How To: Dehydrate Potatoes

Dehydrating potatoes is a great way to preserve them for later use. By removing the water content, they can be stored for months without spoiling. And, dehydrated potatoes are super easy to rehydrate and cook with.

Dehydrating potatoes is something that’s relatively new to me, although I have been dehydrating all sorts of things for years.

Like. ALL SORTS. Garlic, celery, onions, strawberries, marshmallows, citrus, you name it, it’s been in my dehydrator.

This year, though, I was staring down a potato harvest, and not enough room to store it, I was in a pickle. Or a potato, if you will. So I broke out my trusty dehydrator and started testing.

#worthit.

This guide to dehydrating potatoes is dedicated to testing.

Dehydrated potato slices in a jar.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Jump to:

Tips + Tricks

No. 1 –> Pick the freshest, most vibrant foods you can when dehydrating. The most important reason for this is that the fresher the food that goes into the dehydrator, the fresher the flavor and texture when reconstituted.

No. 2 –> Aim for consistency in your slice or dice. I say it with every DEHYDRATOR RECIPE I post, but it bears repeating! The more consistently sized the pieces you are dehydrating, the more consistent the drying time, the final result, and the reconstituted product. The faster all pieces are dried, the better as longer drying times can lead to reduced flavor in the dried food.

No. 3 –> Properly dried foods refresh well, so it’s important to take the time to get it right. This means picking the right type of potatoes, preparing them properly, drying them properly, and storing your dried potatoes the right way!

Why Dehydrate Potatoes

Dehydrating potatoes may seem like an unusual task, but it can actually be quite useful.

By removing moisture from the potatoes, you create a shelf-stable product that can last for months. Dried potatoes are a fantastic pantry ingredient to have on hand, as they can be reconstituted and used for many different recipes, from soups and stews to casseroles and more.

Dehydrated potatoes have many advantages over their fresh counterparts: they are lightweight, easy to store, and extend their shelf life. One of our limiting factors is that we lack cold storage, so storing fresh potatoes long-term is a challenge. We’ve overcome that by dehydrating!

Dehydrating also has some other benefits — it helps to maximize your potato harvest, prevents food waste, and preserves the nutritional benefits of the potatoes with less work than pressure-canned potatoes!

Key Ingredients

Potatoes: Always choose fresh, firm, unblemished potatoes for this project. Avoid potatoes that are sprouting, soft, squishy, or smelly. You do not need to peel the potatoes, but I always do as dehydrating can concentrate the earthiness of the skin and that can be a bit unappetizing.

I personally prefer to use a waxy potato, like Yukon gold, when dehydrating vs a starchy potato, like a russet. I find Yukon golds hold their shape better after blanching and subsequent rehydrating than starchy potatoes which can tend to lose their shape and even disintegrate.

Ingredients required for dehydrated potatoes.

How To Dehydrate Potatoes

Prepare the potatoes:

  1. Place a steam basket inside a large heavy-bottomed pot. Fill with fresh water until just below the steam basket. Cover and set over medium heat to come to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water, and set aside for now.
  2. Meanwhile, working in batches, peel potatoes, and slice or dice as desired. If slicing, aim for about 1/4 inch thick slices, and if dicing, try for around 1/2 inch cubes. Use a mandoline, food processor, or chopper to ensure consistency in sizing.
  3. Place the cut potatoes into the cold water as they are done cutting. Avoiding air exposure can help reduce black spots.

Steam blanch:

  1. Use a slotted or spider spoon to scoop potatoes from the water bath into the steamer basket. Avoid overfilling the basket. It’s better to work in batches to ensure each piece gets steamed appropriately to help avoid black oxidization spots.
  2. Steam blanch each batch for 5-6 minutes. Meanwhile, set up an ice bath.
  3. Immediately remove blanched potatoes from the heat and plunge them into an ice bath to cool.

Dehydrate:

  1. Once the potatoes have cooled, remove them from the ice bath and spread them in a single layer on the racks of your dehydrator.
  2. Dehydrate at 125f for 8-12 hours, or longer, depending on the thickness of the pieces in the dehydrator and potato type – waxy potatoes hold more moisture than starchy potatoes.
  3. Potatoes are completely dried when they are crisp and brittle. Ensure they are completely dried before removing them from the dehydrator.

Store:

  1. Cool the potatoes at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before transferring to a clean airtight container for storage.
  2. For the first 7 days of storage, observe and condition the potatoes.

Conditioning

Conditioning is important for the safe storage of your dehydrated potatoes. Don’t despair, it’s quite easy to do!

Once the dry potatoes are in their storage container, you simply shake them each day or so for a week and observe the container for signs of moisture.

