What to do with Cucumbers
With cucumber season year round, you really need a lot of cucumber recipes to put those delicious, crunchy vegetables to great use. Whether growing your own in a seasonal garden or picking up one of the many available types from the local produce section, you may be wondering what to do with cucumbers.
I have rounded up the best ways to use all that produce in your fridge in the most deliciously way possible.
Quick Salad Recipes
Tangy, flavorful, and super simple, fresh ingredients, these quick salad recipes are perfect for lunch or to fill up the plate as a side dish.
Creamy cucumber salad
Hands down, one of the most loved recipes is a cucumber salad recipe. With simple ingredients and a creamy dill dressing, its often considered a summer’s best side dish.
That being said, this simple recipe is the perfect side dish to heavier holiday meals and goes great as an unexpected but welcomed Thanksgiving side.
- Best seasonings to add in a creamy salad for extra flavor? Fresh dill, black pepper, chili flakes, or slices of green onion.
Cucumbers in Vinegar
When you add cucumbers to vinegar, the magic happens. A vinegar mixture acts as a brine, quick pickling, and marinates the cucumbers and other veggies (like onions). This refreshing side dish can be made with a handful of healthy vegetables depending on the season.
Here are our favorite salad recipes that soak slices in vinegar to create a light but tangy dressing. Each one has a switch up in ingredients to include your favorites. Just click to be taken to the actual recipe.
What vinegar to use for salad dressings?
- White Wine vinegar: Mild and slightly fruity, made from fermented white wine. Great for light dressings and marinades.
- Rice Wine vinegar: Mild, slightly sweet, made from fermented rice. Common in Asian recipes.
- Apple Cider vinegar: Tangy and fruity, made from fermented apple juice. Often used in salads, marinades.
- White vinegar: Strong and sharp. Commonly used for pickling, cleaning, and as a more intense flavor in some dressings.
Cucumber Dishes you may not have tried
Asian spiral cucumber salad: What makes this salad a little more unique is not only the spicy pepper flakes, but the beautiful spirals.
Cucumber pepper pasta salad: Just like the colorful cucumber bell pepper salad, this dish takes that vegetable side dish and turns it into a filling pasta salad.
Did you know that cucumbers are actually a fruit and not a vegetable? Because they have seeds in the middle, they are a fruit although they are mostly not referred to as that.
Quick and Easy Appetizers to Make
But cucumbers are so much more than an addition to a Greek salad.
- Ranch Cucumbers: These freshly seasoned cucumber pieces in ranch go great when dipped into cucumber dip.
- Cream cheese bites: Easy to replenish, this is a great cucumber appetizer to share with a crowd.
- Mini Cucumber Sandwiches: The mild flavor of a cream cheese bite goes perfect with afternoon tea.
For the best results when it comes to smooth, even cuts, especially when it comes to snacks and lunches, use a mandoline slicer or a vegetable slicer.
What else can I make with Cucumbers?
Cucumber Juice: You don’t actually need a juicer to produce the healthiest juice to drink raw or add to other fruit and vegetable juices in the morning.
Cucumber Gazpacho – Chilled soup is one of those surprising recipes that you must try. It may be an odd sensation when we often eat warm and cozy soups, but this fresh soup is a bright and tasty recipe addition for the last of the garden bounty.
Here are also a few recipes where cucumbers are not the star but just a character in a larger recipe. If you only have a few left, these recipes may be perfect for you.
I hope you found the perfect recipe or were inspired enough to learn a few ways to use up cucumbers. As I add more recipes for this awesome crunch vegetable, I will be back to update so make sure to pin this page to refer back.
