or sparkling water, as the ice melts the water gets infused with cucumber flavor.
Freezing Pickles
While I’d rather just can my pickles, many people prefer to freeze them. Pickles that have been salted, like my Granny’s Bread and Butter Pickles, make great frozen pickles. The salt draws out some of the water and help the pickles not turn to mush when thawed.
For best results, slice the cucumbers very thinly, almost see-through.
| Method | Effort | Texture After Thaw | Best Uses | Storage Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tray Freeze (Sliced or Chunked) | Easy | Soft, watery | Smoothies, blended soups, sauces | 8–12 months |
| Puree / Ice Cube Tray | Easy | Mushy (blends smoothly) | Drinks, gazpacho, dressings | 8–12 months |
| Quick-Pickle then Freeze | Medium | Slightly firmer than plain frozen, flavor changes | Toppings, sandwiches, salads | 8–12 months |
| Whole Cucumbers | Minimal | Very mushy — not recommended | Not ideal | Not recommended |
Why Cucumbers Lose Their Crispness When Frozen
Cucumbers are more than 90% water. When they freeze, that water forms ice crystals that expand and rupture the tiny cell walls inside the vegetable. Once the cucumber thaws, the damaged cells cannot hold their structure and the flesh becomes soft and watery instead of crisp.
This is why frozen cucumbers are best used in recipes where texture isn’t important—think smoothies, chilled soups, and blended dressings. If keeping a crunchy bite is your goal, choose pickling or fresh use instead.
Cucumber Sorbet
Every year I use overgrown cucumbers to make batches of cucumber lime sorbet for the freezer. Instead of churning it, I blend it and put in a gallon freezer bag. When I want to use it, I thaw it until it has a slushy texture and put it in the electric ice cream maker for churning.
Labeling and Storing Tips
- You absolutely want to label the freezer bags – frozen cucumbers look a lot like frozen zucchini.
- Use smaller rather than larger bags to reduce the risk of freezer burn. Only open one bag at a time.
- Remove all the air possible from bag before putting it in the freezer.
- Storage recommendation for freezing cucumbers is 8-12 months, with the best quality before 6 months. However, storing them in smaller bags and only opening one bag at a time will help preserve the quality.
- Freezer burn doesn’t make them unsafe, but it does affect the flavor.
- If you see ice crystals forming inside the freezer bag, rinse them off the cucumbers before using. This will remove the “off” flavor.
How to thaw frozen cucumbers
Cucumbers have high water content which means when they thaw, they’ll release a lot of liquid. If I’m putting cucumbers in water to infuse the water, I just plop the cucumber ice cubes or frozen cucumber slices into the water and let them thaw in the water.
If you’re going to make tzatziki or gazpacho, put the frozen cucumbers in a bowl in the refrigerator or counter to thaw. This will keep all the yummy liquid together so you can use it in your recipe.
Like other thawed food, frozen cucumbers should not be left out for more than 2 hours or you run the risk of bacteria forming.
How to use frozen cucumbers
Now that you know how to freeze cucumbers, how do you use them? You can use frozen cucumbers in anything that you want the fresh cucumber flavor but where texture doesn’t matter.
My favorite way to use frozen cucumbers is for infused water. Boring I know, but I love it. If you want a more exciting cucumber drink, you could try this cucumber mint martini.
We’re not really gazpacho people but I’ve only had plain gazpacho. I’ve never had tomato, strawberry, and basil gazpacho or anchovy gazpacho, both sound super interesting.
Tzatziki is a traditional Middle Eastern or Mediterranean dish. Its used on pita, as a dip, and on meat and vegetables. It’s quite expensive at the deli, but tzatziki can be made at home very inexpensively.
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Wash cucumbers and pat dry.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the cucumbers into 1/4-inch slices
- Lay the cucumber slices on the prepared baking sheet
- Put filled baking sheet into the freezer for several hours or overnight.
- Transfer the frozen cucumber slices to a freezer bag and remove all excess air. Put the bag back into the freezer.
- Cut off the ends of the cucumbers and then slice the cucumbers into fourths lengthwise.
- Slice each length into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Put cubes into ice cube trays and cover with water.
- Freeze for several hour or overnight.
- Transfer the frozen cucumber ice cubes to a freezer bag and remove all excess air. Put the bag back into the freezer.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!If you found this guide useful, be sure to check out my other freezing guides.
So don’t let an abundant harvest overwhelm you, freeze cucumbers to use throughout the year. Do you freeze cucumbers? If so, what do you use them for?
I freeze them and use them to make cucumber mint slushees.
oh my, that sounds lovely!
