- Martina McBride stores cucumbers wrapped in paper towels inside a breathable bag.
- This storage method keeps cucumbers fresh by preventing sliminess and ensuring airflow.
- Cucumbers are hydrating, low-calorie, and perfect for refreshing summer dishes like salads.
We love using fresh produce in recipes that call for a little roll-up action. From Eggplant Rollatini to Cucumber Cream Cheese Rolls, veggies can be pretty delicious when rolled up and filled with yummy cream cheese or protein-packed ricotta. But country singer Martina McBride recently showed us a whole new way to enjoy rolled up vegetables, one that “Wild Angels” couldn’t drag us away from.
Over on Instagram, the “Independence Day” singer shared a bountiful harvest of freshly-picked cukes with followers, along with a food storage tip we can’t wait to try. “I just picked a bunch of cucumbers and I’m going to show you the best way to store them,” McBride says in the clip. “All you need are some washed and dried cucumbers, a plastic bag and some paper towels.”
Materials ready atop the counter, McBride walks followers through her go-to method for storing cucumbers from her garden. “We’re just going to take one paper towel for each cucumber,” she says. “I’m just going to lay it right on there and just roll it up. Like I said, these cucumbers have been washed and dried—that’s very important—and we’re just going to do this with each one until they’re all rolled up. Then we’re just going to place them into a plastic bag.”
McBride grows more than one variety of cucumber, which is no problem where storage is concerned.
“I keep these separated because I have slicing cucumbers and then I have those little piccolino cucumbers, which I really love. They have such a great flavor,” she explains before adding another very important step to the storage method. “And then when you have your bag filled up, you can close it, but not quite all the way—that allows for some circulation to go around your cucumbers and keep them fresher. You can also [zip] it all the way and poke some air holes in the bag, it’s up to you.”
This method takes our favorite way to store cucumbers a step further with the addition of paper towels, but our food editors here at EatingWell agree that paper towels are the MVP of produce storage. After all, paper towels are the star of our favorite methods for storing everything from fresh herbs to salad greens. And, McBride’s suggestion to either leave the plastic storage bag slightly unzipped or poke air holes in the bag is spot on: herb storage containers and even salad spinners have long had breathability in mind for their designs, and letting those cucumbers get some fresh air is a great way to prevent them from getting slimy in the refrigerator drawer.
McBride ends her video with a shot of her own fridge produce drawers, where her freshly-harvested cucumbers appear, rolled neatly in paper towels and nestled into breathable plastic bags. “They will stay so much fresher,” she promises.
Since cucumbers pack tons of health benefits, they’re definitely worthy of the red carpet treatment. Cukes are high in water content, low in calories and can protect against things like diabetes and cancer. What’s more, they’re really, really yummy during the hot summer months, so you’ll love having fresh cucumbers on hand for refreshing recipes like Cucumber and Tomato Sandwiches, Cucumber Salad with Mint and Ginger-Dill Salmon with Cucumber and Avocado Salad.
We agree with McBride: *the time has come* to try this handy storage method for keeping cucumbers fresh.
