Can You Rehydrate Dehydrated Vegetables?

Does that sound a bit on the iffy side? Well, yes, but what about dehydrated vegetables? OK, I’ll say that again, probably just as poorly as the first time. Dehydrated vegetables, also known as dehydrated veggies (did I mention that before? No, I did not). Can you rehydrate dehydrated vegetables? This is an important question and if you Google it, you will get a resounding yes! OK, so how would one do this and, even more importantly, why in the heck would one want to?

The Magic of Dehydration

Understanding the Dehydration Process

Dehydrating vegetables also means removing the water from them, drying them out, which is useful for improving the veggies shelf-life and long term storage.

Benefits of Dehydrating Vegetables for Storage

In addition, they’re lightweight, shelf-stable, and don’t need to be refrigerated – excellent for camping or backpacking, and ideal for an emergency food supply. Not sure what to do with your garden harvest? Dehydrating it helps prevent food waste, it’s easy, and it makes your produce last. Cool stuff, right?

The Versatility of Dehydrated Veggies

Variety and Convenience of Dehydrated Vegetables

Almost any vegetable can be dehydrated and in the process you’ll add variety from tomatoes to carrots to your pantry in a reusable form that’s ready to be rehydrated and used in your favourite recipe.

How Long Do Dehydrated Vegetables Last?

As well as having a long shelf-life (drying meat is another excellent preserve) if you’ve got a basement or other storage facility, dry goods keep for many, many years, so should your garden or emergency food supplier dry up, your kitchen cupboard is guaranteed to be bursting with edible goodness.

How to Rehydrate Dehydrated Food

Step-by-step Guide to Rehydration

Most are a breeze to rehydrate: you simply soak them in water or your favourite broth until they reach full size again – anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the vegetable.

Best Practices for Rehydrating Veggies

To hasten the rehydration process, use hot water – rehydration water is a great opportunity to pump up the flavour of the vegetables, after all.

Rehydrated Vegetables vs Fresh Vegetables

Nutritional Comparison

While some nutrients may be lost

Finished browsing

But with dehydrated veggies, most of the B vitamins and a good portion of the minerals remain, so a handful of dried beans can bring in calories and nutrition, and a bowl of dried greens can make for a good salad when rehydrated.

Flavor and Texture Comparison

Dehydrating vegetables can intensify their flavour so that when they’re rehydrated they add load of artificially brought out flavour to whatever you’re cooking, and if you’re unlucky, they come out of the hydrating process with an off texture, a little softer than they should be.

Storing Dehydrated Vegetables

Ideal Conditions for Storage

Be sure to keep your dehydrated veggies in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Light, heat and air can prove fatal to your dehydrated vegetables, not to mention their taste.

Shelf Life of Dehydrated Vegetables

If stored properly, dehydrated vegetables can keep for five years or even longer. It all depends on what conditions you keep them in.

Tips and Tricks for Dehydrating and Rehydrating Vegetables

Chop your vegetables into uniform pieces so that they dry at the same rate. Consider adding some spices or herbs to the water you use to rehydrate with.

Conclusion

Dry vegetables from drying racks are a resourceful, long-lasting, nutritious addition to the pantry that can be rehydrated and used in almost anything. While the texture of dried vegetables can change somewhat, and some nutrients are lost, they offer a fantastic alternative when fresh produce isn’t available or isn’t an option.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What veg should I dehydrate?

Good question – virtually any veg can be dehydrated but for simple veg the following work quite well: tomatoes, peppers, carrots and onions.

• How much time is necessary to soak vegetables for them to rehydrate?

The time period varies but usually between 15 minutes to 1 hour will get it done.

The question was if dried vegetables are not a bad choice wich are low in nutrition or not.
The answer is due on the fact that some nutrimental vitamins/elements are eliminated from vegetables because of the dehydration process.
However many elements are retainded and because of this, the nutrimental value, after rehydration is still very high.

• Is the rehydration water OK to use in cooking?

It certainly is, and in some ways it’s even better – if you’re ever rehydrating some veggies, you may notice that the ‘rehydration’ water takes on a bit of the flavour of what you’re cooking. Rather than pouring it down the sink, it can be used to add a bit of extra flavour to soups, stews and so on.

• Where are dehydrated vegetables supposed to be stored?

Dehydrated veggies are best if kept in a cool dark cupboard in airtight containers to preserve their quality and to prolong their shelf life.