Dehydrated Food Recipes: Top 20 (Fruit, Veggies, Spice, Meat & More) (2024)

If you’re looking for some of the best food dehydrator recipes, then you’re certainly in the right place. Keep on reading for our top picks.

Best Food Dehydrator Recipes

There are so many things one can do with a food dehydrator. Aside from eliminating the water content, an individual can do a variety of dried eats with this unique cookware piece. Indeed there are lots of them that we were able to gather the Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes for your simple home cooking.

3 Reasons to Try Dehydrating Food

Before we share them with you, let us give you three good reasons why you should own a food dehydrator. You don’t have to spend much for this. You just need to look for the high-quality but not necessarily the expensive ones.

#1: Increase the Shelf Life of Food

The first reason why you should own a food dehydrator is for the food’s longer shelf-life. Yes! You can make a fresh fruit last for up to 12 months if you dehydrate it.

#2: Easy to Use and Fun!

Our second reason is that, dehydrators are definitely simple to use and they’re reliable! You’ll spend many years with them before they break down.

#3: Dry Fresh Fruit and Veggies in Season and Save Money

And third, you get to save amply! Buy fresh fruits that are in season at the local stores. We swear! They are cheaper if they are the fruits of the month or season. Then, preserve them using the dehydrator until the next harvest.

Let’s Get to the Best Food Dehydrator Recipes

Now, with these three reasons, you are ready to have your own food dehydrator. The following are the Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes we highly recommend. We sub-divided them into for classifications: meat, fruit, grain, vegetables, and herbsand spices. Happy cooking!

Meat Recipes

#1: Dehydrated Chicken Recipe

The main ingredients of our first in the Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes are six pieces of large chicken breasts. This dried dish needs up to two days of preparation. First, you need two boil together: water, sugar, salt, garlic bay leaf and peppercorns.

Constantly stir while bringing the ingredients to boil to make sure the salt and sugar are fully dissolved. Let the mixture cool and refrigerate until it gets really cold. When cold, add the chicken breasts and leave for half- to two days. Pressure-cook your chicken breasts for up to 12 minutes. When fully cooked, let the chicken cool.

When the chicken breasts are cold enough, cut them into small and thin pieces. Remember: the thinner your pieces are, the faster they dehydrate. Dehydrate your pieces of chicken breasts and store.

Do the dehydration up to 12 hours or until the chicken breast becomes totally dry. To determine if the chicken is done, you should be able to easily break it and when its color is already dark. Store the pieces in a container. Use the air-tight one.

#2: Salmon Jerky

This is a very rich in Vitamin D, not to mention very high in protein. If you’re searching homemade food with high levels of Omega 3 which contributes hugely in brain function, blood flow and flawless skin, try our second in the Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes.

Don’t just settle for the plain Salmon Jerky. Be more creative and crumble the salmon on your favorite salad. Crumbled salmon is ideal for salsa and dip too! They make the eggs, quiche and muffins more delicious too! Since this is such a simple food dehydrator recipe, you need not a full recipe to make the Salmon Jerky.

First, make sure that your salmon is fresh, but you can buy it fresh or frozen. It will be better if you freeze your salmon fillet for half-an-hour prior to slicing it. Second, when slicing the fillet, use a sharp knife. Third, choose the middle part when buying the salmon so you’d get the perfect thickness of your entire fish. Fourth and last, choose the dehydrator that best suits your cooking style and preference!

#3: Beef Jerky

This needs a 15-minute hands-on time on top of the 24-hour marinating period and a maximum 24-hour drying and cooling time. Then, to make a really delicious beef jerky, you’ll need a sharp knife, a big container or jar with lid, a roll of aluminum foil, and plastic or wooden serving spoon.

For the ingredients, you’ll need lean brisket, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, teriyaki sauce, a cup of liquid smoke, dark corn syrup, some garlic and onion powder, some sesame seeds, about a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and some brown sugar. For the exact measurement of these ingredients, visit the website mentioned above.

To prepare, freeze the meat for about an hour to make the slicing easier for you. Slice your lean brisket about ¼-inch thin. Remember, the leaner your meat is, the longer-lasting and better your jerky becomes.

Then, in a big container or jar, mix the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, teriyaki sauce, liquid smoke and the dark corn syrup. Add the garlic and onion powder, the sesame seeds and brown sugar. Sprinkle the cayenne pepper and add more if you prefer your jerky to be spicy. Stir your mixture well and put your meat in the marinade. Make sure to fully submerge it. Close the container tightly and refrigerate it for at about 24 hours.

To level up your jerky, consider using an electric food slicer to get some really nice, even cuts.

What Can I Dehydrate?

