Easy Dried Strawberries Pack a Flavorful Punch

At their peak of ripeness, fresh strawberries are quite possibly the perfect fruit. Trouble is, their peak is short-lived. Dehydrated strawberries capture the sweet and wonderful flavor so you can enjoy them for months (and months). Add dried strawberries to your favorite trail mix or a bowl of granola.

Be sure to give this strawberry compote recipe a try, too!

If you’ve grown strawberries or have access to farm fresh berries, you know that they can go from “still too green” to overripe in the blink of an eye. When you hit it just right, though? Fresh fruit nirvana.

Dehydrated strawberries

When there are more perfectly ripe strawberries than you can devour fresh, dehydrating them is a great solution. (You should also try your hand at making strawberry mead!) With dried strawberries, there’s no need for added sugar, making for healthy snacks that are great for popping into the lunch box or taking on a hike.

Some people like to make fruit leather out of summer ripe fruit, but if I’m honest? I’m too lazy for that. I find simple dried fruit slices to be much easier — it requires just slicing and drying, skipping the pureeing and rolling steps.

Dried strawberries in a dehydrator

A dehydrator is a specialized appliance specifically made for drying fruits, veggies, and meat. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but all include a number of trays that allow warm air to freely circulate.

I’ve had an Excalibur 9-tray dehydrator for years. We use it frequently for dehydrating bananas and apples and making beef jerky (check my book for that recipe). That said, you don’t need a dehydrator to make these dried strawberries. There are a couple of other ways to save that flavor.

Oven dried strawberries

Drying strawberries in the oven uses equipment most people already have on hand. It’s not the most energy-efficient method, but it does the trick in a pinch.

Drying fruit requires low heat. On newer ovens, the “bread proofing” setting is probably the best way to dry fruit.

Strawberry Cobbler with Gluten-Free Corn Masa Topping

Using an air fryer to make dehydrated strawberries

While I was visiting mom, I picked up some absolutely perfect strawberries at the farmers market. I ate lots fresh, but I also used her air fryer to preserve some to bring home. The air fryer worked much like my dehydrator, resulting in tasty dried berries.

One caveat: The air fryer doesn’t hold as much as my large dehydrator. It wouldn’t be a great solution if you needed to dry a lot of fruit at once. Use it if you have one, certainly, but my money’s still on the dehydrator for best use of energy and time.

★ Did you make these dehydrated strawberries? Don’t forget to give them a star rating below! ★

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