Dehydrating Frozen Vegetables

Yesterday my wife and I decided to dehydrate a few vegetables.  We found some peas, frozen corn and mixed vegetables on sale at a local discount house. These were taken home and placed in our old electric dehydrator. They were then allowed to dry over night. The following morning we had a nice bunch of dehydrated vegetables.
We temporarily store them in a plastic bag until we get enough to fill a one gallon Mylar pouch. If you put an oxygen absorber into the pouch the food will keep for years.

I have a friend who has filled five gallon buckets with bags of frozen food he has dehydrated in this manner. Some are five or six years old now and the food is still fine. He also uses the dehydrator on left over fresh vegetables rather than throw them out.

I know it seems funny to dehydrate frozen food, but unless you have a big garden, it is cheaper than buying fresh and you can do it all year round.

See also  Basic Cooking Substitutions for Emergency Use

A Must Read
We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

58 thoughts on “Dehydrating Frozen Vegetables”

  1. Thanks for the web site. We have had a dehydrator since Y2K but only over the past month have we, (she) really staerted using it again. We go to the big box store for their frozen veggies. My wife clls each company first to verify thery are GMO free.PANY TO VERIFY THEY ARE gmo FREE. iT’S VERY ENCOURGING TO SEE OTHER PREPARING THE SAME. gOD BLESS US ALL.
    dANIEL

  2. Sorry for the poor typing. my child crawled up on my lap and is helping out Please call the companies first and verify the veggies are GMO free.
    Daniel

  3. I think this is a great idea, you are so smart, I did not think using froxen veggies. How much does it take to fill a mylar bag?

  4. Hi, I was wondering if this is possible for all frozen vegetables, or are there some that you can’t do this with? I’m new to this stuff and the easier the better. I will be trying this when I get home.

  5. First what size Mylar bags are you using? We have never really measured it, but maybe this will help. It takes about 75 lbs of frozen vegetables to fill a four gallon bucket after they are dehydrated. A pound of frozen makes a little less than cup of dehydrated. But it varies with the type of vegetable.

    Hope this helps.
    Howard

    1. Do u know how the amount of veggies After the frozen veggies are dehydrated- and then rehydrated-

      Can u do frozen fruit this way?

  6. Hi, just found this site. Excellant. Have been drying frozen veg for a while now.Wait for a really,really good sale price,stock up and start drying. Find it’s better to stick to corn,peas,peas and carrots,carrots,and the smaller mixed veggies. Still dry fresh stuff but these items are easier,faster and usually cheaper to do than the fresh version. Does anyone have any experience with drying potatoes or making powdered versions of some veggies. Thanks

    1. Before drying potatoes they need to be blanched. If you don’t they turn black. We sliced with a mandolin, threw into boiling water for 30 second to a minute then plunged into ice water and drained on a towel. Don’t crowd the slices in the boiling water, the ones that stuck together were obvious when they turned black…

  7. Do yo thaw them first? I know someone is laughing at this question but thawing while dehydrating does it make any difference?

  8. To dehydrate potatoes: Wash and poke holes as for baking. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for appx 30 minutes or until you can pretty easily stick with a bamboo skewer, but not done all the way. Cool all the way…I do it overnight in the fridge. The peel will crinkle up, and when ready to dehydrate, it will peel off with your fingers. Slice with a mandoline and spread your dehydrator trays…don’t overlap. When they are done they should be translucent and will snap when bent.

  9. Karen in Arkansas

    After I dehydrate my frozen veggies, I mix them with rice and dehydrated chicken or beef, add seasonings, salt and bullion cubes. Then vacuum seal and date, these will keep for several years if kept in cool dark place….Makes wonderful pre made dinners. Just add water and boil, ready in minutes.

  10. Prepardness Mom

    Martha and Karen thank you for your comments, I tried your methods and am passing them on to women in my classes. Please pass on anything else that might be handy for our readers to use. Thanks again.

  11. I have seen sites that talk about oven canning dried goods. Would peas, corn, carrots or potatoes dried in this way be good candidates for then oven canning to preserve them versus mylar bags and oxygen absorbers?

  12. I’ve dehydrated a lot of things, but I’ve been wanting to try these frozen vegetables. I do garden herbs and wild herbs and teas, grate carrots and they are wonderful, cabbage and turnips etc . You can eat right out of the jar. I have an Excalibur I bought for my husband to make jerky many years ago. I’ve even started my wild herb and veg garden. Thanks for spurring me on.

    1. If you love your herbs and veggies you should check out the Tower Garden. I have one and love DHing my herbs, kale, spinach etc. With grow lights the Tower Garden is YEAR ROUND. If interested, let me know.

  13. I tried drying frozen mixed veggies back in April 2013, after drying I sealed them in pint size jars using a vacume sealer with lids, no oxygen absorbers. Put them back in a closet and forgot about them till October 2015, decided to give them a try. Made vegetable and beef soup in crock pot. Wow, it did great! I was really impressed with the way the veggies re hydrate and tasted great! Was a little surprised that all it took was one pint jar to make a big pot of soup. Been drying stuff in the freezer like crazy since then. No need to take room in the freezer or to worry about my 30 year old freezer going out and losing everything!

    1. Cornelia van Dijken

      You gave me a great idea….. I have a small top freezer not in use and a front door freezer with neerly nothing in it. I started dehydrating resently. ….. This twice freezers are a perfect store place / larder for the vacuum packed dehydrated food.

