Cucumber Calories & Nutrition Calculator

Raw cucumber with peel has 15 kcal per 100g — placing it among the lowest-calorie foods in the USDA database, alongside celery (16 kcal), lettuce (14 kcal), and ash gourd (13 kcal). At 95.2% water by weight, an entire medium cucumber (201g) contains approximately 191g of water and just 30 kcal — fewer calories than a single tablespoon of olive oil ^[1].

Peeled cucumber drops further to 12 kcal per 100g (96% water), since the peel contains slightly more carbohydrates and fiber than the flesh. The calorie difference between peeled and unpeeled is 3 kcal per 100g — nutritionally insignificant. Either way, cucumber's calorie contribution to any meal is negligible.

For food journaling, cucumber barely registers calorically. An entire medium cucumber has 30 kcal — less than a single grape has by weight ratio. The practical question isn't whether to log cucumber's calories, but whether to log the dressing, salt, or yogurt you add to it.

Cucumber with peel provides 16.4mcg vitamin K per 100g (14% DV), while peeled cucumber has only 7.2mcg (6% DV) — a 56% reduction. The dark green skin concentrates vitamin K, a fat-soluble nutrient typically associated with leafy greens. Peeling removes more than half the vitamin K content ^[1][2].

For a medium cucumber (201g with peel), the vitamin K contribution is approximately 33mcg — 28% of the daily value. This makes unpeeled cucumber a modest but consistent vitamin K source, especially relevant because cucumber is commonly eaten raw (preserving the heat-sensitive vitamin fully).

For nutrition journaling, always note whether you eat cucumber with or without peel. The calorie and macronutrient differences are trivial, but the vitamin K difference is significant. If vitamin K tracking matters, eat cucumber unpeeled whenever possible.

A medium cucumber (201g) contains approximately 191ml of water — nearly a full glass. For individuals who struggle to meet daily hydration through beverages alone, cucumber provides a food-based hydration supplement at negligible caloric cost. The water in cucumber also contains dissolved electrolytes: 2mg sodium and 147mg potassium per 100g ^[1].

The hydration value becomes especially relevant in hot climates and during physical activity, where cucumber-based preparations (raita, kachumber, tzatziki) serve dual purposes: hydration and cooling. The 2mg sodium per 100g is extremely low — cucumber dilutes rather than concentrates sodium in a meal.

For food journaling, cucumber's primary value is hydration and volume rather than macronutrients or calories. A 300g cucumber salad takes up significant stomach volume, contains approximately 285ml of water, and costs only 45 kcal. The satiety-per-calorie ratio is among the highest of any food.

Cucumber's potassium-to-sodium ratio is 73.5:1 (147mg potassium, 2mg sodium per 100g) — among the highest of any common food. This means cucumber adds potassium without sodium, making it useful for rebalancing the potassium-sodium ratio of a meal that includes salty components ^[1].

A medium cucumber (201g) provides approximately 295mg potassium — 6% of the daily adequate intake — with only 4mg sodium. By comparison, a single slice of bread has ~130mg sodium. Adding cucumber to a sandwich literally improves the meal's potassium-sodium balance.

For food journaling, cucumber is a potassium contributor that never needs a sodium caveat. Unlike celery (80mg sodium/100g) or beet greens (226mg), cucumber's sodium is essentially zero. If tracking electrolyte balance, cucumber is purely on the potassium side of the ledger.

All common cucumber varieties (Cucumis sativus) share similar nutritional profiles: 12–16 kcal per 100g, 95–96% water, and comparable micronutrient concentrations. The differences are primarily textural and culinary: English cucumbers have fewer seeds, Persian cucumbers are crunchier, and Indian kheera varieties tend to be shorter with more seeds ^[3].

The seed-to-flesh ratio affects nutrient distribution marginally. Cucumber seeds contain slightly more folate (14mcg/100g in peeled/seeded-heavier flesh vs. 7mcg in whole-with-peel) and marginally different mineral concentrations. But these differences are small enough that a single USDA entry applies adequately to all common varieties.

For food journaling, treat all cucumber varieties as nutritionally equivalent. The calorie, macronutrient, and micronutrient differences between English, Persian, Japanese, and Indian varieties are within measurement error. What matters for your food log is weight and whether the peel is included.