What are lemon cucumbers and Lemon Cucumber, Pesto Recipe
Looking for a new cucumber to grow or devour? Try lemon cucumbers! They’re adorable and refreshing little yellow orbs for Summer.
What is a lemon cucumber?
Lemon cucumbers are a fun and refreshing addition to your garden and Summer kitchen recipes.
Like little balls of sunshine, these round, striped vegetables are, oddly enough, cucumbers. Thinking that these are un-edible gourds is more believable than being told that they’re actually edible! They look like lemon colored gourds with cucumber features in the center. These round cucumbers are too unique and interesting to pass up.
What do Lemon Cucumbers Taste Like?
Though they have no lemon flavor, the overall size and color is what gives these lemon cucumbers their recognizable name. They have the same distinctive cucumber flavor and texture that we’re familiar with. Only exception is that the skin is slightly thicker. Also, the center is more seedy as the fruit stays on the vine longer. Eat them when they’re more younger with a lighter yellow color so that’ they’re more crisp and tender.
Watch Video Cucumber with Pesto Recipe:
We had never seen them at the markets before when we were first researching them in 2008. We were fascinated and since seeing is believing, we decided to grow these for ourselves. After a visit to the nursery and two lemon cucumber plants later in our whiskey barrels, their crazy, twining, serpent vines were stretching beyond the barrels and tangling on to anything that crossed it’s path! If you are growing them here’s a warning: Lemon cucumbers vines grow and crawl like serpents! Start with just one plant and give it plenty of room!
Pesto with Cucumbers
With some good draining soil, frequent watering and a good stretch of warm weather, these vines are proliferating with yellow balls of beautiful round cucumbers! They are so easy to grow and before we knew it, we’ve got enough lemon cucumbers to last us the whole summer. All you cucumber loving gardeners will just love adding this to your vegetable patch. Lemon cucumbers are super crunchy and sweeter than their regular long green counterparts. Perfect for salads or just munching on, these cute little cukes are a great conversation piece too! They really do look like yellow gourds and round meyer lemons but when you bite past the yellow peel, you’ll see that they’re all cucumber on the inside: juicy, crisp and sweet.
We made a pesto from our garden basil to top off these refreshing basket of cucumbers, but didn’t have an more of the required pine nuts. Our pantry was empty on the nuts, something we need to re-stock on ASAP. Our simple garden pesto was made from basil leaves crushed in the mortar pestle, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Parmesan and a little garlic. It was still a delicious topping to this Summery lemon cucumber pesto dish!
Check out more of our Summer heirloom tomato recipes.
This “What is a lemon cucumber” post and recipe was originally published in 2008 and updated in 2019 with new photos and recipe.
Lemon Cucumber & Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 3-4 medium (3-4 medium) lemon cucumbers
- 2 cups (72 g) fresh Italian basil leaves
- 1/2 - 1 cup (50-100 g) grated parmesan cheese (see head note)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) toasted nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, peanuts)
- 1 tablespoon (10 ml) lemon juice , optional
- 2 cloves (2 cloves) garlic , or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) kosher salt or sea salt, to taste
- fresh ground black pepper , to taste
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) olive oil (approximately)
- pinch (pinch) red chili flakes (optional).
Instructions
- Slice or chop cucumbers. If the skin is too tough, peel the skin and if the seeds are too hard, remove the seeds.
- In food processor: combine basil leaves, parmesan, nuts, garlic, optional lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. While blending, gradually add the olive oil until the pesto reaches your desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning to personal preference and blend again if needed.
- If using traditional mortar and pestle: add basil leaves a few at a time with the garlic. Crush and grind the all the leaves and garlic until well combined. Add the nuts and cheese and continue combining into the basil mixture until a paste forms. Add the optional lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir and slightly grind until the everything is incorporated into the pesto.
- Taste the pesto and add additional salt/pepper to taste. If you want some spice, add a pinch of red chili flakes.
- Dress the pesto over cucumbers.
- Leftover pesto can be stored sealed and refrigerated overnight.
Though I haven’t made this recipe yet~it sounds delicious! I had never tried a lemon cucumber, but overheard my neighbor talking to her daughter about not forgetting to purchase seeds after their garden was prepared. I asked her about them, & she told me they’ve been her favorite for years.
My 93yr old Grandma moved into my parents home 6yrs ago, & I sold my home & moved into hers a little over 3yrs who. My biggest excitement over the move was to finally have a large backyard along w/a huge garden. The same garden which my Mom worked in as a child, as well as myself for as long as I could remember. Unfortunately I didn’t take notes back then documenting exactly what my Grandparents did! I turned to the Internet, & that’s when I realized I probably could figure this out.
