Dried Cucumber Ideas – Can You Eat Dehydrated Cucumbers

Big, juicy cucumbers are only in season for a short period. Farmer’s markets and grocery stores are filled with them, while gardeners have crazy crops of the vegetable. The summer fresh cukes need to be preserved if you're drowning in them. Canning is an option, but can you dehydrate cucumbers? Here are several dried cucumber ideas including methods and uses.

Can You Dehydrate Cucumbers?

It seems you can dry almost any food, but can you eat dehydrated cucumbers? Cucumbers are easily preserved, much like plums or nectarines. As such, it would be logical that eating dried cucumbers would be just as tasty. You can put whatever flavor spin you want on the fruit too. Go savory or sweet, either works beautifully on cucumber.

Using up a bumper crop of cucumbers can be burdensome. While pickling varieties work great canned, the burpless types do not can well. However, they make great chips. Eating dried cucumbers is a great option for vegans and those trying to avoid grocery store potato chips.

You can dry them in a dehydrator or in a low oven. There are loads of seasoning options available. Try salt and vinegar, Thai, a Latin twist, or even Greek. Whatever seasoning you put on them will be accentuated by the cucumber's natural sweetness and crunch.

How to Dry Cucumbers

Wash the cucumbers and cut them into even slices. Use a kitchen slicer to keep them all even or eyeball it if you have the skill using a knife.

For dehydrator chips, toss them in the seasonings of your choice. Then, lay them in a single layer on the dryer pans and turn on the unit. Check after 12 hours and continue drying until crisp.

In the oven, prepare them the same way but place on cookie sheets or perforated pizza pans. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees F. (77 C.) and place sheets in the oven. Cook on this low temp for about three hours.

What to Do with Dehydrated Cucumbers

Curious what to do with dehydrated cucumbers?

• Treat them like potato chips and eat them alone or make an easy dip with sour cream or plain yogurt.
• Crumble them up and add to a salad for a summery crunch.
• If you made them with Mexican seasonings, add them to your chili toppings for a satisfying snap.
• Layer slices in your favorite sandwich.
• Crush them up and mix with breading to coat chicken or use as a seasoning on any food.

Dried cucumber ideas are limited only to your imagination and personal taste.