How to Dry Strawberries ~ once you’ve gobbled up your fill of fresh strawberries this season, consider drying them. Sure, you could also freeze them, or make them into jam, but drying strawberries is super easy and the results are delicious and versatile. Dehydrating intensifies the flavor of the berries like nothing else!
Dehydrating is probably the oldest method for preserving foods, and the process is so simple ~  just remove all the water and food won’t spoil. It works great, especially for water heavy fruit like strawberries. Dehydrating through evaporation leaves strawberries smaller, firmer, and with a concentrated flavor. Depending on how long you let them dry they can be anywhere from chewy to downright crunchy. (I like them when they’re chewy) They’re perfect in cereal, granola, or trail mix, they fit right into a cheeseboard, or just as a healthy snack on their own.
Dehydrating is low tech, and easy to do, but it can be time consuming if you don’t have the right equipment. I have a medium priced dehydrator from Amazon that works great. You can spend more or less depending on your needs, but the good news is that it’s by nature a low tech appliance so you shouldn’t encounter problems with whatever you get, as long as you read the reviews 🙂 I’ve used it for apples and berries so far and the results have been great.
Drying strawberries in a dehydrator is as easy as slicing them and placing them on the dehydrator trays. I sliced mine about 1/8 inch thick and they took about 6-7 hours at 135 F (this was my manufacturer’s instructions for fruits/veggies) in the dehydrator to get fully dried. If you set it up in the morning, you’ll have your dried fruit by the end the day.
The texture of these dried strawberries is not quite chewy, not quite crunchy, though you could let them dry even longer if you wanted them to be crispy. They are perfect in cereal, granola, trail mix, would be great with cheese, or just as a snack on their own. As one of the commenters mentions below, dehydrated fruit is a great healthy snack idea for kids.
Notes ~
- No dehydrator? You can dry fruit in the oven but it’s messier and doesn’t work as well because there isn’t the same air circulation that you get in a dehydrator.
- How long your dried strawberries will keep depends on how dry you get them, and how you store them. If you really want to ensure that they will last a long time, this article has lots of suggestions about the best preparation and storage methods for dehydrated fruits. Mine went straight into my breakfast bowls this week!
How to Dry Strawberries
Ingredients
- 1 pound strawberries ~ depending on the size of your dehydrator you may have to work in batches
Instructions
- Wash and dry your berries. Hull them, or slice off the green tops.
- Slice the berries about 1/8 inch thick. Try to get the slices as even as you can so that they dry evenly.
- Arrange the sliced strawberries on dehydrator trays, making sure they are not touching. This helps airflow and allows them to dry properly.
- Set dehydrator to 135 F (this is standard for fruits and vegetables, but be sure to follow your manufacturer's instructions for fruit/veggies) and allow to dry for 6-10 hours (the source I used suggested 8-10 hours, but mine seemed done by about 6, so I suggest checking them after about 5 or 6 hours and seeing how long they need). They should feel very dry, but not quite brittle, and there should be no noticeable moisture when you break them apart.
Make it your own ~
- Dry other fruits like apples, pears, bananas, and small plums.
Don’t forget to pin these Dried Strawberries!
We borrowed a dehydrator one year from some friends to dry plums. I don’t know what happened but I’m guessing we didn’t dry them long enough. They ended up becoming moldy! You have given me new hope!
To keep the fruit from sticking to the dehydrator tray, I spray the tray lightly with PAM or equivalent vegetalme oil spray.
Thanks Marguerite! I sometimes have trouble with my tomatoes.
Such a great idea! Can’t wait to try this 🙂
When we last moved my dehydrator went into a closet and hasn’t come out! Inspired to go get it…
I’ve had that problem with some of my appliances, it’s like discovering a long lost friend!
Love my dehydrator too! I should do more than just bananas, tomatoes and coconut!
I never thought to try coconut, thanks Angie 🙂
Sue..I wonder if a convection oven would work? It has a fan running circulating the air…
If you can get the temperature way down it will work, Colleen, it just takes longer.
It’s important to note that berries should be washed before hulling because if you hull, then wash, they will get soggy. This will interfere with dehydration. Love your site1!
It’s important to dry the berries well, for sure, thanks Nancy!
We were just talking about drying strawberries for granddaughter Jayden – she can eat them all day long! We used to have a dehydrator and need another one! We also love drying banana slices – great post Sue!
I forgot about bananas, I’ll add that to my post, thanks Tricia!
Great post! I use my dehydrator for a lot of different things and fruit is one of my favorites. Oatmeal cookies with bits of dried strawberries, instead of raisins, are delicious! Also, when my kids were small, I used to make fruit leather (homemade Fruit Roll-ups) when I had an over-abundance of strawberries.
I’ve made fruit leather in the oven and it was a looooooong process, I should have used a dehydrator 🙂 I love your idea of using the dried berries in cookies, I think raisins are pretty boring.
Cool! I was just reading about drying strawberries yesterday but it was an oven technique and it did seem messy. This looks much better and I can think of so many ways to use these little beauties!
Yes, the oven method really doesn’t work all that well, so the dehydrator has earned it’s spot in my kitchen, and I don’t say that lightly because I’m pretty strict about not hanging on to useless gadgets:)