Sounds Devine
Can you still use them in salads? I like cucumber slices, will they be okay to eat like just a cucumber by it’s self, even after they are frozen?
They get soft when they thaw out so I don’t think I would enjoy them in a salad. The texture is similar to a soft pickle slice – not a crispy pickle. If you don’t mind the texture being different than fresh it’s worth a try.
I would blend with a few herbs oils or flavored vinegars and use as salad dressing for the flavor!
I make a cucumber salsa using sour cream, lemon juice onions, green peppers, and carrots soaked in jalepeno juice, as well as a few bits of jalepenos. Not too hot just right for me. I eat this on crackers. I was wondering if I could freeze it? So am thinking of trying one batch to see if it turns out. Not sure about the cukes or the sour
cream. Will let you know.
Let me know how that turns out for you. I’ve never had any luck freezing sour cream but maybe with other things added it will turn out okay.
Maybe leave out the sour cream until you take the salsa out of the freezer, then mix it in.
That’s a good idea!
the cilantro would turn dark and get soft, you might need to add that when you thaw it
Thanks for the tip, Lacinda. That’s a great idea!
When you use them for tzatziki do you use seeds and all?
Hi Gloria, I do but you could freeze some peeled and seeded cucumbers in chunks if you didn’t want to use the seeds and skin.
A proper Tzatziki : Remove the seeds but do not peel the cucumbers. Shred or finely chop the cucumbers and squeeze out any excess water. Combine with plain Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and mint (NOT DILL).
Thanks for the information on a proper Tzatziki, Tara.
Hmm. I have cucumbers nearly coming out my ears right now, and have been loving them in green smoothies. I have already thought about how I’ll miss them at the end of the season— I could definitely freeze them for use in smoothies! Never thought of that- thank you!
You’re welcome! I used added some the other day to a fruit leather mixture I was making. So if you like fruit leather, you might want to give that a try too. Enjoy!
Many people use cucumber slices to place on their eyes to reduce the bags. Do you think frozen (thawed) cucumber slices would work the same?
Thank you,
Deborah
Yes, I believe that thawed cucumber slices could be used for puffy eyes. Just know that the cucumber slices will be limp and not firm.
Freezing cucs would be the answer to the over abundance in the garden. I paper thin slice cucs to make creamed cucs. So if I’m reading this right I can freeze them thaw then make the creamed cucs. But does freezing change the flavor?
Yes, you can do that, the texture will change but the flavor doesn’t. Before you go and freeze a whole bunch, slice one and freeze the slices. The next day thaw them and make your creamed cucumbers and see how you like it. If you like it, then you can freeze a bunch.
I am sitting here looking at 48 cucumbers from the garden and there are more to harvest! I only have a small garden in my backyard and this is the first year I planted cukes – and I planted just one package of seeds! They took off and are now choking out my tomatoes and green beans. Told my son this morning, I may have to go out there and cut a few of the vines out of the garden just to maintain some control! Now I found this thread on Pinterest and loving the ideas. I certainly will freeze most to put into waters and into smoothies. I’ve never had them in smoothies but since textures are not an issue in a smoothie for me, why not!! And I’ve never had tzatziki before but seems like a good time to try that too.
Thanks, everyone!
Goodness, that’s a lot of cucumbers! What blessing. I’m glad this post helped you.
We have an English cuke plant that is producing 5 long cukes every 3 days. I’ve had enough for now, but sure pay big bucks for fresh ones in the winter. Thanks for the ideas! BTW, regular cukes don’t grow well in any of our gardens or even pots-they get bulbous and look weird. Chalking it up to a previous black walnut tree in the yard….
That’s odd about the regular cukes, but amazing that you’re getting so many English cukes! Here’s to enjoying them all winter long.
I saute chunks of cucumber in olive oil and butter, add onions, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, if you have fresh corn or left over corn cut off the niblets and add that too. most any combination works well. serve over grain of choice or pasta. add spices to your liking. this melange does freeze well.
like the frozen cube idea too.
That’s a great idea, Meredith! Thanks for sharing. I’ve never sauteed cucumbers before but now I want to try it.
Sounds delicious…. I’m definitely trying this recipe! Thanks for sharing!
@meredith, This recipe so so yummy – I added just a dash of salt and worcestershire sauce. What a great way to use up some extra Qukes. Thanks.
@meredith, Thank you for sharing. I added shrimp and cajun seasoning served over grits. OMG it was wonderful. You’d think I was a sourthern gal!
I make cucumber loaf and muffins… really good… tastes like zucchini bread. My family loves it. Found several recipes on line. Just type in the search engine easy cucumber muffins.