  • If there are no signs of moisture, you’re good to go, place them in a cool dark place for long-term storage!
  • If there is evidence of moisture in the container, you must add the potatoes back to the dehydrator and dry them longer. After they’ve been dried the second time, you’ll need to go through the conditioning process again.
Sliced dehydrated potatoes in a jar.

How To Rehydrate Dried Potatoes

Although dried potatoes can go directly into your favorite recipes without needing to be reconstituted first, I highly recommended that you take the extra time to rehydrate them in water before baking or cooking. Doing so will help bring back more of the original texture and flavor.

To rehydrate, combine equal parts of potatoes and water, by volume and set aside to soak. (ex. 1 cup potatoes + 1 cup water)

The temperature of the water will dictate how long rehydration will take. Hot water will rehydrate more quickly than cool water. Dried potatoes are considered reconstituted when they are nearly the same size as they were when freshly cut.

It is important to soak the potatoes for less than 2 hours. Soaking the potatoes for longer than 2 hours can restart microbial activity and cause spoilage.

Converting Dehydrated To Fresh

There is no rule of thumb when it comes to converting dried potatoes like other vegetables (ahem, dried onions).

Here’s what I do to overcome that: I designate the top tray in my dehydrator to be the measuring tray for every single batch I do.

I fill the top tray with exactly 4 cups of whatever I happen to be dehydrating (or less if that’s all that will fit). At the end of the process, I can easily measure the dehydrated volume to determine what the conversion from fresh to dried is.

For my diced potatoes, it’s a generous 1/3 cup dried = 1 cup fresh.

Diced dried potatoes in a glass jar.

How To Use Dehydrated Potatoes

I first started dabbling in dried potatoes to alleviate storage concerns and garden harvest crunches, but I have really fallen in love with them for soups and stews.

Each fall, my mom, sister, and I get together and we make dehydrated soup mixes from our bountiful garden produce. Having a healthy, homemade, homegrown, dehydrated soup in a jar for easy dinners is such an amazing gift over the long winter. Most of my dried potatoes will be used in soup mixes.

Dehydrated potato cubes and slices can also be used:

  • as hashbrowns
  • in casseroles
  • pan fried
  • for scalloped potatoes
  • as mashed potatoes

Batch + Storage

Batch:

This recipe requires only potatoes, water, and available space in your dehydrator! You are limited by only those constraints, so it can be halved or doubled infinitely as long as you have space.

Only prepare the potatoes that you have space for in the dehydrator right now, as potatoes begin to degrade as soon as they are cut and turn brown easily when exposed to air.

For reference, I peeled, diced, and dehydrated 10 pounds of potatoes for this post. I ended up with a half-gallon jar filled with diced dehydrated potatoes. Sliced potatoes would take up quite a bit more room as they don’t pack quite so nicely.

Storage:

Use any clean, dry airtight container. My favorites are mason jars for dehydrated food storage, mostly because I cannot walk by a mason jar and not buy it. HA!

If you’ve got a massive load of potatoes, vacuum-sealing the dried potatoes works fantastic! I recommend using a CHAMBER VACUUM SEALER and the thickest bags you can get your hands on, as the dried product can be poky and you’d not want them to puncture your bags.

Small containers tend to be best for dehydrated taters. Because we are only using a small amount at a time, we’re going to be in and out of the container a lot. Each time the container is opened, air and moisture are able to get into the container and deteriorate your dehydrated food over time.

More Great Dehydrator Recipes!

Dehydrator: I have and love(!) a 9 RACK EXCALIBUR DEHYDRATOR. We use it to DEHYDRATE CITRUS WHEELSGARLICSTRAWBERRIESPEARS and even, DEHYDRATE MARSHMALLOWS, and much more. It’s got a 24-hour timer and very precise temperature controls so it’s great for dehydrating various foods.

If you love this recipe, please give it a star rating or leave a comment below! This helps me to create more content you enjoy!

📖 Printable Recipe

Dehydrated potato slices in a jar.

How To Dehydrate Potatoes

Allyson Letal
Preserve the garden harvest with these delicious dehydrated potatoes. I'll teach you exactly how I dehydrate potatoes, how to reconstitute them, and how to use your dehydrated potatoes! Dehydrating potatoes is super easy and rewarding!
4.86 from 7 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Dehydrating Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 20 minutes
Course Preserved
Cuisine American
Servings 4
Calories 175 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs fresh potatoes

Instructions
 

Prepare the potatoes:

  • Place a steam basket inside a large heavy-bottomed pot. Fill with fresh water until just below the steam basket. Cover and set over medium heat to come to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water, and set aside for now.
  • Meanwhile, working in batches, peel potatoes, and slice or dice as desired. If slicing, aim for about 1/4 inch thick slices, and if dicing, try for around 1/2 inch cubes. Use a mandoline or chopper to ensure consistency in sizing.
  • Place the cut potatoes into the cold water as they are done cutting. Avoiding air exposure can help reduce black spots.

