by Texas Homesteader ~
Last season I was trying to preserve as much garden excess as I could. I hated for any of it to go to waste. So we ate fresh from the garden every day, then I shared with family, friends & community. Then I preserved as much as I could either by freezing, canning or dehydrating.
You could say I was bitten by the dehydrating bug because the more I dehydrated those veggies the more enamored I became with the whole process. I was amazed at the small amount of space my dehydrated shredded potatoes took up in the pantry. I loved my dehydrated jujubes sprinkled in my homemade granola. I really enjoyed tossing dehydrated garden veggies into my never-ending soup. But now I’m experimenting with yet another way to use them. Salt-free veggie granules. OH YEAH!
Preserving The Garden’s Bounty
Any gardener knows what happens when they plant squash in the garden – it’s prolific! And once we ate as much as we could fresh & shared so much that people ran the other way when seeing us fearing we’d bring them MORE squash, I froze & dehydrated some of it.
I’ve never really been pleased with the texture result when cooking with frozen or dehydrated squash, but I love the flavor.
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Dehydrated Vegetable Powder
Then it occurred to me to use the dehydrated veggies make my own veggie granules. I really love it & I’ve sprinkled it in pasta sauce for a more intense flavor when enjoying pasta, it’s easy to toss in soup as it’s simmering and it’s delicious when added to rice as it cooks.
And I love that it adds not only a deeper flavor but also a little more nutrition. Now by doing this I’ve added nothing to the landfill, utilized excess garden produce and I’ve provided a delicious product for my family for very little cost. What’s not to love??
Making these granules was easy, I took different dried veggies from the pantry and whirred them a bit in a * coffee grinder
I use specifically for this purpose. Today I used purple onions, carrots, bell pepper, zucchini and yellow squash. I can make it different every time, but I want to make sure none of the flavors would conflict with any recipe I use them in so I really like this combination. I sifted the powder into a repurposed seasoning shaker and placed a label on top.
How do you preserve & use your garden excess?
~TxH~
Other Dehydrating Posts
- Preserving The Harvest: Dehydrating Fresh Carrots
- Dehydrating Fresh Pumpkin For Easy Storage
- Dehydrating Spinach To Enjoy All Year Long
- Using A Dehydrator To Preserve Fresh Onions
- Dehydrating & Storing Cabbage
- Bell Pepper Dehydration
- Using A Solar Oven To Dehydrate Garden Produce
- How To Make Dehydrated Blueberry Powder
- Dehydrating Plums
See All Our Dehydrating Posts
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42 Responses
Great idea!
Thanks Lisa Lynn, I especially like sprinkling these dehydrated veggie granules into my rice as it’s simmering, it gives it a great flavor. ~TxH~
Thanks Linda, Love the hop! ~TxH~
That’s a great idea. I did some of my garden but not as much as I wanted. The only thing I ground up though was potatoes, which was nice, it was like instant potatoes, which I have never eaten from a box, but out of my garden with no preservatives is great for those days you don’t have much time for dinner. I can’t wait to try this with other things this year.
I’ll be expanding my dehydrating tasks this year as well Christina. I think I’ve been bitten by the dehydrating bug for sure! ~TxH~
I had an excalibur dehydrator and had a lot of fun the two summers it was in my life. I gave it to my brother when we moved. I never tried pulverizing the veggies what a great idea!
An excalibur is on my wish list. Some day… ~TxH~
Glad I stopped in from kathewithane to read about dehydrating as I am super inspired to do something like this with our excess vegetables. We don’t plant as much as we used to, maybe this year we will.
Give it a try Sue – OMGosh it’s been so much fun to not only see that beautiful produce lined up on my pantry shelves in pretty glass jars but to use it so often in my cooking. ~TxH~
What a great idea – I would never have thought of this! Pinning to my bucket list for next summer/fall! Thanks for sharing on the Four Seasons Blog Hop!
Thanks, I’m really trying to make sure none of my garden produce goes to waste. ~TxH~
Love this idea! I’ll be pinning this for later. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks for the pin Lisha! ~TxH~
What a great idea. My husband just bought dried red peppers for his soup. If I have any excess out of my garden this is what I am going to do. I agree when freezing they just are to soft and mushy.
