How Long Do Cucumbers Last In The Fridge?

Like fresh tomatoes and corn, cucumbers are synonymous with summer in the South. They add crunch to

crisp salads

and sandwiches, are

crudités platter

allstars, delicious in

chilled soups

, and might be at their best when plucked, biting with

pickle brine

, from a Ball jar.

Cucumbers are one of the easiest and most prolific vegetables to cultivate at home and one of the more affordable to buy at the market. For this reason, it’s easy to buy them in bulk. So how long do cucumbers last in the fridge, and what’s the best way to store them?

Kelly Smith Trimble, Knoxville-based master gardener and author of

Vegetable Gardening Wisdom

and the

The Creative Vegetable Gardener

, shares her sage advice for keeping cucumbers fresh, no matter where you procure them or how you plan to use them.

What Are Cucumbers?

Cucumbers are members of the gourd family (along with melons, gourds, and squash) and

grow from yellow flowers on vines

.


While we treat cucumbers like vegetables, they are technically fruits because they grow from flowers and contain seeds.

Cucumbers originated in India and have been cultivated as a food source for more than 3,000 years. In the South, they are predominantly grown in North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia, with harvests from Mexico supplementing our supermarkets.

Cucumbers are mostly water—96 percent, even beating out watermelon by a few percentage points. The phrase « cool as a cucumber » was coined because the interior of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees cooler than the exterior.

How Long Do Cucumbers Last In The Fridge?

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), cucumbers should be used four to six days after purchase if kept in the refrigerator.


When wrapped tightly in plastic or beeswax wrap, they can last even longer. Once cut, store cucumbers in the fridge for one to two days for best flavor.

How To Store Whole Cucumbers

« When storing cucumbers, you want to prevent moisture loss while also preventing rot, which can be tricky, » Trimble says.

To do this, first

wash and dry the cucumbers

. Trimble then advises giving cukes an airtight « second skin » by wrapping them in plastic or beeswax wrap to slow deterioration. This method follows the lead of thinner skinned English cucumbers, which are

shrink-wrapped in plastic

.

Cucumbers are sensitive to the ethylene released by other nearby fruits and vegetables as they ripen, so wrapping them also protects against this.

After wrapping cucumbers, Trimble likes to store them in a produce keeper placed in her refrigerator’s

crisper drawer

. The produce keeper has a carbon filter and an elevated basket that allows for better airflow around produce.

If you can’t fit cucumbers into the crisper or produce drawer, just make sure they’re not placed toward the back of the fridge where colder air could cause water-rich cucumbers to freeze.

You can also store cucumbers in a

resealable plastic bag

. Wash and thoroughly dry the cucumbers, then wrap them individually in paper towels before placing them in a plastic bag. Store in the fridge.

If you’re growing your own cucumbers at home, it’s best to pick them early in the morning when it’s cooler outside. Then wash them, dry them completely, and follow the instructions above.

How To Store Cut Cucumbers

If you’ve simply sliced a portion off of a whole cucumber, you can rewrap what remains in the original plastic or beeswax wrap and return it to the fridge.

Place any smaller cucumber slices in a glass or reusable plastic container with a paper towel inside to help soak up moisture. Sliced cucumbers will not last as long as whole, so use them as soon as you can.

How To Store Different Types Of Cucumbers

There are two main types of cucumbers: slicing and pickling, says Trimble. Pickling varieties have smaller fruit and thicker skin. Slicing cucumbers are what we commonly see in grocery stores: dark green, uniformly sized, and oblong. Some have been bred to be burpless or seedless. Burpless varieties usually have more tender skin and are said to be easier to digest (i.e., produce fewer burps when eaten). Cucumbers with thicker skin will last longer than thin-skinned varieties, but they should all be stored the same way.

English Cucumbers

English cucumbers

, also known as greenhouse, European, or seedless cucumbers, are a type of slicing cucumbers known for their softer seeds and thinner skin, which is why they’re wrapped in plastic when sold at supermarkets. Kept wrapped, they should last nearly a week. If a grocery store cucumber isn’t wrapped in plastic, it is likely covered in a

food-safe wax

to retain the fruit’s moisture and protect it from bruising and mold.

Persian Cucumbers

Persian cucumbers are similar to English cucumbers but only grow to 5 to 6 inches long. They are also thin-skinned but are quite narrow. These crunchy, sweet cukes are sold in packages in your local grocery store and should be removed from their original packaging and wrapped in plastic wrap before storing in the crisper drawer. They are firmer with less water, so they tend to last longer than some other varieties.

Other Cucumbers

Other types of cucumbers you might see are Asian cucumbers, which have thin skin and are typically long, thin, and sometimes curved, and Armenian cucumbers, which are actually musk melons that taste and look like a cucumber on the inside. These should also be wrapped individually before storing.

Can You Freeze Cucumbers?

Yes, but it’s

not always recommended

. That’s because cucumbers contain a lot of water, which means upon defrosting they will lose their signature crunch and be quite mushy. You should really only freeze cucumbers to be used in

used in dips

, smoothies, and other blended applications where their squishy post-freeze texture won’t be a problem.

How To Tell If A Cucumber Is Bad

If a cucumber is soft, squishy, limp, slimy, or shows signs of mold, toss it. When buying, look for green cucumbers that are firm and free of soft spots, which indicate rot. Wrinkled skin is a sign of water loss, and yellow spots signal that it’s overripe. A fresh cucumber will be firm and odorless.