by Texas Homesteader ~
I love fresh spinach, and I love that during early spring it produces so prolifically. We like to eat as much spinach as we can while it’s fresh and crisp but I also want to preserve that delicious, healthy spinach to enjoy later in the season – way after the plants have bolted and are gone. I experimented with dehydrating fresh spinach this year and I loved the results. I wrote this piece for one of my favorite publications, Mother Earth News. C’mon y’all – check it out!
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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20 Responses
Great info, I never thought of dehydrating my greens. Don’t grow much spinach, just enough for Mom to have as salad, but I do grow lots and lots of mustard (many kinds), radish and turnip greens, broccoli (for both heads and the leaves as greens), broccoli raab, and more, and eat cooked greens probably once a day during the season. Even with careful succession planting, though, I seem to have lots extra at times; intended to freeze them this year, but storm damage at Mom’s house ate up any spare cash I had put away for a chest freezer. Since I already have two good dehydrators, will experiment with the different types of greens. I also plan to experiment with winter gardening to grow greens through our cold zone 6 winter.
Love your website; I keep learning new and helpful things!
Ginger, I’d read to expect that the results from dehydrating spinach might be poor – perhaps because it’s so fragile when dehydrated, I’m not sure. So I went into it with low expectations but knowing that this fresh spinach might otherwise be wasted unless I could preserve it. (Freezer space is currently at a premium, so no options there). I was pleasantly surprised that it dehydrated like I thought it would, but even more surprised that I could rehydrate it beautifully as well! Give it a try and see if it works for you too. ~TxH~
I never would have thought to dehydrate greens! What a good idea. We love spinach here, too. Thanks for sharing this tip on Simply Natural Saturdays.
I read in my dehydrating book that spinach might yield less satisfactory dehydrating results Beth, but it worked perfectly for me and I’m loving having it in my pantry! ~TxH~
I dried chard leaves by hanging them in the open air. It worked pretty well, but took quite a long time on sunny days. Once dry I stored them in Mason jars and used them in winter soups. – Margy
Interesting Margy. I’ve never grown chard before and I have a lovely plant ready for me to harvest from now. I’ll try your method for dehydrating it since there’s only one plant and certainly not enough to fire up a 9-tray Excalibur for. I love using dehydrated food in my winter soups! ~TxH~
Drats! Sounds great but I don’t have a dehydrator yet. It is on our list, but we have to save for it. We buy everything with cash (debt free). I’ve saved your post so I can try this when I get my machine.
Thanks for sharing such great info on your wonderful blog – I follow you faithfully and enjoy each and every post.
Bobbie
I had to wait a while to get my Excalibur too Bobbie so I know what you mean. But DANG I use that thing a lot now – definitely a good purchase for us! Thank you for your sweet words! ~TxH~
Wow, this is such a great idea! I found it really interesting reading about how you RE hydrated it. I have only eaten dehydrated things in their dry state. Thanks for sharing this with us on Simply Natural Saturdays!
I have a pantry filled with dehydrated veggies Melissa, my favorite way to use them is by rehydrating them directly in a simmering pot of soup, especiall in the wintertime! I’ve enjoyed things in their dehydrated state as well, but most of my veggies are rehydrated to eat them. ~TxH~
Found this on the Homestead hop 23, so happy I did! I’ve been on the fence about investing in a dehydrator, but I believe I’m sold now!! So cool, Thanks!
That little household dehydrator was great for small things Elizabeth but I needed something larger. When I was ready to pull the trigger and buy my Excalibur dehydrator I wondered about a 5-tray versus a 9-tray. I decided on the 9 tray and I surely made the right choice. That bad boy is filled to the gills often. I love my dehydrator! If you’ll click on the Excalibur ad in the right-hand margin & search for 3900B, that’s the one I have. I’ve been very happy with it but they have various models and one is sure to fit your needs. Check ’em out! ~TxH~
It would never have crossed my mind to dehydrate spinach or greens! Thanks for sharing on the Waste Less Wednesday Hop!
I’ll be dehydrating Malabar spinach for the first time this year Katy. It’s not a true spinach, more flesh and it grows during the heat of our Texas summers. I’m anxious to try the dehydrated Malabar. ~TxH~
I’ve frozen spinach but never dehydrated. Does it change the taste or texture? Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up.
The taste of the spinach is the same to me after dehydrating and rehydrating. The texture is the same as cooked spinach so I’ve seen no change there either. ~TxH~
Oh great idea. I didn’t even realize saving greens was possible. I REALLY don’t like a lot of greens that you can buy at the grocery store in the winter so maybe I’ll have to try this next year! Thanks for linking up at #SustainableSundays!
I’ll be trying it with Malabar spinach this year Danielle, can’t wait to see how it turns out. ~TxH~
I’ve heard that pulverizing the dried spinach and adding to food for kiddos is a great way to sneak in some veggies. Love this! Thanks for sharing at Share the Wealth Sunday! I hope you stop by again this week!
Clever mom trick, Morgan. ~TxH~