What a great idea! I’ve never heard of cucumber loaf and muffins. I’ll have to go looking now.
I fix a spaghetti dish with fresh cukes, basil, sea salt and EVOO. The cukes are peeled and seeded. The “meat” is then cut into strips, then chopped with the fresh basil and salt, before adding the olive oil. As soon as the spaghetti is done cooking, it’s drained and immediately mixed in the bowl with the cuke mixture. This sounds like a good way to preserve my garden cukes to use in this recipe all year long!
That spaghetti dish sounds delicious! Thanks so much for sharing!
What a small world! I’m friends with your sister. We used to go to church together. So glad I found your blog! Thanks for answering my question about freezing cucumbers.
Hi Sylvia! It is a small world!
I fry my cucumbers with potatoes, zucchini, green beans (from the garden) and onions and sprinkle with seasoning salt. My husband doesn’t like cucumbers but he loves them that way! My own little garden stir fry. And it’s really good with a fried egg placed on top and a side of toast. Mmmmmm!
Whaaaat? I’m going to try that. I make my own stir fry just like that but without the cucumbers. Thanks for the tip! And with the fried egg, I bet my husband wouldn’t even know…lol
@Connie, yes, that would be great!
We have even tried deep frying cucumbers just like fried green tomatoes & squash…very good. Worth trying
I haven’t but I most certainly will. Thanks for the sharing!
Has anyone tried vacuumed sealing cucumbers?
If you mean vacuum sealing the frozen cucumbers, yes I have and it works pretty good. If you put several layers of cucumbers in the bag, it’s not super flat and sometimes you’ll end up with spots that still have air in them.
Can you use them after they thawed in like a Cucumber Dill Salad?
You can, but they will be mushy.
What a wonderful idea! I make a cold cucumber basil soup in the summer. Because you cook the cukes until soft, freezing them would be no problem. 2 T Butter, 1 diced vidalia onion, 3 c chicken broth, 1 small white potato (I subbed cauliflower to make it Keto friendly), 3 cucumbers seeded and diced but not peeled, 1 c greek yogurt or sour cream, 3T chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper. Saute onions in butter and add broth and potato cooking until softened. Add cucumbers and cook until soft. Blend with immersion blender until smooth and add remaining ingredients. Cool and refrigerate at least an hour before serving. It is the most delightful summer soup! Now that I look back at this recipe, I don’t see why in cannot be made with everything except the sour cream and frozen. Sour cream could be added once thawed before serving.
That sounds delicious, Donita! Thanks for sharing.
Great cucumber ideas
Thanks!
Great ideas ! Thanks
I am British and don’t know what these measurements mean
Can someone help please,
1T.
1C
These are volume measurements. The 1T is 1 Tablespoon and the 1C is one cup. In the US we usually measure dry and liquid ingredients by volume. 1 tablespoon is approximately 15ml and 1 cup is approximately 240ml. If you are measuring dry ingredients you can do an online search like “how much does 1 cup of flour weigh in grams” and that will give you a good approximation. Hope that helps. I never realized until I wrote the book just how different cooking is in the US.
We use cucumbers to feed animals with so we have a lot of cucumbers so what is the proper way to freeze and thaw them?
Thanks
I think for feeding to animals you can chop them or not – either way they are going to be mushy when they thaw out. I give our chickens slightly thawed (but still frozen) cucumbers as a treat. You can thaw them in a bowl on the counter or refrigerator before giving them to the animals. I would try a few different ways and see what works best for you.
You can freeze seeded chunks and keep the crispness if you add sugar. They will last for about 6 months. I make a dressing of sugar, vinegar, chunky peanut butter and cayenne powder. Its delicious.
oh wow! I had no idea. I’ll have to try that. Thanks for sharing!
Cool info, Thanks all
Glad I found this. I just made some cucumber relish and put in jars for the freezer. But have lots of cukes but no onions and peppers now. So going to chop those babies up freeze them on a single layer sheet and make relish at a later time. Pretty sure that will work! Then do a vacuums seal bag for them to make last longer. Could them use them for other things in future too like that cucumber soup sounds awesome! Or a dip or who knows! So happy now. Ive been trying to sell them but nobody seems to want organic Cucumbers around here for some reason. 🤔. When I’ve reach my limit I will send them over to the local food pantry now.
We have the same problem with lemons and grapefruit around here in the winter – there is such abundance that no one wants to buy them. Good idea to vacuum seal the bags so they’ll last longer.
