How to Freeze Cucumbers (Sliced, Pureed, or Ice Cubes)

Freezing cucumbers makes sense for many reasons. Maybe you’ve had a bumper crop in your home garden, or you couldn’t resist getting a bunch of them on a special offer in the produce section. Some people like having cucumbers on hand for smoothies or soups all year round. 

Did you know that freezing cucumbers as soon as they’re harvested helps them retain the highest nutritional content?

The only downside is that the high water content of cucumbers will cause them to lose the crunch. So it’s not suitable to freeze cucumbers if you plan to use them in salads or on veggie trays.

But, this guide on how to freeze cucumbers is excellent if you use cucumbers in other ways such as in smoothies or in soups.

You can freeze cucumbers in whole slices. This is probably the easiest way and maybe the best way of the different methods.

I’ve outlined all the steps necessary for freezing sliced cucumbers in the recipe card at the end of this post, but you will essentially need to slice the cucumbers and lay them on a baking tray.

Let them freeze before transferring the frozen slices to a freezer bag for long-term storage.

Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. A Baking Tray

You’ll need a large flat surface to freeze the cucumbers in a single layer.

If you don’t have a baking sheet or cookie sheet, you could use any other sheet pan or sturdy, flat surface. Even a plastic cutting board will do the trick.

2. Parchment Paper

If you don’t have parchment paper, wax paper will also work. I don’t recommend aluminum foil; when the cucumber freezes, it could get tiny pieces of foil stuck to it. 

3. Freezer-Friendly Bags

These should be zip-top bags made for home freezing. If you don’t have a plastic bag, any airtight container or freezer-safe container will work. 

Frozen sliced cucumbers is a great way to use up extra cucumbers. You can use frozen cucumber slices in a lot of different way.

You can also freeze cucumbers using the “ice cube method.” With this method, you’ll be folding thin slices of cucumbers into ice cube trays and filling them with water.

After you freeze the ice cube trays, you’ll end up with ice cubes that have sliced cucumbers inside them (I call them cucumber cubes).

This is probably the most fun way to use up an overabundance of cucumbers for later use.

Here’s what you need:

1. Ice Cube Trays

Any type of ice cube tray will do, whether silicone, plastic, or metal. You could even use novelty ice cube trays that will give you cucumber-infused ice blocks in different shapes.

Just remember to adjust the freezing time depending on the size of the cube. Smaller cubes freeze a lot quicker.

The third way to freeze cucumbers is to puree them and then freeze them.

This method is great if you plan to add your frozen cucumbers to soups or smoothies. Simply blend the cucumbers with some water and freeze your cucumber water in ice cube trays.

This is a great option if you like making drinks or mocktails where you need ice cubes. They look so pretty and add a fresh flavor to drinks.

Here’s what you need:

1. Ice Cube Trays

As with the ice cube method above, you’ll need ice cube trays because you’ll be turning your cucumber into ice cubes.  

2. A Food Processor or Blender

You can use a food processor or blender to purée your cucumbers. If you don’t have one, an immersion blender will also work.

To freeze cucumbers, you only need one ingredient: cucumbers!

You can freeze any kind of garden cucumber or grocery store cucumber, including English cucumbers, Persian cucumbers, garden cucumbers, and mini cucumbers. As long as they’re fresh, you can freeze them!

For the highest nutritional value, try to freeze the cucumbers as soon as possible after they are harvested.