Dehydrated Vegetables (2024)

Who doesn’t love to get stuck into a bag of potato chips? An easily addictive snack, you can now make your very own potato crisps at home with minimal fuss and the peace of mind of knowing exactly what seasonings/process is used to create them. Delivering the same flavour and nutritional levels as fresh potatoes, dehydrated spuds can be used in many ways, ensuring you get the most out of this popular root veggie and preventing unnecessary food wastage.

To prepare potatoes for dehydration, we like to remove the skin, although you can choose to keep the skin on. As with various types of fruit prior to dehydration, it’s a good idea that once your potatoes are peeled, you pop them in a bowl of water mixed with either ascorbic acid or citric acid/lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Following this process, you can then cut them into your desired size or shape, depending on how you’re going to use the potatoes once they’re dehydrated (once cut, potatoes will need to be blanched for around 5-10 minutes and then allowed to cool before placing them on your dehydrator trays). Potatoes can be diced, sliced, shredded, or even cut into french fries—the choices are endless!

Another option with potatoes is to dehydrate mashed potatoes—so boiling and mashing without any additional butter/cream etc., and then spreading the mashed potato onto a dehydrator tray. As the mashed potato dehydrates, it will break into pieces and begin to crinkle up. When the potato is completely dry, you can then place all the pieces in a food processor and grind it into a fine powder or potato flakes. If you notice any moisture once your potatoes have gone through the food processor, ensure you pop them back in the dehydrator, so they’re completely dry before storing.

Potatoes are packed with nutrients and provide many health benefits, and the dehydrated version is no different. A great source of antioxidants, fibre, potassium, and vitamins C and B6, dehydrated potatoes support good digestive health, reduce the risk of disease and illness, improve blood health and are naturally gluten-free.

Potatoes will be quite hard once dehydrated, so if you choose not to have them as a snack, you can store them and rehydrate them in meals. See our suggestions below.

• Add to stews, soups, casseroles or other hot dishes.
• Use as a thickener for gravies, sauces and soups.
• Rehydrate with water and either roast, mash, or make hash browns.
• Fry up in a pan to create your own crisps, and add your seasoning of choice—you could use salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika or chilli powder.
• Turn into potato flakes and sprinkle over various veggie dishes or salads to add flavour and texture.

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Carrots are not just for Bugs Bunny! Rich in nutrients, this orange veggie can be dehydrated and used in a variety of ways that will help preserve and prevent the wastage of your fresh produce.

Although it can be debated whether you need to blanch carrots prior to dehydration, we recommend taking that extra step to help preserve the colour, texture and flavour of your carrots. This will also shorten the dehydration time slightly and extend the shelf life too.

To prepare carrots for dehydration, wash and peel them first, especially if they’ve been grown in your garden. You can choose to cut them however you wish, depending on how you want to use them once dehydrated (baby carrots you can keep whole, but they will take longer to dehydrate)—you may want to cube or dice them, slice or shred, or even cut them julienne to create your own dehydrated carrot fries! The next step is to blanch your carrots, and the timing will vary slightly depending on how the carrots have been cut. The thinner they are, the less time they need in boiling water, so for shredded or thinly cut julienne, blanch for around 2 minutes and cubes or thicker slices for closer to 4 minutes.

Spread the carrots out evenly on your dehydrator trays and allow them to dry until their surface has a leathery texture and they break easily. If they’re still quite bendy, or you sense any moisture, leave them to dehydrate for a little longer to ensure they don’t spoil when stored.

Dehydrated carrots provide a heap of nutritional benefits and can be used in a variety of ways. Rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, dehydrated carrots are high in vitamins A, C and K and high in fibre, potassium, calcium and iron. Dehydrated carrots enhance eye health, boost immunity, assist with digestion, strengthen bones and support heart and blood health.

Like potatoes, carrots can be rehydrated and used in many hot meals. See our suggestions for using dehydrated carrots below.

• Use in soups, stews, casseroles, rice dishes and stuffing.
• Rehydrate and roast or mash to enjoy as a side dish.
• Grind into a powder or use flakes to sprinkle over salads and various vegetable dishes for added crunch and flavour.
• Use in baked goods such as cakes, muffins or breads.
• Add to smoothies for extra nutrients.
• Create your own carrot chips with salt or your choice of seasoning.

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Dehydrating sweet potatoes is much the same as dehydrating potatoes—you will follow the same process of blanching prior to drying, but we always recommend peeling sweet potatoes to remove any blemishes and dirty skin. Dehydrated sweet potatoes provide a healthy and satisfying snack given their slightly sweet flavour and are great for those going on long hikes or camping, being that they’re lightweight, packed with nutrients and can be rehydrated easily.