I juiced them, froze in ice cube trays, then put in food preserving bags. Will use for gazpacho, cocktails, infused water.
That’s wonderful, Rebecca!
Put them in with your frozen squash and fry them with cornmeal over them and put them in a small amount of oil and fry them up, really good!! Have done this a lot of times with my frozen squash and cukes lots of time, even add a little onion to give it a great flavor!!
Thanks for the inspiration, Susan! That sounds delicious.
Anyone on here know if you can using the Crisping powder that some home canners use for pickles to crisp up these cukes before freezing? I am almost inclined to try it!! Thanks for any ideas ahead of time, folks! Love these ideas- keep them coming!
I don’t but it would be worth a try!
Hello mam, hope you are doing well.
I just want to ask you is this really possible to store cucumber pickling for 12 months without using any preserver chemicals.
Yes I agreed with you that the pickling can be easily safe for 5-7 months. Please clarify my thoughts.
Thanks for such a long helpful article.
Hi Lila, great questions. When you pickle a cucumber you are preserving it using natural preservation methods – both vinegar and satl are natural preservatives. Shelf stable pickled cucumbers are made with a vinegar brine and are water bath canned. The shelf life of properly canned pickles is a year or longer. Some people don’t want to use a water bath canner and instead make refrigerator pickles which also use a vinegar brine but are stored in the refrigerator instead of the shelf. Those can easily be stored in the refrigerator for a year. Fermented pickled cucumbers use a salt water brine and fermentation to preserve the cucumbers. These can also be stored in the refrigerator for up to a year. The quality of the food will deteriorate over time, but as long as they were preserved and stored properly, the safety is not an issue. Hope that helps.
I have used hot jars and brine and warm lids and put rings on and they will seal most of the time. I don’t water bath because I like them crispy. I know they don’t recommend this but really they fermented pickles in vinegar and salt brine right in a crock and nobody got sick. If they don’t seal you may have one that doesn’t put in fridge for a few weeks.. If sealed put on shelf. Always check your seal before eating and smell them. Should be fine.
If that works for you, that’s fine but not water bath canning vinegar brined pickles is not a recommended method for making shelf stable pickles. You really can’t make a comparison between traditionally fermented pickles and vinegar pickles – they are two totally different methods. With traditionally fermented pickles you create an environment where beneficial bacteria can thrive and other bacteria, such as Clostridium botulinum, cannot. With vinegar pickles the goal is to have no bacteria. Also, fermented pickles are not shelf stable and need to be kept in a cool place (like a refrigerator or root cellar) in order to slow the fermentation process down. If they are kept in a warm environment, they will continue to ferment. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the cucumbers will get softer over time. My point is you can’t say that because fermented pickles aren’t water bath canned, vinegar pickles don’t need to be. Of course, in your kitchen you can do whatever you want. But on my site, I only share recommended ways of preserving food.
Wow, you guys are awesome with all of the cucumber ideas! I’m lazy, I just cut big chunks, freeze em and use them as infusing ice cubes. Great article and so fun to read all of the posts.
If I a going to use them to make tzatziki could I shred them before freezing? I am worried about trying to shred them after thawing.
Absolutely!
Went to make my pickle relish and found out my stove was broken! Can I grind cucumbers and onions and peppers and freeze until I’m able to get my stove fixed and then I can cook and water bath?
Unfortunately, the cucumbers will be mushy after being frozen. So that really won’t work. I’m sorry.
I just made cucumber bread. A zucchini bread recipe but I used cucumbers instead. Tastes pretty good. Wondering if I used frozen cucumbers if it would change the bread?
oh, that sounds tasty!! I would think that you might need to leave out some of the water that gets released when they thaw out. I don’t when I use zucchini but cucumbers are more watery.
Could you please advise on the best way to pickle apple cucumbers as I have an abundance of them and it seems to be a waste to throw them away
I’ve never grown apple cucumbers but I would assume you could use them in your favorite pickle recipe. Since they have a bit of a sweet flavor, they would probably be good in as a sweeter pickle like Bread and Butter pickles.
If you get sick in the winter, you can add cucumbers to water. The cucumbers have electrolytes in them so will help you feel better. You can also eat a cucumber out of the garden for the same electrolytes if you are thirsty. They are loaded with water too. Watermelon has some of the same.
I freeze cucumbers all the time to use in casseroles and stove top scrambles. I have no recipe, just throw stuff together and it always works out. It’s like zucchini…same idea. Can even scramble it with ground beef or ground chicken. I use it over pasta, rice, potatoes, or even a slice of bread. You spice it up according to taste…and i do occasionally make a little sauce for it.