Check out this short video below for even more tips about things you can make in the food dehydrator:

#4: Corned Beef Brisket Jerky

This is a great treat for the corned beef lovers! Here, you’ll need about 2-1/2 pounds of corned beef brisket. Set your food dehydrator. Unwrap your corned beef brisket and remove all the spices through rinsing. Pat-dry your meat and cut off all the fats you see. Have a cooling rack.

Cut your brisket using the grain into three pieces. With a serrated knife, slice each brisket piece. Make sure to come out with very thin slices. Lay them on top of the cooling rack. Put the thinly sliced corned beef briskets inside your food dehydrator and cook for four to eight hours. Check the color and texture from time to time. If your meat’s color is already dark brown, crispy and dehydrated, then, you’re done with your jerky!

Fruit Recipes

#5: Banana Chips

Of course! The fruit recipes here in the Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes will never be complete without banana chips! Bananas, melted coconut oil and dehydrators are the three most important things to make this yummy recipe. It is your choice to use some spices like cinnamon to sprinkle on top. Slice your bananas about ¼-inch thin.

Spread the meat out on the dehydrator sheets then brush them lightly with your melted coconut oil. This oil is a healthier option for you. If you opt to use the spices, then do the sprinkling as the last step. Dehydrate the fruit at 115°F for 24 to 36 hours. You may stop dehydrating when their consistency already satisfies you.

#6: Crispy Orange Chips

This is one of the easiest in our Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes. First, wash the oranges and slice them about 1/4-inch thick. Remove the seeds and spread them out on the dehydrator sheets.

Set your dehydrator at 115°F to 135°F. We highly recommend that you set your dehydrator at lower temperatures so you can preserve all the natural oils. Dehydrate the sliced oranges for five to 12 hours. Or, wait for the fruits to be brittle. Store your oranges in an airtight jar. Make sure the jar filled with your Crispy Orange Chips is out of light, too.

#7: Pineapple Chips

This is yet another easy recipe! And, if you are having a hard time convincing your kids to eat fruits, this is the best way to finally have them much some Vitamin C. Like the Crispy Orange Chips, this is an easy recipe too.

You don’t even have to buy the pineapple fruit itself. You can use the canned pineapple chunks. This is means that even if the fruit is not in season, you can still enjoy them in chips version. As we said, our seventh in the Top 20 Food Dehydrators is very simple and easy to follow.

First is for you to drain the chunks and toss them immediately into the dehydrator. What’s good about dehydrating canned pineapples is that, you need not worry much about the temperature setting in your dehydrator. You need not worry either, about the preservation of nutrients and enzymes since the fruit is canned.

This has already been pre-heated so heating the pineapple chunks in the dehydrator is faster. Now is the best time too, to stop buying fruit snacks for the kids too, as they have a lot of preservatives, sugar and artificial colors.

If you want to slice and dice up a fresh pineapple more quickly and easily, then you’ll seriously want to consider this handy tool: Pineapple Corer and Slicer.

Favourite Dehydrator Snacks

Check out this video for more ideas about quick, grab-and-go snacks that you can make in the dehydrator for your family:

#8: Apple Chips

Who wouldn’t want apples, especially if they are apple chips? These are also among the most beneficial healthy snacks for the whole family. We won’t be giving you a whole recipe here as you can actually see the full how-to’s if you click the name above. What we’ll share with you are the important things you’d need to make some delicious Apple Chips with your food dehydrator.

While some dehydrate their apples using the oven, we recommend the use of a dehydrator for faster and perfect result. Also, a dehydrator can accommodate more apples. Of course you need a few pieces of apples. For easier preparation, use an apple peeler, veggie peeler, a slicer tool or corer. If you don’t want your apples to turn brown as you dehydrate them, crush up some Vitamin C tablets and dissolve them in lemon juice in water or plain water.

Vegetable Recipes

#9: Asparagus Chips

This is one of the most popular vegetables ever processed in a food dehydrator. Those who are on a heavy diet opt for this as they are so low in fats, calories and sodium, not to mention, they are definitely zero-cholesterol.

Asparagus are also among the best sources of Vitamin C. Other health benefits this vegetable provides an individual include: improves eyesight, anti-acne and makes the skin very smooth.

Additionally, asparagus has both Vitamins A and C that act as very strong antioxidants. Aside from being a great source of health benefits, it is so easy to dehydrate asparagus. Most of the time, it takes about five hours to dehydrate the Asparagus at a low setting.

Here are some more ideas: How to Store Asparagus.

#10: Corn

If you are looking for an all-purpose vegetable, choose corn. You can use this main ingredient in so many ways. Most homes also consume it more often. We’re including this in our Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes as corn is among the many veggies you can dry easily. All you have to do is simply husk it, wash thoroughly and steam for about five minutes.

