Knowing how to make and use vegetable powder takes your dehydrating to the next level! Here is a quick and easy way to make them even more versatile! Vegetable powder!
Do you get so excited to dehydrate vegetables, then let them sit on a shelf, unsure of how to use them. Or maybe you realize that you don't even like them. Maybe you've got lots of small portions that just don't make sense keeping.
This tip will make ALL of your dehydrated vegetables so versatile to use, and you'll NEVER notice them! This works for dehydrated fresh vegetables, canned vegetables, and frozen vegetables.
According to the CDC, only 1 in 10 adults gets enough vegetables into their diets on a daily basis. The federal recommendation is at least 2-3 cups of vegetables per day, yet only 1 in 9 adults get that.
Seven of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States are from chronic diseases. Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables daily can help reduce the risk of many leading causes of illness and death, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and obesity.
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p1116-fruit-vegetable-consumption.html
But what if you just really hate vegetables? Or you have texture issues that make eating vegetables hard for you? There are a lot of reasons, besides having trained our mouths to only like junk food. But here's how you can help boost the nutritional value of even your most nutrition-less meals.
What is Veggie Powder?
Vegetable powder is ground, dehydrated (dried) vegetables. Any vegetable. And the cool thing is you can mix them all up!
You can use
- Fresh Vegetables (this list is being updated as quickly as I can take pics!)
- Frozen Vegetables
- Canned Vegetables
- Freeze-dried vegetables (if you're trying to use up a bag or can before you open a new one)
- Vegetables from making stock
How to Make Vegetable Powder
Of course, go ahead and dehydrate your vegetables. Whatever you're using will be just fine. In my photo, it's a combination of corn, carrots, green beans, peas, potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. They were part of my last frozen veggie dehydrator run. I happen to use an Excalibur Dehydrator, but any dehydrator will do.
You can do single ingredient powders or just mix up all of the veggies and powder them. The mixture tends to take on a more neutral taste. If your ratio is heavy on a particular vegetable, it may begin to take on more of that particular flavor.
1. Pour Dehydrated Vegetables into a Blender
Whatever veggies you're using - you'll want to go ahead and grind them.
2. Powder
I pulse a few times, then set it to a sustained mode (I happen to use crush from my machine). This is to break up the pieces then run on a sustained cycle to pulverize the pieces.
Here is the result of 1 C of the dehydrated vegetables ground in my Ninja blender. You can see that there are a few larger bits on top from green beans and carrots.
You can, of course, use any blender that you have, depending on how much you are doing at one time. Something like a Vitamix or a bullet blender will do this pretty quickly and you won't have to grind again.
3. Strain and Grind Again
Strain out the powder into a bowl so I can take the larger bits and either use my blender again -- or --
I throw them into my coffee grinder. (NOTE, I no longer use this model because the dust kickup became a problem have since switched to the Kitchen Aid coffee grinder. Removable bowls are still a favorite feature because cleanup is a breeze.
But you can see how the larger bits of carrots and green beans are ground into a fine powder. Sometimes the big blenders can't get those last bits because there's just not enough bulk to keep them in the blades. That's when a coffee grinder can really come in handy.
Conversion Chart
The basic ratio of vegetables to vegetable powder is this
1.5-2 C of vegetables to 1 C dehydrated vegetables to ½ C vegetable powder.
Your ratio will vary depending on the cut of your vegetables (these were small cut sizes). 1 C of uncut broccoli will be different than 1 C of small, chopped broccoli. This is an instance where the ratios don't have to be exact. It is to give you a sense of the conversion that you can adjust to your own taste preferences.
►Add veggie powder to boost the nutrition of anything that you are making. While 1 TB of ground dried vegetables seems pointless in one instance, the accumulation of the addition of the powders to your daily life adds that much more nutrition throughout your day.
How to Store Vegetable Powder
Store in an airtight container. A mason jar, a mylar storage bag, but not zip-top plastic bags as they do allow air to permeate over time. You want to make sure that no air/moisture gets into your powder to allow it to clump or degenerate. Store in a cool, dry, dark place.
Ideas for using Veggie Powder
- 1 TB to baked goods - you really don't taste it, but it helps make those brownies or cookies a little more 'nutritious'!
- 2-3 TB to casseroles - no matter what veggies you may have added, it helps boost the nutrition level of tater tot casserole.
- 1.5 TB into scrambled eggs
- Smoothies
- 1-2 TB into bread
- Sprinkle on salads
- ¼ C of vegetable powder to 2 C of broth makes a great vegetable broth
- Make your own vegetable capsules
- Create your own seasoning blends with herbs and spices
- Use powders to naturally color pasta
- Mix with stock and milk to make a cream of vegetable soup
Remember, these ratios are suggestions only. You may find you need to adjust them for your taste buds or for a particular dish.
An airtight container is all that is needed. You can use a moisture absorber to help with clumping if you are in and out of the jar and notice it.
Generally, powders are freshest 6-9 months. If you can open a jar and readily identify it by smell, it's still good. If you have a hard time identifying it or you've noticed it is losing its color, it's time to use it quickly and make more.
No - but it supplements what you are already eating! We use dehydrated vegetable powder more as a supplement to boost the vitamin and mineral content in our food, but not as a replacement for vegetables. You are getting a boost of vitamins and minerals.
However, if you do a straight ¼C of vegetable powder to approximately 2 C of broth (bone or vegetable), you can count that as a serving of vegetables!
