It’s just as easy to dehydrate vegetables as it is to make steamed vegetables or roast veggies. Read on to find out how I make sure to use all of my dehydrated vegetables.
Dehydrating Vegetables
This is hardly even worth a blog post.
Dehydrating veggies, at least the ones I’ve attempted, is so simple:
- Wash
- Cut in even pieces
- Dehydrate
- Store
The hardest part about dehydrating veggies, for me, is figuring out how to use them and then remembering to do it. I’m a big fan of making veggie chips, which are like a healthier version of potato chips, crispy and salty and full of nutrients. They make a great snack.
I most often dehydrate peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, and greens because those are the items that (1) I really wanted to have on hand all year (2) are plentiful at the Farmer’s Market and (3) wouldn’t fit in my freezer.
RELATED: How To Preserve Apples
Why Dehydrate Peppers at Home?
I stock my freezer with so many things: u-pick berries, chicken stock from bones, grassfed meat, crispy nuts, and yes, Farmer’s Market peppers. I’d never have enough room to store all that I wanted to preserve when organic, local peppers are 3/$1 instead of pesticide-laden peppers from Mexico for $2.99/lb. on sale in the middle of winter. (Peppers are on the Dirty Dozen list, you know.)
I dried both sliced and diced peppers last year, although now that I’ve used them this winter I would only dry diced. It’s very easy to throw dried peppers into soups and chilis, but I wouldn’t want to use rehydrated sliced peppers in a stir-fry or for fajitas. Frozen sliced peppers are perfect for those uses!
The Many Uses of Dehydrated Tomatoes
I slice and dry Romas until they are completely crispy. Some I store as is, and I toss them into chili and used them, rehydrated, on pizza for a bit of a fake-out sun-dried tomato imitation.
I also have powdered the dried tomatoes in my blender…which, as usual, was more complicated than it sounded. I thought I’d never get rid of some of the big chunks of tomato! I didn’t have a high powered blender when I did this, but I bet if I tried it with my Blendtec it would work better. You can make your own canned tomato paste and sauce with the powder as follows:
- paste – 1:1 powder to water
- sauce – 1:3 powder to water
- soup – 1 part powder 1 part water and 2 parts cream
I’ve also just dumped some powder into my chili when it looked like it needed a little boost. This is a really, really nice way to avoid the BPA in canned tomato products without having to can (or cook) anything.
Ready to start dehydrating? Download my guide to dehydrating all sorts of fruits and veggies!
Dried Zucchini To Use All Year Long
Some folks munch on dried zucchini like chips, but I’m not a huge fan. I tend to toss zucchini into about anything liquid, like soup, chili or even burritos. It’s one of the foods I freeze regularly as well. I would recommend slicing each round in half, as the rehydrated pieces are a bit more chewy, so smaller is better. Here’s a post with more detailed instructions on how to dehydrate zucchini and then how to use it up once it’s dehydrated.
Dried Greens Sneak in Anywhere
Greens are plentiful and inexpensive at the farmers market almost all year round, depending on where you live. I like to dehydrate and then make green powder to toss into smoothies, soups, and anywhere I think I can hide a bit of extra nutrition.
How to Use Dried Vegetables
If you’re putting dried veggies into a soup or chili that will cook a while (at least an hour?), you’re pretty safe just tossing them in. The texture will be best, however, if you follow these directions:
- Place the dried food into a bowl
- Pour boiling water over the dried food (best to add water to food, not food to water)
- Allow to rehydrate until plumped up, between 10-60 minutes, depending on the thickness of the food and the purpose you need it for.
This tomato “leather” recipe that Lenetta sent me is on my “do this someday” list:
1 medium onion, 1 green pepper, 1 garlic clove per 3 cups of diced, unpeeled tomatoes. Whirl onion, pepper, garlic in blender until fine, add tomatoes and blend until smooth. Add other seasonings as desired. Pour puree ¼” deep and dehydrate. Puree leather with water and seasoning to make a superb tomato sauce. In the fruit section, it notes 5 parts water to 1 part leather in a blender for a beverage, I’d guess similar proportions (or maybe 4 parts water so it’s a bit thicker?)
