Dehydrate spinach and make spinach powder to extend the life of your garden-grown spinach or the great grocery deals you can get! It is one of the easiest dehydrating projects you can do and is so versatile!
Do I Need to Blanch Spinach?
Spinach, like all greens, contains oxalic acid which can work against your body absorbing the vital nutrients from spinach. We often eat spinach raw in salads, etc., and that's fine.
But because, in most cases, you'll be using dehydrated spinach in foods that you cook, you don't need to blanch as the cooking takes care of it.
Blanching can help reduce the size of large spinach to make loading onto trays easier, but you'll need to separate them more so that leaves don't stick and not dry properly.
When Is Dehydrated Spinach Done?
When your spinach shatters in your fingers it is done. But be sure to check those stems, too. If they are not dry, keep drying!
Equpiment needed:
- Dehydrator
- Grinder
- Mason Jars
- Salad Spinner (this is optional, but I find it helpful.
How to Dehydrate Spinach
- Wash leaves.
- Dry off leaves (I find a salad spinner works great to remove excess surface moisture).
- Place on trays.
- Dry at 125F / 52 C for 4-8 hours.
- Condition.
- Store in an airtight container.
Oven Directions:
- Follow the instructions above for prep
- Place on cooling racks on cookie sheets.
- Dry in an oven at the very lowest setting it has with the door cracked open to allow airflow and moisture to escape.
- Keep an eye on leave so that they don't burn.
Get more ideas on dehydrating in the oven here.
Dehydrating Frozen Spinach
Frozen spinach can be dried, as well.
Directions:
- Thaw
- Spread onto trays the best you can
- Dry at 95F/35C (recommended is 125F/52C, but the lower the more of the vitamins and minerals you keep)
- Test - should crumble
- Condition
- Store
How to Store
After conditioning, dehydrated spinach can be stored in an airtight container for six months to a year.
How to use Dehydrated Spinach
- Dehydrated flakes, as we like to call them, make a perfect addition to just about any meal you are going to cook.
- We crush them just enough to not be large leaves, but not so much that they are like crushed herbs. It gives spinach bulk to a meal, without being overwhelming.
- Use to color fresh pasta or bread dough
- Sprinkle in scrambled eggs
- Use to make green powder supplement capsules
They will rehydrate naturally in whatever you are making.
- Quiche
- Fritattas
- Casseroles
- Soups
- Meatloaf
- 10 oz package of bulk spinach=
- 9.5 C of fresh bulk spinach=
- 8 C of dehydrated spinach=
- ¼ C of spinach powder
How to Make Spinach Powder
Powdering spinach is easy, and you don't need any special equipment. Simply placing your spinach in a zip-top bag and crushing it with your hands can be enough for a rough powder that looks like the typical dried herbs you get at the store.
I use a large blender because of the bulk, but you can use a coffee grinder or bullet blender, too.
It's a good idea to place your powder back onto trays in order to dry it as heat from grinding can create moisture. Here's how I do it with trays I made from fruit leather sheets.
You can also mix your spinach powder with greens of every sort to create a master mix of Green Powder.
Uses for Spinach Powder or any Green Powder
- Use to color fresh pastas
- Sprinkle in scrambled eggs
- Use to make green powder supplement capsules
- Add to any savory dish to add an additional boost of nutrition.
Want to try More Powders?
How to Dehydrate Spinach and Make Spinach Powder
Ingredients
- Spinach
Instructions
- Wash Spinach
- Separate spinach leaf from any large woody stems if desired
- Place on deydrator trays.
- Dry at 95F / 35C for 4-10 hours until cripsy when cool
- Store leaves in an airtight container -or-
- Place dried spinach leaves in a coffee grinder or bullet blender and powder.
Notes
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
Amanda says
I use fresh spinach in smoothies every morning. I'm wanting to dehydrate spinach from my garden to use in the smoothies (or maybe green powder which would be lettuce and spinach). Do I need to blanche the spinach for smoothies? What about the lettuce?
Darcy Baldwin says
As mentioned in the post, it isn't necessary. Unless you were making a full diet on spinanch centric smoothies and never used anything else, you might want to.
Vee says
Hi Darcy, love your page! I am dehydrating frozen greens and squeezed out the liquid. What can I do with the liquid? Can I dehydrate it separately? Sorry if that's a dumb question, but it's my first time. Thank you!
Darcy Baldwin says
You can use it as part of your soup base. I wouldn't bother dehydrating it if it were me.
Anne Higgins says
Can you dehydrate frozen chopped spinach?
Darcy Baldwin says
Yes, the information is in the post.
judy says
how much powder would you recommend to add to a 2 lb meatloaf? Thanks
Darcy Baldwin says
Considering a 1 TB is approximately 1 Cup of fresh - and you have to deal with moisture - I wouldn't add more than 2 TB as you learn how it works for you.
Audrey says
Hi! Should I add more liquid to my recipe when I replace this for fresh spinach? Like making homemade tortillas that call for fresh spinach? Thank you
Darcy says
Is spinach an ingredient of the tortilla itself, no extra water needed if you're using powder or flakes unless you find the mixture dry when you finish mixing it. Just like with other baking, look to see what it looks like mixed and go from there!
Rhonda says
Is the drying temp 95 degrees or 125 degrees?
Darcy says
Take your pick 🙂 Temps don't matter except if you are doing proteins or you are trying to keep a raw food diet. The lower the temp, the more nutrients you keep. The recommended is 125F, but I do it at 95F to keep as much as possible on my greens.
Lisa says
Emptying my Nesco dehydrator's round trays into a round roasting pan helps keep the mess down. It's much easier to empty dried leaves from the roaster into a container without them flying everywhere.
Michelle says
Thank [email protected] for taking the time out to post this article and information.