I went to my local nursery & purchased 2-6packs of starts, & planted them w/my other cucumbers. I found last year planting them around wire fencing that is joined to form a circle works unbelievably well. As they start climbing I use plant ties, then move the ties farther up. Now they are at the top of the fencing, along w/my other 25+ cucumbers.
This season is my 3rd garden I’ve ever attempted, & unfortunately I’ve over purchased way too many starts & seed packs. I used every spare inch of this garden, & the abundance of produce I have shared w/family, friends, neighbors, people at my Drs office, husbands coworkers, etc. The joy I’ve found being able to produce my own food, & being able to share w/others is unmeasurable. & now finding an amazing recipe to try to better utilize all of these lemon cucumbers has truly made my day! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for sharing your story. There is just something special about growing your own food and then being able to share it with others.
I ended up with 1 lemon cucumber in my garden. It took over the whole garden. I just started a straw bale garden 4 bales this year. This strange cucumber grabbed on to everything with in reach. It was a prolific producer with lots of fruit.
I never would have thought of eating these with pesto sauce. This is my current favorite snack! Your pesto sauce was perfect.
I live in Australia and never heard about this vegetable, anybody can tell me if we have them here or if I can plant them.
Hoping a reader in Australia will be able to help you find them Barbara!
Yes they grow vigorously in Eastern NSW. My neighbour planted from seed and the vines have clmbed everywhere. They are surviving 40++ heat very well
Wow! I’ve never even heard of this!
Mariya | https://www.brunetteondemand.com/why-you-shouldnt-settle-for-less/
Thanks for introducing me to my new favorite thing… LEMON CUCUMBERS. They’re soooo good!
We bought what we thought were cuke plants, and as they grew they looked like summer squash.<long thin and yellow, When we cut into them we were amazed that they smelled and tasted like cukes but milder. As I rule I don t eat cukes because I get to taste them for days later, but these never did that. I was delighted and got my fill of them last summer. Now am having a problem finding them. And to top it off, the place we bought the plants from says he never had them.
Try lemon cucumbers pealed, when they have no yellow on their skin. Yellowing means they are over ripe and good for maturing for seeds. Light pearly green lemon cucumbers are great, once you’ve had them you’ll save the yellow ones for seed.
The “lemon cucumber” is actually a cross between a cucumber and a melon. So should more appropriately be named a cucumber melon.
You guys are my heros:)
Until now, I had fresh basil, and about 25 lemon cukes, and NO IDEA what to do with them:)
LOve this one!!
Does anyone have a good pickle recipe for the Lemon Cucumbers? I have the cukes, but don’t know how to make the pickles.
Thanks,
recipe for spicy lemon cucumber pickles
Use organic ingredients whenever possible…
ingredients:
*5-6 lemon cucumbers, sliced into wedges
*1/4 large red onion, sliced
*1 Serrano chili pepper, seeded and minced
*1 tablespoon minced ginger
*1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
*1 qt. glass Mason or other jar
*1 Tb. Himalayan or sea salt
*filtered water
directions:
1. Place sliced cucumbers in a large bowl and mix with the minced pepper, ginger, and lime juice. Pack this mixture into your 1 qt. glass jar.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the salt with 1 cup filtered water. Pour this into the jar over your cucumbers. Add more filtered water to bring the liquid about 1 inch below the top of the jar. All of the cucumbers should be covered (rearrange/remove a few if they are not).
3. Cap tightly and allow to sit for 3 days at room temperature.
4. Open the jar and see if the liquid is fizzy. If not, re-cap and allow them to sit for 1-2 more days. If there is evidence of lacto-fermentation (that’s the fizziness), go ahead and taste a pickle. If you are satisfied with the flavor, transfer to the refrigerator for storage.
Adapted from Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.
You didn’t have any other nuts? You can put any nuts or seeds in pesto, whether walnuts, pistachios or hempseed. :->
I’ve never seen lemon cucumbers, but they look really pretty. Would be fun to serve to guests!
I have them in my garden and was wondering how big do they get and how do you know when they are ready to eat? The one that looks ready is the size of a lemon, maybe a little smaller. I’m going to try the pesto recipe with my basil that is going to seed.
Hi Zoe. That sounds like about the same size out lemon cucumbers got. We would eat them after the turned a nice yellow. Enjoy!
Just Googled round cucumbers and came up with your website. Couldn’t believe they were cucumbers! Now can anyone help me with recipes to use them in. They grew in my garden this year. We figure the seeds were in with the pickling cucumbers we planted.
I found lemon cucumbers at my local vegetable stand in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada on 15 September 2009. I don’t know if they were local (Nova Scotian) or from farther away. I haven’t tried them yet, but will male a salad and feature the lemon cucumber sliced thinly on top. Paid 99 cents each, so they are a little pricey ($CDN).
The price of pine nuts drove me to try sunflower seeds in my pesto–I never went back!