Recipe for Adventure | Dehydrated Fruits & Vegetables

I wish I could say that chips were one of my favorite foods to eat on the trail, but truth be told they rarely make it out of the house! When I first started dehydrating food, I made a big batch of sweet potato chips for my dad and I. We ate them with guacamole, and that was the moment I decided dehydrating food was the cat’s meow!

You can turn just about any fruit or vegetable into a chip. This is a great way to use up bruised fruit, wilted vegetables, or make a healthier chip than you would buy at the store.

A lot of commercially made chips are made with vegetable oils, such as canola, safflower or corn oil. These fats are exceptionally high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 essential fatty acids. It’s always a good idea to decrease your daily intake of omega-6 fats since they are so prevalent in our current food system.

When making chips for yourself, opt for an oil such an olive or coconut.
These fats have a healthier fatty acid profile, and they have more flavor!

This time of year in Alaska the garden produce is abundant, to say the least. With zucchini coming out of our ears, it's time to fire up the dehydrator! 

Let your imagination run wild when making chips. Try beets, kale, parsnips, apples, nectarines, peaches, pears, and beyond!

Fruit and veggies are a great beginner dehydration recipe. 

You can simply slice apples in thin pieces, lay them in a single layer on your dehydrator trays, and voila! Hours later you’ll have apple chips!

For dehydration success, you want to make sure that your food is sliced to 1/4 inch thickness.

This is also true when dehydrating chunks of food in a soup or stew, cut everything to 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch pieces. If the pieces are thicker than that, you might find that the food “case hardens”; it’s dry on the outside, but never fully dehydrates in the center. This can lead to food spoilage and can cause a person to get sick. When in doubt, slice it thinner!

As for temperatures a good rule of thumb is vegetables dehydrate around 125°F and fruits at 135°F. 

Another thing to consider, food that you would normally eat cooked (like potatoes) should be steam blanched before dehydrating. Even foods like carrots rehydrate much, much quicker and maintain a better color if they are prepared this way before they’re dehydrated!

To steam blanch, cut everything to the desired size, place in a colander over boiled water for 3 to 5 minutes, and you’re done! Onto the trays it goes!

Take a peak at some of our favorite chip recipes below. 

Recipes

Parsnip Chips

Ingredients - Makes 10 servings

5 large parsnips
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice parsnips so they are 1/4 inch thick. Toss the slices with olive oil and salt. Use your hands to coat each chip lightly with olive oil and place in a single layer on your dehydrator trays.

Dehydrate chips at 135°F for 8 to 12 hours, until light and crisp. Let cool before packing in resealable plastic bags or glass jars.

Herbed Tomato Chips

Ingredients - Makes 10 servings

10 roma tomatoes
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tsp sea salt
Spray olive oil

Directions

Using a very sharp knife, slice tomatoes so they are 1/4 inch thick. Spray your dehydrator trays with olive oil. Lay your tomato slices in a single layer on dehydrator trays. Lightly sprinkle the herb and salt mix over all of the tomatoes slices.

Dehydrate tomatoes at 135°F for 8 to 12 hours, until light and crisp. Let cool before packing in resealable plastic bags or glass jars.

Banana Chips

Ingredients - Makes 10 servings

10 bananas
Spray coconut oil

Directions

Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice bananas so they are 1/4 inch thick. Spray your dehydrator trays with coconut oil. Lay your banana slices in a single layer on dehydrator trays.

Dehydrate chips at 135°F for 8 to 12 hours, until there are no obvious wet spots.
Let cool before packing in resealable plastic bags or glass jars. Banana chips are fantastic dipped in dark chocolate, tossed with other dried fruit and nuts for trail mix, or shared with your pet as treats!

Cinnamon Apple Stars

Ingredients - Makes 10 servings

10 apples
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
5 tsp cinnamon
Spray coconut oil

Directions

Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice apples so they are 1/4 inch thick. Remove the seeds and stems. Combine the sugars and cinnamon in a large bowl. Massage each apple slice in the sugar mix, and lay in a single layer on lightly oiled dehydrator trays.

Dehydrate chips at 135°F for 8 to 12 hours, until they are light and crisp.

Let cool before packing in resealable plastic bags or glass jars. Consider doubling the amount you make, because these popular treats won’t last long!

All The Veggie Chips

Ingredients - Makes 10 servings

2 large zucchini
2 large yams
4 large carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions

Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice all your vegetables so they are 1/4 inch thick. Toss the slices with olive oil and salt. Use your hands to coat each chip lightly with olive oil and place in a single layer on your dehydrator trays.

Dehydrate chips at 135°F for 8 to 12 hours, until light and crisp. Let cool before packing in resealable plastic bags or glass jars.

Heather Kelly is the founder and CEO of Heather’s Choice. She was an NCAA National Champion and CRCA/Pocock All-American in women’s rowing, and hold a degree in evolutionary nutrition. Heather is also a certified eating psychology coach and has coached hundreds of athletes on developing a nutrition plan for optional performance and a healthy, satisfying relationship with food.

Heather lives in Anchorage, Alaska with her boyfriend and business partner Brad, along with their dog Jango. You can likely find her playing with food, building her urban homestead, or rafting rivers in her spare time.