Then, dip it quickly (just enough to cool), in cold water. The next step is to cut the corn out of the ears by holding the ear tightly upright. Slice it down the side of the ear deeply adequate but not too much that you might cut through the cob.

Turn the cob, then, repeat the cutting process. Spread out your cut corn on your dehydrator pans and put place them in the dryer. You’ll achieve a perfectly dehydrated corn when it’s already brittle and hard. Doing this may take from 12 to 15 hours.

Learn the Basics of Drying Food

Do you want to find out more about drying food and what it’s all about? Then you’ll want to check out the following video:

#11: Raw Eggplant Bacon

You’ll definitely love this especially for breakfast. Preparing this dehydrated dish takes up to 20 minutes. To make this recipe, you’ll need a medium eggplant, some maple syrup, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.

For the exact measurement, please click the name of the recipe above to be led to the site. In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients together, except the eggplant. You may opt to peel the eggplant, but if you want it chewy, leave the skin on. Then, slice the eggplant thinly. Here’s the tip: use a mandolin or horizontal peeler for perfectly thin ice cream.

Add each sliced eggplant to the bowl to marinate the main ingredient. Allow for several minutes until the eggplants soften. Transfer the softened sliced eggplants to the dehydrator tray. Brush the eggplants with the leftover marinade mixture. Set your food dehydrator at 115°F to 125°F. This may take up to 18 hours to dehydrate.

#12: Dried Carrots

Aside from rich in vitamins and providing health benefits, dried carrots are best for stews and soups. A lot of households prefer to dehydrate carrots as they are great additions to any main dish. The first thing to do is to wash the carrots and peel them after. Be sure to remove the tips and tops before proceeding. Slice the carrots about1/4-inch thick.

For best result, steam-blanch the carrots instead of boiling them. This way, you can preserve the vegetable’s vitamins and minerals. More so, blanching makes the drying and rehydration hours shorter. It also retains the carrots’ color and lets them fresh for a longer time. Steaming time takes up to four minutes. Make sure that the carrots are still hard and not tender. With your dehydrator, fill its racks with your blanch-steamed carrots.

Do not overlap any single piece. Set your dehydrator at low vegetable setting or about 125°F.

Grain Recipes (Oats and Nuts)

#13: Soaked Oatmeal and Granola Bars

Aside from being good for the heart, oatmeal is also rich in fiber for easy digestion. For you to digest and absorb properly the nutrients coming from oatmeal, you should soak it with an acidic agent for the release of its phytic acid content (if any). To soak, put a cup of oats in warm water with some plain yogurt, vinegar or kefir. Leave it with a cover overnight.

You may opt to rinse the oatmeal. Then, toss it in your food dehydrator to make granola bars. Dehydrating the oats need not take long hours. You’ll know if they are already dry if they are already crumbly and if you can break the oats apart using your fingers.

#14: Soaked/Dehydrated Nuts and Seeds

Soaking the seeds and nuts releases the enzyme inhibitors. This way, it is easier for them to digest the food, not to mention getting a lot of nutrients. Dehydrated nuts and seeds make them crunchy that it gets more fun and exciting eating them.

Dehydrating nuts is ideal especially for one who wants a longer-term storage for his favorite food. With your dehydrator, you can also make some roasted peanut butter, and do some nut canning.

#15: Dehydrated Whole Grains

Not many people know that they can cook their whole wheat berries to make rice or cereal? There are actually three ways to do this.

First is to simply put some wheat berries in a crock-pot with water. Leave it cooking overnight or until they become tender.

Second is to cook them just as how you cook brown rice. For those who haven’t known, pour in about two cups of whole wheat berries into water. When it boils again, lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes or until the water disappear.

Third and last is the longest-lasting whole-grain recipe. Simply spread the whole wheat berries on the racks and place them in the food dehydrator set at 115°F. Leave it dehydrating overnight. Your berries should already be hard and firm by then.

#16: Bean Bark

Our 16^th in the Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes allows the cooking enthusiasts to create such saucy and flavorful backpacking dishes through the use of any kind of bean. It’s also an added flavor to salsa, enchilada and barbecue sauces.

You can transform baked beans into a really sumptuous dish in one simple way: through the food dehydrator. Using the blender, blend in a can of vegetarian baked beans until they become creamy.

Consume the liquid the can contains. Pour some puddles of the blended beans onto your dehydrator trays covered with parchment paper and spread the mixture out thinly using a spatula. Dehydrate at about 135°F for up to eight hours. Don’t expect the beans to look like a potato bark when they dry into the sheet. Bean Bark looks like a cracked mud when it dries.

