Dried Strawberries
This oven-dried strawberries recipe takes advantage of strawberries at the peak of their ripeness. Add these perfectly tasty baked strawberries to granola, oatmeal, and more.
Add strawberry chips to this protein granola or this tasty blueberry overnight oats.
Strawberries may be the most perfect fruit. They’re sweet and yet low in carbs. If color is a selling, point, strawberries take the cake.
The main negative for strawberries is the fact that the fruit has such a narrow period of ripeness. Once a strawberry hits its pick, you need to eat it and fast!
There is another way. Drying fruit preserves the majority of the nutrients, and it’s great to use in baked goods like muffins. Or you can add dried fruits to granola and other goodies.
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- Using ripe strawberries preserves the best flavors of this tasty fruit
- Baking strawberries at a low temperature for an extended period of time keeps them from getting too dark around the edges
- No added sugars means this is a healthy, refined-sugar-free treat!
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:
- Fresh strawberries
How to Make Dried Strawberries
The first step is crucial, preparing your strawberries.
Preparing Strawberries for Drying
Whatever oven method you’re using below, the first step in any of these processes is to prepare the strawberries for dehydrating. Here’s how to do that:
- Wash and Dry — Begin by washing and drying the strawberries to remove any dirt.
- Remove Stems — Use a knife to remove the stem ends.
- Slice Strawberries —Slice the strawberries in 1/8 inch thickness.
Marly’s Tips
It’s important to cut your strawberry slices in uniform thickness to ensure all the pieces dry about the same time. Otherwise, you’ll need to remove smaller pieces sooner
Now that your strawberries are ready, let’s talk about the various options available to drying the strawberry slices.
I’m sharing three ways to bake strawberries:
- Oven-dried Strawberries — use your oven at its lowest setting
- Air Fryer Strawberries — having an air fryer gets even handier when you can use it to make this treat
- Microwave Strawberries — microwaves are perfect to dehydrate fruit quickly.
Let’s go into more detail, beginning with how to dry strawberries in the oven.
Oven-Dried Strawberries
All you need is strawberries and a little bit of time. Here are the steps involved:
- Prepare a Baking Sheet — Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Line up Strawberries — Place the strawberry slices on the prepared baking sheet, leaving a gap between the slices. If they’re touching they will stick together.
- Bake — Place the pan in the oven and bake for 2 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and use forks or tongs to flip the slices. Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 1 hour until the slices are dried. Keep an eye on the berries so the edges don’t turn too dark.
Marly’s Tips
Use ripe strawberries to achieve the best sweet dried strawberries is easy! You can use non-ripe strawberries, but the resulting dried fruit won’t be as sweet.
Lowest Oven Settings
How low does your oven go? There seems to be a great deal of variation in the lowest temperature settings, depending on the age of your oven.
- Modern ovens have the lowest temperature set at 170°F. However, there may be a “warming feature” that will cause the oven to go between 100 – 170°F.
- Older ovens may have the ability to go to even lower temperatures.
Your strawberries will turn out great if you can get your oven between 170 – 200°F.
Oven-Dried Fruit
We’re focusing on how to dry strawberries, but there are other fruits that you can use in this process too. Such as apples, pears, mangoes, and bananas.
The trick to drying strawberries is to avoid blackened edges. That’s why we’ll cook the fruit slowly. The low temperature causes the fruit to release its juices, slowly drying them while retaining the flavor. Some of the tenderness from the fruit remains too, leaving an almost gummy-like consistency.
Oven-dried strawberries are not crisp like dehydrated banana chips. Strawberries dried in the oven have a chewy texture, which I like.
Marly’s Tips
Different ovens cook differently. For example, this recipe was tested in an electric oven. If you have a gas oven, cooking times and temperatures may vary.
Air Fryer Strawberries
You can dehydrate strawberries in an air fryer. I found that air fryer dried strawberries were a great way to preserve both the flavor and the color of strawberries. So, here’s how to dehydrate strawberries in an air fryer:
- Place in Basket — Place sliced strawberries in the air fryer basket (depending on the size of your basket, you may need to do this in batches)
- Keep Slices Separate — Make sure the strawberry slices are close but not touching.
- Cook the Slices Without Dehydrator Settings — If your air fryer does not have a dehydrating setting, select the lowest temperature setting (around 180°F for my air fryer). Cook the slices at that temperature for 30 minutes. Use tongs to flip the berries and return it to the air fryer for another 30 minutes to an hour.
