Have you dehydrated all the vegetables, but don't know how to use them? 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.
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.
(This is not an excuse for you to eat McD's all the time and just sprinkle some veggie powder on your burger, mind you)
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)
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 - a generic vegetable taste. If your ratio is heavy on a particular vegetable, it may begin to take on more of that particular flavor.
Case in point - no one in my family likes peas. In fact, we pretty much all hate them. But I can sneak in pea goodness into my powders. However, if I do a whole bag of frozen peas, I need to be sure it's into a large portion of 'generic' powder to help mask that flavor. My husband can pick it out in a heartbeat if the ratio is too heavy on the pea side.
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.
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. I use this Cuisinart grinder because this little bowl detaches to make clean up 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.
How to Use Vegetable Powder
The basic ratio of vegetables to vegetable powder is this
2 C of vegetables to 1 C dehydrated vegetables to 1/2 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 'nutritious'!
- 2 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
- 1/4 C of vegetable powder to 2 C of broth makes a great vegetable broth
- Make your own nutritional supplements
- 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 the particular dish.
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
DOES VEGETABLE POWDER REPLACE YOUR VEGETABLE INTAKE?
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 vitamin and minerals.
However, if you do a straight 1/4C of vegetable powder to approximately 2 C of broth (bone or vegetable), you can count that as a serving of vegetables!
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
Want more?
If this intrigues you to start more of your own dehydrating projects at home, be sure to check out the dehydrating section here on the blog, and subscribe to my newsletter where you'll get more projects delivered to your mailbox each week, plus it will give you exclusive access to my Resource Library This is the place you can download ALL the printables and exclusive content! I'm also posting tutorials on my Youtube channel, and would love for you to join my Dehydrating Tips and Tricks group on Facebook for more immediate help and ideas!
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.