Here are some Single-Ingredient Vegetable Powders you can make
- Bell Pepper Powder aka mock 'Paprika'
- Celery Powder
- Cucumber Powder (for DIY Ranch Dressing and Tzatziki)
- Green Onion Powder
- Pumpkin Powder
READ MORE: How to Make & Use Fruit Powders
YOUR INPUT ►► If you are already using vegetable powders, how do you integrate them into your meals?
Other Kinds of Dehydrated Powders You Can Make or Use
Gill says
What is TB please?
Darcy says
Tablespoon 😉
Lisa Lombardo says
Great idea! Congrats on being featured on the Simple Homestead Hop!
Darcy says
Thanks, Lisa!
Leilani says
This is great! Thank you for sharing this. I will definitely be trying to make and use this, especially if we can hide it in other food.
Darcy says
Glad you've found it helpful! Let me know what you think once you've tried it!
Dianne says
I am going to try this with broccoli. My husband wants to eat it but can't get past the "feel of it" or "texture" in his mouth. So weird I know. He has ask me to "chop it fine and use in dishes, and he still can't do it." Maybe this will work.
Thanks for the idea!
BTW - what kind of dehydrator do you use? I'm in the market for one.
Darcy says
Hope it works for you! If your husband doesn't mind the taste of broccoli, just the texture, this will work fine. However, when I do single vegetables like peas that my family hates, I find it works better to use the general vegetable blend. It makes the flavor more neutral. Good luck!
BTW - this is the machine I use - Excalibur Dehydrator from my Amazon link.
Carol says
I use green onion and spinach powder in my sausage gravy and occasionally in my biscuits. I just love biscuits and gravy and needed to make it healthier, so I started adding the powders. I actually I found it tastes better with it. I don’t measure, but use a generous portion on top or broken up biscuits ( turn it rather green) Then add that much more on top of the gravy and mix. I really credit it with lowering my A1C levels a bit. I know it is much healthier.
Darcy says
That's great! Aren't powders awesome? Our eggs are usually quite green from our green powder 🙂
Lissa says
I think I will try adding it to pasta dough, red sauce, brown rice, and mashed potatoes! My kids love veggies, but it can't hurt to add a boost of nutrients on the nights we eat less than ideal!
Darcy says
Yep! Sneak it into mac'n'cheese, sprinkle on vegetables and in salad, put it in meatloaf -- it goes well in everything.
Deborah Portukalian says
Should green beans and greens such as kale, chard, beet greens be blanched before dehydrating?
Darcy says
Hi, Deborah,
Kale is up to you. I explain why since it's a little more detailed in this post: https://www.thepurposefulpantry.com/homemade-green-powder/
Green beans also fall under the do it if you want column. While I would always blanch before freezing, with dehydrating, it's a whichever way you choose. Blanching will help preserve the color, though, so it might be the thing that sways you to that column if it's important to you.
Kay says
What a clever idea! Never thought of this before.
Darcy says
I hope you'll give it a try!
Racheal says
This is amazing. I have one who loves vegetables and one who avoids them. And of course the one that avoids them is constantly sick and gets bloody noses regularly. This will be a great way to get some nutrition into him.
Thank you so much!!
Darcy says
I hope it helps, momma!
Dave says
I always find it confusing when people say, use a Mason jar for air tight storage. Just how do you remove all of the air from a Mason jar full of powder?
Darcy says
Airtight storage means into something that doesn't allow the transfer of air back and forth - such as with a plastic zip-top bag or a plastic container that when you squeeze it, you can feel or hear the air transfer in the lid. As far as vacuum sealing jars with powder, many people will lay a muffin paper into the top of their jar, close it, and go through the vacuum sealing process. It can help keep the powders from being sucked up into your machine. You can also use an O2 absorber, as well.
Ruby says
Hello! My oldest daughter said depending on the veggies that this looks like it would be great sprinkled on popcorn or even in hummus. I can't wait to get a dehydrator.
Darcy says
Can't wait for you to get one, too!
TJ says
Love love love it! Going to start a batch today! Thanks!!!
Susan says
We already use a spinach/kale powder. My daughter laughs at her “green” eggs like Dr. Seuss. We did not find any discernable taste change to the eggs. Love the ideas!
Darcy says
Glad it helped!
Jackie says
Hi, Just found your article and was looking at getting a dehydrator for next years garden season. Because we're almost in December and I live in Northern Alberta I'm hooped for drying any of my garden this year. Is making powders doable using dried vegetables from the grocery store? You know the ones I'm talking about? The bags of dried peas, lentils, mixed veggies etc. Not something I'd usually do but would this be worth doing in the interim?
Darcy says
You can do it from any vegetable you have!
Stena Schmitt says
I love this idea. I have also tried to make tomato powder. Then I can make my own hamburger helper packs instead of buying them in the grocery store and getting all of the preservatives. I have wanted to try other vegetable powders but didn't know what to put it in or what the conversion rate was. Thanks!
Darcy says
That's the cool thing -there is no set ratio or conversion! Just put anything in and use it!
Kaylee says
How long is the powder good for? And is there a way to store it long term?
Darcy Baldwin says
Generally, powders are freshest 6-9 months. If you can open a jar and readily identify it by smell, it's still good. If you have a hard time identifying it or you've noticed it is losing its color, it's time to use it quickly and make more.
Andrea Martin says
1-2 tablespoons in bread. Does this work in a bread maker?
Darcy Baldwin says
I'm sure it would - there's nothing drastic about it to make a bread maker not work.