Katie Kimball, CSME is a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks. She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. She’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine as well as contributing regularly on the FOX Network. 
A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress.
becky says
Canning dehydrated toms in evoo and the liquid turned green? Is this bcuz it was in the refridge? Thanks
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Becky,
Sorry, I’ve never tried this, so I can’t even guess – although some good EVOO does look green in the fridge. ??? Katie
Tammy says
Hi, I was wondering if anyone had dried the following: SHREDDED carrots,green peppers, onions. My reason for asking is I want to make homemade “instant chicken vegetable noodle soup” to send to our girls in college that will be preservative free. To be spooned from the container put into a cup with water and heated in the microwave. Being away from home when your sick is no fun, so a cup of homemade chicken soup whether its in the mind or the soup itself may help.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Tammy,
Should work fine! I dried shredded beets, and I actually ate them like potato chips. Yum!
(Sorry your comment got buried and lost for so long!)
🙂 katie
Lori says
I dried tomatoes as well this year. The other day I was putting some sandwiches together and was trying to think of something I had on hand to add some life to the sandwiches…I remembered my tomatoes. Needless to say, my two quart jars won’t last long. Note to self: for 2012 garden produce, dry more tomatoes.
Ginger says
I’m in a co-op of friends that order from Just Tomatoes (http://www.justtomatoes.com/) on occasion and they sell a cookbook on full of recipes using dry veggies & fruit, so you may want to check that out for more ways to use your dehydrated stuff.
Primal Toad says
I love dried fruit and don’t see why I would not loved dried veggies, especially tomatoes. Joyful Abode just did a post on this as well. You both are inspiring me to give dried veggies a try. I will have to look into it more and take action asap!
Thanks!
.-= Primal Toad´s last blog ..June Chicago Trip: Severe Storms (Tornado?) & Barefoot Golf =-.
Amy says
Last year, I dehydrated cucumbers. I do not care to eat them as chips; but they were great to throw into marinades and such. We enjoyed that. Funny, I forgot that I have them most of the time.
Thank you for the tomato ratios. This sounds perfect for my family!
Loved this post!
.-= Amy´s last blog ..Farm Shots by Bug =-.
Greta @ Mom Living Healthy says
I really haven’t dehydrated a whole lot of anything before. My husband just got a dehydrator because he likes to make beef jerky, so he’s done that a few times now. I’d like to dehydrate tomatoes though, especially if I can make sauce and paste as you suggest. Thanks for the informative post.
.-= Greta @ Mom Living Healthy´s last blog ..This Week’s Menu Plan =-.
Erin says
Ideas for fake sun-dried tomatoes:
soups (yummy tomato basil)
ontop salads
baked in bread (I really want to make tomato basil bread-see a theme here…lol)
mashed potatos
on cottage cheese (though I like my cottage cheese plain, I know some like to add fruit or veggies to it)
in chili
made into salsa
used in rice dishes
these are all on the top of my head. I am new to this so some of these ideas might not be that good…
michelle in Colorado says
On the tomatoes I marinate them overnight in some balsamic vinegar and then dry them to a crisp. They tend to get eaten out of hand when dry. Doing this helps when the tomatoes do not have much flavor.
I also break them up and add them to rice as it cooks as well as bread. It is really good in risotto.
My sister uses them in her herbed cheeses.
Shannon says
I haven’t started dehydrating vegetables, but herbs from our garden.
Last year I lacto-fermented and dehydrated as much as possible. We still have tomatoes that I need to use up. I did peppers, corn (grain), zucchini, and eggplant. This year I plan to do a mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery), LOTS of peppers, and anything else I can get my hands on :).
thanks for tips on using up my tomatoes!
.-= Shannon´s last blog ..Early Summer Menu Plan and Food Roots Anyone? =-.