Steam blanch:

  • Use a slotted or spider spoon to scoop potatoes from the water bath into the steamer basket. Avoid overfilling the basket. It's better to work in batches to ensure each piece gets steamed appropriately to help avoid black oxidization spots.
  • Steam blanch each batch for 5-6 minutes. Meanwhile, set up an ice bath.
  • Immediately remove blanched potatoes from the heat and plunge them into an ice bath to cool.

Dehydrate:

  • Once the potatoes have cooled, remove them from the ice bath and spread them in a single layer on the racks of your dehydrator.
  • Dehydrate at 125f for 8-12 hours, or longer, depending on the thickness of the pieces in the dehydrator and potato type – waxy potatoes hold more moisture than starchy potatoes.
  • Potatoes are completely dried when they are crisp and brittle. Ensure they are completely dried before removing them from the dehydrator.

Store:

  • Cool the potatoes at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before transferring to a clean airtight container for storage.
  • For the first 7 days of storage, observe and condition the potatoes.

Notes

conditioning

Conditioning is important for the safe storage of your dehydrated potatoes. Don't despair, it's quite easy to do!
Once the dry potatoes are in their storage container, you simply shake them each day or so for a week and observe the container for signs of moisture.
  • If there are no signs of moisture, you're good to go, place them in a cool dark place for long-term storage!
  • If there is evidence of moisture in the container, you must add the potatoes back to the dehydrator and dry them longer. After they've been dried the second time, you'll need to go through the conditioning process again.

How To Rehydrate Potatoes

To rehydrate, combine equal parts of potatoes and water, by volume and set aside to soak. The temperature of the water will dictate how long rehydration will take. Hot water will rehydrate more quickly than cool water. Dried potatoes are considered reconstituted when they are nearly the same size as they were when freshly cut.
It is important to soak the potatoes for less than 2 hours. Soaking the potatoes for longer than 2 hours can restart microbial activity and cause spoilage.

Batch:

This recipe requires only potatoes, water, and available space in your dehydrator! You are limited by only those constraints, so it can be halved or doubled infinitely as long as you have space.
Only prepare the potatoes that you have space for in the dehydrator right now, as potatoes begin to degrade as soon as they are cut and oxidize easily when exposed to air.
For reference, I peeled, diced and dehydrated 10 pounds of potatoes for this post. I ended up with a half-gallon jar filled with diced dehydrated potatoes. Sliced potatoes would take up quite a bit more room as they don't pack quite so nicely.

Storage:

Use any clean, dry airtight container. My favorites are mason jars for dehydrated food storage, mostly because I cannot walk by a mason jar and not buy it. HA!
If you've got a massive load of potatoes, vacuum-sealing the dried potatoes works fantastic! I recommend using a CHAMBER VACUUM SEALER and the thickest bags you can get your hands on, as the dried product can be poky and you'd not want them to puncture your bags.
Small containers tend to be best for dehydrated taters. Because we are only using a small amount at a time, we're going to be in and out of the container a lot. Each time the container is opened, air and moisture are able to get into the container and deteriorate your dehydrated food over time.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5lbCalories: 175kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 5gFat: 0.2gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.01gSodium: 14mgPotassium: 955mgFiber: 5gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 5IUVitamin C: 45mgCalcium: 27mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Pin This Dehydrated Potatoes Recipe!

How to dehydrate potatoes pinterest graphic.

Similar Posts

Share Your Thoughts

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

9 Comments

  1. Thanks for posting this recipe. I learned the best way for dehydrating potatoes. I have exhausted all my ideas and this was perfect. Thank you

  2. Having been gifted about 30 lbs of potatoes, I was looking for the best way to dehydrate some. So glad I came across your site!

  3. Thank you so much for this! I have 75# of potatoes left from winter that I need to process and decided that dehydrating them made the most sense. DO you have a preferred cut that you would use for Russets? I did see that you preferred Yukons.

    1. Hey Angela, sorry for the delay – been embroiled in site redesign this week! You can prepare the russets the same way, no worries there, just watch them when you’re rehydrating, the high starch content can make them dissolve a bit.

  4. Question. What if I don’t have a steam basket? How would I boil the potatoes?? This is all so new to me.

    1. You can try blanching them in boiling water! I’d do 5 or so minutes! Both steam blanching and water bath blanching do the same thing, I just prefer to use steam, I find it saves on time and water.