Pickled Cucamelons: The crunchy snack you never knew you needed
I recently posted a video on my TikTok (@riseandbrineblog <- shameless plug) that got hundreds of thousands of views. The video is about pickling cucamelons. People were losing their minds in the comments saying things like “where can I buy these??!!” and “TAKE MY MONEY!!” leading my to believe there is a market for these tasty pickled cucamelons.
Given the insane amount of interest in these, I might just need to start selling jars of pickled cucamelons next year. If you want some -> get on the waitlist!
What is a cucamelon?
A cucamelon is a tiny cucumber-like vegetable, about the size of an olive. the look like tiny watermelons and taste like a firm cucumber. They can grow in almost any growing zone! I warmer zones they are perennials (they come up each year) but zone 6 and below, they are annuals (you’ll need to replant them). They are very cold hardy and pest resistant, so cucamelons are easy to grow.
Cucamelons grow on fast-growing thin vines, which I think are very pretty! They’ll grow up to 10 feet long and need a trellis or fence to climb on. One plant can product pounds of little cucamelons per year, since it has a very long growing season.
How to use Pickled Cucamelons
The better question would be: What can’t you do with a pickled cucamelon?
Pickled Cucamelons can be used any way you’d use a regular pickle: as a snack, in a salad, in a sandwich, in a bloody mary, etc etc.
But pickled cucamelons can ALSO be used any way you’d use an olive: as a garnish, in a martini, on a charcuterie board (hello conversation starter!)…. you can let your imagination run wild here.
While raw cucamelons are nice in salads and as a snack (my kids love them!), pickling cucamelons gives you a lot more usage options, and preserved these little balls year-round! Which you will definitely want to do, because the plants produce SO many little cucamelons.
“Pickleballs”: Pickled Cucamelons
This summer we brought some cucamelons to my husband’s cousin’ to try,’s house, and I told him i was also trying to pickle them. Don’s cousin quickly told me these were to be named Pickleballs and the name stuck!
Pickled Cucamelon Recipe (“Pickleballs”)
If you try this recipe, let me know how it goes in the comments!
I may experiment with selling these commercially next year, so fill out this form to get on the waitlist, and I will let you know when they launch!
