Homemade Dehydrated Veggie Granules

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!

Dehydrated Vegetable Granules made into bouillon utilize garden produce & provide a delicious, nutritious product for my family. #TexasHomesteader

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.

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??

Dehydrated Vegetable Granules made into bouillon utilize garden produce & provide a delicious, nutritious product for my family. #TexasHomesteader

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

See All Our Dehydrating Posts

C’mon by & sit a spell!  Come hang out at our Facebook Page. It’s like sitting in a front porch rocker with a glass of cold iced tea – lots of good folks sharing!  You can also follow along on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

If you’d like to receive an email each time a new blog post goes live it’s EASY to
Subscribe to our blog!

 

* A word about our Affiliate Link – We are currently enrolled as an Amazon Affiliate.  Occasionally I will insert an affiliate link into one of my posts if I think it may be of interest to you.  I  receive nothing from the manufacturer, but I love my coffee grinder & thought you might too. If you click on any of my affiliate links and buy something (almost anything, not just what was linked) I get a small referral percentage from Amazon.  But here’s the really important part – the price you pay for your items is UNCHANGED.

When you buy something through the affiliate link it’s a great way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So please click often!

Save

42 thoughts on “Homemade Dehydrated Veggie Granules

  1. Nana

    Do you have a ratio or amt of each of the veggies you use so as not to over power the taste of one?

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      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~

      Reply
  2. Mrs U

    Hi! New here!!! What brand dehydrator do you recommend??????? This is a great idea!!!!

    His
    Mrs U

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      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/

      Reply
  3. Michelle

    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.

    Reply
  4. Deborah

    That is such a great idea. Thanks for linking up to #homematters linky party!!

    Reply
  5. Helen at the Lazy Gastronome

    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!

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      That sounds perfect Helen. I’ve never dehydrated strawberries before, but I love ’em! ~TxH~

      Reply
  6. Katy SkipTheBag

    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!

    Reply
  7. Carol

    I’ve never dehydrated veggies – will have to check it out.

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      It’s sure nice to have this flavor (and nutrition) booster ready & waiting for me, Carol. ~TxH~

      Reply
  8. Jordan

    Great idea! I definitely need to try this with squash! Found your post at #wastelesswednesday

    Reply
  9. Elaine

    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!

    Reply
  10. Stefani

    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.

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      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~

      Reply
  11. Suzanne

    I love to dehydrate excess kale and spinach mustard greens and then add to soups, chicken salad or omelets.

    Reply
  12. JES

    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! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Oh yes, garlic powder! I’ve planted a bumper crop of garlic this year so there should be plenty. ~TxH~

      Reply
  13. Anna @ Northern Homestead

    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!

    Reply
  14. Anna @ Northern Homestead

    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!

    Reply
  15. Susan

    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.

    Reply
  16. Shawna

    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

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Shawna I’m so bitten by the dehydrating bug this year (dehydrating cooked carrots as we speak…) Thanks for the pin. ~TxH~

      Reply
  17. Lisha

    Love this idea! I’ll be pinning this for later. Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
  18. Easy Life Meal & Party Planning

    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!

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Thanks, I’m really trying to make sure none of my garden produce goes to waste. ~TxH~

      Reply
  19. Sue

    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.

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      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~

      Reply
  20. lydiaf

    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!

    Reply
  21. christina.grossholz@gmail.com

    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.

    Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      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~

      Reply
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      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~

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

* Please enter the Biggest Number

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.