Spices and Herbs Recipes:

#17: Garlic Powder and Garlic Chips

A lot of people find the garlic a healthy option. It helps lower the blood pressure of an individual suffering from high blood pressure. Food experts claim that it is easy and simple to dehydrate garlic. All you have to do is peel it off, chop and put it in the dehydrator.

Begin with separating the garlic cloves from the bulb.

Then, peel each clove off and cut off every root end. Wash the peeled cloves. Using a garlic press or food processor (depending on how much garlic you’re dehydrating), chop the cloves.

Spread out the chopped garlic onto the dehydrator trays.

Set the temperature at about 125°F or at vegetable setting. Dehydration may take eight to 12 hours. For the garlic powder, use the food processor to grind the dried garlic. If you don’t have one, the pestle and mortar work equally efficient too.

#18: Dried Ginger and Ginger Powder

Making the dried ginger and ginger powder is easy too. But first, you have to choose the way to break your ginger down. You may opt to shave, chop or grate your ginger.

Once decided, put the ginger in a towel to remove the moisture. You may also spread it out using a parchment paper or directly in your food dehydrator. Set your food dehydrator at 95°F. Unlike the other foods for drying, this only takes less than two hours so you better take a closer look every time to make sure you don’t over-dehydrate the ginger.

Like the garlic, use your food processor or pestle and mortar to make some ginger powder. Here are some other ideas too: Storing Ginger.

#19: Chili Powder

This is another favorite spice of many people. To successfully make our 19^th in the Top 20 Food Dehydrator Recipes, you need fresh chili peppers of your own choice to dry.

To begin, clean the peppers and slice them in half. Be sure to take away the seeds or leave them on for a really spicy result. Place your sliced peppers on the dehydrator sheet and switch the dehydrator on at low setting.

Dry the main ingredients until they are no longer leathery and totally dry. Make sure the peppers are brittle enough that you can already break them using your hand. When completely done, place the peppers inside a coffee grinder, blender or food processor. Crush the dried peppers.

Once powdered finely, leave the crushed chili with the lid on for about ten minutes for it to settle. Store the chili powder in an airtight container.

#20: Dehydrated Spearmint and Peppermint

Peppermint and spearmint are among the easiest to grow herbs in many places all over the world. They easily spread and they contribute to the aroma in the garden.

These popular herbs are very popular in most kitchens for cooking, making tea, cosmetics, crafts and medicine. For one to preserve peppermint and spearmint, he should dry them using a food dehydrator.

Drying using this equipment is simple. Simply remove the peppermint or spearmint from the stem. Spread them out on the dehydrating tray. Turn the dehydrator on and set it at a low setting and check from time to time for perfect drying.

See? These are just 20 of the hundreds of things you can make using your food dehydrator. If you don’t have one yet but you feel the recipes we shared helpful for your family, invest in one now!

Oh yeah, also be sure to find out how to make fruit leather.

Compare Dehydrators

If you need to level up your food dehydrator ideas, then you’re going to need a top-quality machine to go along with it. Here are some of our favourites:

Food Dehydrator Recipes FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people have about using this kind of machine. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

What are the best foods to dehydrate?

Some of the best foods to dehydrate include meats, fruits, veggies, and you might even want to make your own backpacking meals or fruit leather.

Is a dehydrator worth it?

A dehydrator is worth it if you regularly have an excess of fruits, vegetables or meat that you want to preserve. The other situation is if you do lots of hiking or backpacking. Make your own dehydrated camping meals can be far cheaper than buying freeze-dried food from outdoor shops.

What foods should you not dehydrate?

Some things don’t dehydrate well, including the following: fatty meats, dairy products (cheese, butter, milk), and nuts.

Can you leave a food dehydrator on overnight?

It’s certainly possible to leave a food dehydrator on overnight and they are actually designed to be left on for up to 24 hours. Just make sure there’s nothing near it that could catch fire like paper towels.

Are dehydrated vegetables healthy?

Fresh vegetables are best but dehydrated ones are quite similar in terms of how healthy they are. What they do lose in the drying process is the volatile nutrients like Vitamin C and beta carotene.

Can you use an oven to dehydrate food?

It’s certainly possible to use an oven or toaster oven to dehydrate food instead of buying another appliance. It will even take a similar amount of time. However, the advantage to a dehydrator is that they’re a bit safer to leave on for a long period of time without keeping an eye on it.

What do you Like to Make in a Food Dehydrator?

Do you have any tips or tricks, or things that you like to make in a dehydrator? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this article a share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. It’ll help other home cooking enthusiasts, like yourself find this useful resource.

If you’re looking for additional ways to preserve a bountiful harvest, you’ll also want to check this out: Best Pressure Canners.

Last update on 2021-04-09 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API