Thank you for sharing it on our Four Seasons Blog Hop. Pinning now
Shawna I’m so bitten by the dehydrating bug this year (dehydrating cooked carrots as we speak…) Thanks for the pin. ~TxH~
Great article and such a great idea. I have dehydrated lots of veggies, just never powdered them down to make seasonings. I did dehydrate beets and powdered a few slices and added the powder to lip gloss for a nice tint….but will now try your great idea. thanks.
Dehydrating veggies & powdering to make tent for cosmetics – LOVE IT! ~TxH~
Great info, I like to make apple chips, but have not tried to dehydrate vegetables yet, interesting! Thank you for linking up at Green Thumb Thursday, do not forget to come and link up this Thursday again!
What a great way to store lots of vegetables! Thank you for linking up at Green Thumb Thursday. Come and link up this week again!
Love this idea!!! Adding in some garlic powder would be good too! Thank you for sharing it on the Art of Home-Making Mondays at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth! 🙂
Oh yes, garlic powder! I’ve planted a bumper crop of garlic this year so there should be plenty. ~TxH~
I love to dehydrate excess kale and spinach mustard greens and then add to soups, chicken salad or omelets.
Extra taste, extra nutrition. Gotta love it Suzanne. ~TxH~
So glad I found this post through Simply Natural Saturdays. This is such a great idea! We’ve been in the situation before where we had too much squash and no clue what to do with it. Didn’t even think of dehydrating it to use for seasoning! Definitely putting this to use in my kitchen.
So much is involved when we grow our own food Stefani. All the way from planting the seed, watering, weeding, nurturing and finally harvesting. I can’t stand for one precious thing to go to waste! ~TxH~
What a great idea! last year I roasted and froze a lot of garden leftovers…might try this! Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday and I hope to see you tomorrow! Pinned!
Great idea! I definitely need to try this with squash! Found your post at #wastelesswednesday
I’m a dehydrating fool these days, Jordan. LOL ~TxH~
I’ve never dehydrated veggies – will have to check it out.
It’s sure nice to have this flavor (and nutrition) booster ready & waiting for me, Carol. ~TxH~
I would have never thought to do this! I love this idea. Our garden is still in its infancy so we don’t have much extras, but I hope this year will be bountiful and we can do this. Thanks for sharing on the Waste Less Wednesday Blog Hop!
It’s been a delicious way for me to use up some of our extra veggies Katy. ~TxH~
One of my favorites to dehydrate is strawberries. Let them get just a little over-ripe so they are laden with sugar then dry them out. A really yummy snack all year!! Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up!
That sounds perfect Helen. I’ve never dehydrated strawberries before, but I love ’em! ~TxH~
That is such a great idea. Thanks for linking up to #homematters linky party!!
My own convenience items Deborah, straight from the garden. ~TxH~
Wowza, I think you’ve just changed my world forever. What a brilliant idea, I’m super excited to try this. Oh the possibilities are endless. Thank you so very much.
LOL Michelle. These granules have certainly been nice to have in our kitchen. ~TxH~
Hi! New here!!! What brand dehydrator do you recommend??????? This is a great idea!!!!
His
Mrs U
I have a couple of dehydrators Mrs. U and use them depending upon the quantity I have needing to be processed. I have (and love) a 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator. But it’s pretty large and can be expensive. I also have a regular household-size dehydrator I bought at a garage sale for dehydrating smaller quantities. For even smaller quantities I use a cast-iron comal in leftover residual heat in my oven –> https://texashomesteader.com/homestead-hack-use-residual-heat-to-dehydrate/
Do you have a ratio or amt of each of the veggies you use so as not to over power the taste of one?
Ya know, I never make it the same way twice, it always depends on what I have on hand to be used. But I’ve noticed most of the time my veggie powder is added to Italian-flavored foods so: Typically ratio wise – I’ll go heaviest on onion because we like onion flavor & it goes with just about everything. Then just lower in quantity is squash because it’s mildly flavored so it really doesn’t compete with too many flavors. Then even less in quantity are carrots because they’re delicious but I don’t want the sweetness to be prominent. Then at the lightest quantity are bell peppers because (to me) they’re more strongly flavored and I don’t want them to overpower things. That’s the way I typically do the quantities but I’d think it would be based on your tastes. ~TxH~