Dehydrating Vegetables

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  • Most vegetables will dry to a crisp state. The veggie should snap and not bend when fully dry.
  • The more evenly you cut your foods the more evenly they will dry.
  • Vegetables are better to be cut smaller. This speeds up the drying time.
  • Drying times can vary from 4 hours up to 14 or more hours.
Slices of dehydrated green zucchini in a white serving dish.

Basic steps to dehydrating food:

  • Slice or chop vegetables into small pieces.
  • Blanch most vegetables.
  • Lay out on trays in a single layer.
  • Be sure air flows around individual pieces.
  • The actual drying process can be with a dehydrator, in the sun and air, or in an oven
Halved red and yellow cherry tomatoes on dehydrator trays.

The easiest and quickest method of dehydrating food is to use a dehydrator.

The most energy efficient way is to sun or air dry. Air or sun drying works best if you live in a dry climate with lots of hot days.

I don’t have any experience drying items in the oven. It seems to me that it would be very inefficient.

Actual drying time will vary according to the size of pieces, temperatures and even humidity. Here are some approximate times for dehydrating food in a dehydrator.

Type of Food

How to Prepare

Approximate Drying Time

Notes

Slice tomatoes 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Peeling is optional, I never do.

6 – 12 hours at

145 degrees

These can be crumbled or even ground in a blender to make tomato powder.

How to Dry Cherry Tomatoes

Wash and remove stem. Slice in half and lay on trays cut side up. Salting or seasoning is optional.

6- 12 hours at

145 degrees.

Very tasty!

These will dry more leathery not as crisp. They also take much longer than regular tomatoes.

Dehydrating Sweet Potatoes

Peel and slice sweet potatoes 1/4 inch thick. Blanch 3 minutes.

4-10 hours at

125 degrees.

I tried to make these for snacking on… like the zucchini chips. I did not care for them as a snack.

How to Dry Peppers

Remove tops and seed peppers. Slice or dice and lay out on trays.

5-12 hours at

125 degrees.

Don’t forget to wear gloves when handling hot peppers. Leave the seeds if you want hot. Dried red peppers can be ground to make chili powder.

Peel or scrub. Dice or slice 1/4 inch. Blanch 3 to 4 minutes.

6-12 hours at

125 degrees

If you dry these diced, be sure and stir the carrots occasionally during drying. This prevents them from sticking together and will encourage more even drying.

Snap beans into 1 inch pieces. Blanch 4 to 6 minutes. Spread on trays.

6-12 hours at

125 degrees.

Very easy to dry.

Dice or slice into 1/4 inch pieces.

5-10 hours at

125 degrees.

Use diced dried zucchini in soups and casseroles.

Blanch and slice corn from the cob.

12-14 hours at

120 degrees.

Use dried corn in soups and casseroles. Chew on it just as it is for a snack attack.

Related Pages

dehydrating tomatoes

Dehydrating Tomatoes

Dehydrating Tomatoes, How to dry tomatoes in a food dehydrator.

Dehydrating green beans

Dehydrating Green Beans

Dehydrating green beans, how to dry green beans, step by step directions from picking and blanching to storage.

dehydrating carrots

Dehydrating Carrots

How to Dehydrate Carrots, dehydrating carrots and other vegetables, step by step directions.

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Dehydrating Vegetables

Page last updated: 3/9/2021

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Lori Mursuli
Lori Mursuli
3 years ago

Thank you for all this great information. I just bought a dehydrator and canning pot. Making me a supply of emergency food for winter days and do t want any of my herbs or veggies to go to waste from my garden this summer!