Best Dehydrator Snack Recipes

    Having a dehydrator brings a lot of benefits to your family. The first thing that may come into your mind is that using a food dehydrator is perfect for preserving foods. And it can help to reduce the food waste since you can dry your leftover fruits and vegetables that you didn’t get to eat. You can use a dehydrator to create 100% natural foods which would be more than healthy, but there is also some other food you can make with a food dehydrator. Now, if you just bought a dehydrator, this blog will be the perfect one for you to think about what you gonna do with your new machine.

    Before you start dehydrating your food, these are some tools that might be helpful:

    - A food processor/ mandoline: This will help you to cut food.

    - Fruit leather sheet: These would help to fit your machine.

    - Empty jars: You will need some jars to store your food after dehydrating.

    Now let’s see what you can do with your dehydrator.

1. Beef jerky

    Step 1: Choose the best cut of meat.

    Find a piece of meat that has as little fat as possible. Eye of round roast, top & bottom round roast, flank steak, and sirloin tip are all good choices if you want to make beef jerky.

    Step 2: Remove the fat from the meat.

    Trim off all the visible fat from meat for it will make meat spoil faster. You can extend the beef jerky’s shelf life without fat.

    Step 3: Slice the meat.

    If you have a jerky slicer, you can slice the beef directly with it. But if you don’t have one, you can place the beef in the freezer for 1-2 hours first. After freezing, the beef will become easier to cut.

    Step 4: Marinate beef

    Put the prepared marinade and beef into a bowl or a zip lock bag and make sure the beef is covered evenly with the marinade. And then put it in the refrigerator from 6-24 hours to get better flavor. After this marinating, remember to drain and dry the jerky strips to remove any excess marinade.

    Step 5: Dry the jerky

    Finally, you can start to dry the jerky. Place the beef strips on the rack. Remember to avoid them from touching each other or overlapping. Turn the dehydrator to 145-165°F and let it run for 4-5 hours. Remember to check the beef during the process in case it get over dried.

    After all these steps, you will get fine beef jerky and all you need to do is to store it in a ziplock bag, jar, or a vacuum-sealed bag.

2. Cucumber Chips

    Step 1: Prepare the ingredients: Cucumbers, Salt, Vinegar, Olive oil

    Step 2: Slice the cucumber very thin. You can choose to use a mandoline slicer if needed.

    Step 3: Use a towel to remove excess moisture from the slices.

    Step 4: Place cucumber slices in a large bowl and toss with oil, vinegar and salt.

    Step 5: Put the cucumber slices on trays and dry at 125-135°F for 10-12 hours or until crispy.

    After cooling, the nice cucumber chips are ready to serve!

3. Blueberry chia seed fruit roll ups

    Step 1:  Prepare the ingredients: Blueberry, Medjool Dates, Tablespoons chia seeds, Applesauce

    Step 2: Pit dates and put all the ingredients into a food processor and puree them together.

    Step 3: Take out the puree and spread 1/8” thin over a food dehydrator that is lined with a leather sheet. Make sure you spread the puree evenly because it will not dry properly if some of the places are too thick.

    Step 4: Dehydrate the puree at 115° for 8-12 hours until it is not sticky but still pliable.

    Step 5: Remove the fruit leather after drying and roll them into small pieces while keeping it still attached to the leather sheet.

    Store the fruit roll-ups in a suitable container and they will keep for 2-3 weeks.

4. Yogurt fruit leather

    Step 1: Prepare the ingredients: Fresh or frozen raspberries, Full fat yogurt, Vanilla extract, Honey

    Step 2: Put all the ingredients into a blender or a food processor and blend until they get smooth.

    Step 3: Take out the mixture and spread it thinly over a food dehydrator that is covered by unbleached parchment paper.

    Step 4: Dehydrate at 135 degrees for 6 - 8 hours.

    Step 5: Cut up in strips and store in a jar or an airtight container.

    So these are the four recipes of snacks that you can make with a dehydrator. They do not need many tools or some ingredients that are difficult to find in your pantry. You can try it whenever you want!