Who knew baked cucumbers could be so delicious? Julia Child, of course. Her herb-baked cucumbers got me excited enough to develop my own recipe. Everything's better with butter and herbs, right? But what about throwing in some Parmesan Cheese!
So, maybe you've been asking yourself, can you cook cucumbers? How about making them as a vegetable sauté? I'm here to tell you yes, you can cook cucumbers! and also to show you how to do it.
Baked Cucumbers Recipe
Cucumbers are a healthy vegetable, low in calories and low in fat, made mostly of water, that is often used in pickling. You also see raw cucumber sliced and added to salads (here are 38 Easy Cucumber Salad Recipes).
But there are many other ways you can enjoy this delicious veggie. You can make stir-fry cucumbers, for example, adding in some seasoning and putting some cheese on top, if you like.
I never thought I'd need a recipe for baked cucumbers, but then, I don't usually plant a garden. Last year, I threw a few cucumber and squash plants in the garden area at Valley Friends Meetinghouse and then I neglected them. There were just a couple of tiny cucumbers and then this happened. Look at that! Cucumbers for days.
Those of you who have grown cucumbers before probably know that if you have neglected them or they stayed hidden when you were picking the others, you may end up with a cucumber that has grown huge like this.
Once they become overgrown, they turn yellow and also can be tough. But these can actually be great cucumbers to use for cooked cucumber. There is even a Korean recipe called Nogak that uses these overgrown cucumbers.
Have you ever seen huge yellow cucumbers? Yeah. Me neither. These are "bush cucumbers" which are supposed to be small and green. OOOOPS!
When they get to this stage, you can still eat them, but the peel is tough and bitter and the seeds are inedible. The flesh is still delicious, though. So you can use them any way you would normally eat a cucumber, sliced raw, pickled, in a good Cucumber Dill Salad, or any other way.
There are too many of them for us to eat quickly. We made some Grandma's No Cook Refrigerator Pickles, a batch of Refrigerator Dill Pickles, and a couple of salads.
Then I thought: "I bet we could cook them much like squash," and I looked for recipes by Julia Child (who else?) in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her tip to marinate them in a vinegar brine was perfect. She used wine vinegar, and I tried it that way. It was good, but I thought it needed a little more pizzazz. So the next time I made them I used apple cider vinegar and it's super good.
The apple cider vinegar gives it a little sweetness in addition to the tang. Here's how to cook with cucumber.
What You Need For Making Baked Cucumbers
You will need:
- a vegetable peeler
- knife
- cutting board
- wire whisk
- large mixing bowl
- measuring cups and spoons
- sauté pan
- baking dish
Ingredients:
- your cucumbers
- salt
- sugar
- butter or margarine
- fresh basil
- pepper
- Romano or parmesan cheese
Cooked Cucumber FAQ
Cooking with cucumbers is easy once you learn how. Here are some common questions that people ask.
Are cooked cucumbers even good?
As we have shown above in our recipe, yes, cucumbers can be cooked and they taste delicious!
Can cucumber go in the oven?
Yes, you can bake cucumber in the oven, if you choose to.
Do cucumbers lose nutrients when cooked?
All vegetables use some nutrients when cooked. Boiling cucumbers will cause them to lose the most nutrients but any water-based methods of cooking like boiling, steaming, and blanching can result in some nutrient loss.
Can you steam cucumbers?
Yes, you can steam cucumber the same as you can any other vegetable. This is a good method of cooking to keep it crisper and retain more of the nutrients.
Baked Cucumbers With Parmesan Cheese Recipe
Author: Recipe Idea Shop
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 4 large cucumbers or 2 super large. Ha.Ha.
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup shredded Pecorino Romano Cheese (or parmesan)
Instructions
- Whisk the apple cider vinegar, salt, and sugar together until the sugar and salt have dissolved. (If you are using turbinado sugar, I suggest you heat this mixture for about 30 seconds to help the sugar dissolve.)
- Peel the cucumbers and cut them lengthwise into strips. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds.
- Place the cucumbers in the vinegar brine, give them a stir so they are well coated, and set this aside for about 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 375F degrees.
- In a small sauté pan, melt the butter and sauté the onions for a few minutes until they are transparent.
- Add the chopped basil and pepper and stir to combine.
- Pour the butter and onion mixture into a 7" x 9" casserole dish and use this mixture to coat the bottom and sides of the dish.
- Drain the cucumbers and pat them dry with a paper or cloth towel.
- Place the cucumbers in the butter mixture and stir to coat the cucumbers with the butter.
- Bake the cucumbers in a 375F degree oven for about one hour, stirring them once or twice during that time.
- About 5-10 minutes before the cucumbers are ready to remove from the oven, sprinkle the top with the Pecorino Romano cheese.
- The cucumbers will still be a little crisp and only a tiny bit browned when they are done.
- Serve hot.
Nutrition (may vary depending on ingredients and amounts used)
Notes
More Cucumber Recipes
- Cucumber and Onion Salad
- Aunt Betty's Dill Cucumber Salad with Onion
- Cucumber Salsa
- Watermelon And Cucumber Mint Salad