As with other root vegetables, blanching sweet potatoes before dehydrating is ideal and will preserve the nutrient content, however, you can also bake the sweet potatoes for approx 20 minutes instead of blanching, which tends to retain their sweet flavour and texture even more. To prepare, simply wash, peel and cut your sweet potatoes either in cubes, slices or julienne to create sweet potato fries, or alternatively, you can shred them with the coarse side of a grater. Another option is to pre-treat your sweet potatoes by baking and then either mashing or using a blender to puree and then spreading it onto a dehydrator tray to create a sweet potato leather. Just like fruit variations, you can enjoy sweet potato leather as a healthy snack as is, or you can simply rehydrate it to create mashed potatoes. If you keep the sweet potato leather in the dehydrator for a little longer, it will become more brittle and break apart into crunchy pieces easily, which is delicious on its own or added to various dishes.

Besides their delicious flavour, dehydrated sweet potatoes deliver multiple nutritional benefits that support the mind and body. A rich source of vitamin C and beta carotene, which converts into vitamin A in the body, dehydrated sweet potatoes are also high in B vitamins, antioxidants and minerals, including potassium, manganese and fibre. Dehydrated sweet potatoes protect against illness and disease, improve skin health, boost metabolism, support blood and heart health and help increase the feeling of fullness, which in turn prevents unhealthy snacking.

See below for our favourite ways to use dehydrated sweet potatoes.

• Make sweet potato chips and season with your choice of sea salt, chilli salt/flakes, cayenne pepper, lime or garlic powder.
• Add crumbled to breakfast dishes such as oatmeal, porridge, chia seed pudding or even eggs for a touch of sweetness and texture.
• Combine with nuts and berries to create a trail mix.
• Add to soups, stews, rice dishes and casseroles.
• Sprinkle over salads or vegetable dishes for crunch and flavour.
• Make sweet potato leather and cut into pieces to enjoy as a healthy snack.
• Rehydrate and add to various dishes or as a vegetable side.

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Just like its root veggie brothers and sisters, dehydrated beets make a delicious and healthy snack (think beet chips) and can also be ground into beet powder or dehydrated for the purpose of preserving and then rehydrating to add to cooked dishes or salads.

Same process goes for preparing your raw beets for dehydration, however, you can parboil the beets whole, leaving the skin on, and after about 20 minutes, place them in cold water and peel the skins off. This not only makes it easier to remove the skin, but it will also make it easier to cut the beets prior to dehydration, whether it be in thin slices for beet chips, diced, or cut into strips. Whichever way you choose to cut your beets, ensure they’re an even thickness, so they dehydrate at the same time. With beets, much like carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes, the dryer they are, the better, and it will also prevent any spoilage when they’re stored.

Although you may think dehydrated beets would have a strong earthy flavour, they actually deliver a sweet yet savoury taste that makes them a favourite dehydrated vegetable amongst many. Beets are also considered a superfood, and besides their delicious flavour, they’re packed with vitamins and minerals that provide numerous health benefits too. Rich in vitamin C and various B vitamins, they’re also a good source of folate, magnesium, iron and potassium, which support heart and blood health, strengthen bones, improve brain function and memory, and also provide anti-inflammatory benefits.

Some of our favourite ways to use dehydrated beets are listed below.

• Make crispy beet chips seasoned with salt, chilli salt/flakes, garlic powder or even ground rosemary.
• Grind into a beet powder and add to smoothies, juices, soups, curries or even baked goods.
• Crumble and sprinkle over salads or veggie dishes for added texture and flavour.
• Store and rehydrate to use in stews, casseroles or various hot dishes.
• Rehydrate and either roast or mash and serve with a roast or choice of meat.

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Dehydrating onions is a great way to preserve and get the most out of this veggie before they turn soft or spoil. Dehydrated onions add great flavour to various dishes and can be converted into dried minced onions or even onion flakes or powder.

One thing to note prior to dehydrating onions is that the smell is very strong and can linger in your house and on your dehydrator trays for a long time after you’re done! To avoid this, and if possible, you may want to consider moving your dehydrator outside under the back porch perhaps or even into your shed if it has good ventilation. To get rid of the smell from your trays post-dehydrating, we recommend washing them in warm soapy water and even rubbing them well with lemon juice—repeat if necessary!

Blanching the onions prior to dehydration will also help cut down on the smell and allow for a faster drying time too. Simply peel your onions and then cut them into slices or dice, and then separate the layers before laying them out on the trays. You’ll know your onions are fully dried and ready when they snap easily—if they don’t, leave them a little longer.

Dehydrated onions are rich in antioxidants that support heart and overall blood health and are a great source of vitamin C and B vitamins as well as calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium. Adding dehydrated onions to your diet can assist with gut health and digestion, reduce stress and improve sleep, support the liver and benefit skin health too.

Here are some of our favourite ways to use dehydrated onions.

• Create your own onion powder and use it to flavour anything from dips, soups, stews, meats, and veggies.
• Combine with other vegetable, herb or spice powder to create a blended seasoning or custom rub mix perfect for fish, meat or poultry.
• Rehydrate minced onions to be used in various raw or cooked foods.

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