  14. I do a LOT of dehydrating & food storage. I’ve never tried to frozen food until last week (dried some frozen, diced strawberries to dress up a spinach salad for Thanksgiving – Delicious!), but whenever I dry anything, I vaccum seal it in bags that I will use up quickly, then we store useable amounts of each kind of food (beans, pasta, fruit, veggies of various kinds, etc.) in mylar bags in 5 gallon buckets. By vaccum sealing, the food will last for up to 5 times longer (generally many years ) than otherwise, & we don’t have to ruin a mylar bag to get a single kind of food out before we need the others. We do store snack foods like nuts, seeds, candy, etc. in small vaccum sealed bags, in their own 5 gallon bucket. I’m not explaining this very well, so please let me know if you have any questions.

  15. I’ve just stumbled upon this through Pinterest. Quite intrigued!! I recently acquired a small Excalibur and haven’t done much with it yet. This looks appealing especially in the case of power outages or even for when we go camping and refridgeration might not be always be reliable. I was wondering what a Mylar bag is and if there’s a great source or infographic somewhere that shows what can be dehydrated (including meat) and how much moisture is needed for rehydration? Also, can ziploc bags suffice or is vacuum seal the only way to go?
    Thanks in advance!

    1. First ziplock bags are not the best way to go. If you intend to store the dehydrated foods for a longer period of time, you should use Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. Do a search on this blog for both of them and also for dehydrated foods, there are many posts on this subject.
      Howard

  16. What is the procedure if I were going to use mason jars? Could I dry seal them in the oven, or should I break down and purchase a vacuum sealer? (the bags are costly)

    1. I use mason jars, but always sealed them with the vacuum sealer. I have never done them in the oven. I would be afraid of them cracking.I know that the vacuum sealers are expensive, but look in garage sales or thrift shops. That is were I get my stuff.

      1. I oven can, even sterilize my jars in the oven for vacuum sealing. I’ve never had a jar crack. They go through more in the pressure cooker. You never have the oven set above 200 anyway.

      2. I’ve started oven canning dehydrated potatoes. 200 for 1 hour then steal in a jar. Easy and can store for a very long time.

    2. Brenda, if you look online (Amazon) for vacuum bags and/or mylar bags, you can find them much cheaper. I have bought ‘no name’ bags from Amazon and the quality was the same or better than Foodsaver bags at about 1/3 the cost. You can use the vacuum sealer on the mylar bags, but the Foodsaver doesn’t get hot enough to make a permanent seal. It will hold long enough for me to go over the seam again with a hotter iron (I use a flatiron for hair). Also, just the basic Foodsaver model is all you need. I found mine on sale for about $40.

      1. I also have the Food Saver, bought it new for, I think, $59.00 on Amazon. I prefer the mason jars and the clear plastic Food Saver bags. Now I know how to seal those Mylar bags, my curling iron! The Food Saver doesn’t seal them hardly at all. I dehydrate just vegs now, hadn’t thought about buying frozen vegs and drying them!! I refuse to do fresh peas….potatoes, white and sweet, carrots, squash and onions. Also mix some vegs and add 1/3 C rice and chicken soup seasoning, instant soup.

    3. New To Dehydrating

      Foodsaver has a handheld device for vacuum sealing their bags but they have attachments for wide mouth and regular mason jars and I use this with the handheld and not the bags. Works great.

      1. I bought a good vacuum sealer and use it for dehydrated and freeze dried foods. Don’t need oxygen absorbers or Mylar bags.

    4. I have reused my vacuum bags. The 2nd time I use for meat or cheese I throw them away. I wash with hot soapy water rinse well and then open air dry making sure corners are dry…… I am very thrifty and have used more than 2 times with most items. They seal great. Another hint: pre-measure nuts etc seal then pre-measure seal etc etc etc until full. Cut at seal line your using.

    1. We have a simple Nesco dehydrator and have used it for years. Excalibur is the brand of choice but our cheapie dehydrator suits us just fine.

  17. I have a Nesco dehydrator, would I have a problem with the frozen food falling through the open spaces on the trays?

    1. Possibly. We have a similar dehydrator but use mesh screens to make sure small foods, like corn kernels or herbs, don’t fall through the cracks. https://amzn.to/2sS200o

      You can buy them or make your own — just get plastic mesh from a craft store and cut to size.

  18. After reading these comments I’m really wanting to put my dehydrator to work. Bought couple years ago, never used. I have fresh blueberries and purple hull peas frozen in my freezer. If they are still good, can I dehydrate? Would be nice to free up freezer space.

    1. Blueberries need to be pierced before dehydrating or they will be rocks. Read online about how to do a bunch at one time (instead of one at a time) so moisture can escape.

  19. to rehydrate put the veg, in a bowl of warm water. let set. add more water as needed. depending on the amt of veg. depends on how much water will be needed.
    thanks for all the great advice.

  20. I don’t think it would be safe to use craft plastic in a dehydrator. Who knows what carcinogens might be released? Or chemicals? I bought my mesh layers from the dehydrator company and they have lasted for years. They are designed for this purpose and are easy to use, wash etc. better safe than sorry. I have two kinds with different hole sizes and shapes. Bought more than I needed. How many trays can you do at the same time? That’s the most you would need.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top