- Cook the Slices With Dehydrator Settings — If your air fryer has a dehydrator setting, then can cook the strawberry slices for 2 hours on the dehydrator setting. Use tongs to flip the berries. Then return to the air fryer and cook for another hour on the dehydrator setting. Check the berries for doneness. Depending on your preferences, you may need to cook the slices for another hour or so to achieve the desired texture.
Some air fryers have a dehydrator setting which is perfect for drying fruits. You can also purchase dehydrator trays for your air fryer so you can dry more fruit at a time.
Microwave Dried Strawberries
Between all three types of ovens, I prefer the microwave the best. It was fast and accommodated my entire batch of sliced strawberries, whereas the air fryer had to be done in batches.
- Prepare Microwave Plate — Remove the microwave plate from the oven and place a sheet of parchment paper on the microwave plate.
- Arrange Berry Slices — Place strawberry slices on the parchment paper.
- Cook Berries — Place the plate with the strawberries back in the microwave. Cook on defrost for 30 minutes. Use tongs or a fork to flip the slices and cook on defrost in 5 minute-increments to achieve the desired consistency.
Keto Snack
If you’re looking for a relatively low-carb snack, these dried strawberry chips are great when used in moderation. Each serving has about 7 grams of net carbs.
Reader Reviews
★★★★★
Sandy
I made these strawberries and added them to some granola. It was delicious!
Frequently-Asked Questions
Are Dried Strawberries Good For You?
Dried strawberries are a naturally-sweet snack that is lower in sugar than many other dried fruits. In addition, they can add fiber to your diet. As with any dried fruits, they should be eaten in moderation.
What can you do with Dried Strawberries?
There are plenty of ways to enjoy dried strawberries. Add it to granola and trail mixes. You can also serve them over oatmeal, cereal, and even over ice cream. You can even use them to add bursts of strawberry flavor to your healthy energy bites and breakfast bars. Add dried strawberries to the strawberry frosting in this vegan strawberry cake recipe.
How long do Dried Strawberries Last?
Completely dried strawberries may be stored for up to 6 months. However, if there is still some moisture in your dried berries, they may only keep up to 5 days. Store the berries in an airtight container in the fridge to help extend the storage time.
Can I make this Recipe in a Dehydrator?
You can use a dehydrator to dry strawberries if you have one. Dehydrators work at much lower temperatures and therefore will cook for a longer period of time. Your dehydrator will have an instruction manual with cooking times indicated for various fruit. Typically, making dried strawberries in a dehydrator takes around 6-8 hours, depending on the size of the slices.
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Oven-Dried Strawberries
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Wash strawberries and cut off stem ends. Cut strawberries into slices, about 1/8" thick.
- Oven Baking Method: 4 hours total baking time. Place the strawberry slices on the prepared baking sheet, leaving a gap between slices. Pieces that are touching will stick together. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 2 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and use forks or tongs to flip the slices. Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 2 hours until the slices are dried.
- Microwave Baking Method: 30 – 40 minutes total cooking time. Remove the microwave plate from the oven and place a sheet of parchment paper on the microwave plate. Place strawberry slices on the parchment paper. Place the plate with the strawberries back in the microwave. Cook on defrost for 30 minutes. Use tongs or a fork to flip the slices and cook on defrost for another 5 minutes (or more as needed to achieve the desired consistency).
- Air Fyer Method: Approximately 1 hour total cooking time. Place sliced strawberries in an air fryer basket. Space them so the pieces are not touching. Cook at the air fryer's lowest setting, usually around 180ºF – 200 for 30 minutes. Use tongs to turn the berries. Cook for another 30 minutes. Repeat this until strawberry slices are leathery. See recipe notes if your air fryer has a dehydrate setting.
- Allow the slices to cool completely. Transfer dried strawberry slices to an airtight container. They will keep up to 5 days.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
My microwave didn’t let me pick minutes for the defrost function, so I doubled the time in an attempt to make up for it… They burned… So on the next trial, I didn’t and they were a bit soggy. Do you have any suggestions for what I should do?
On my microwave, I select the minutes first. So, I will tap in 5:00 and then tap the power level button. One tap takes it down to 90% power, two taps takes it down to 80% power, and so on. If your microwave won’t let you adjust the power level, this can be tricky. I would cook the strawberries for 1 to 3 minutes. Then use tongs to flip them and repeat. As they start to dry out, cook them no longer than a minute at a time to prevent them from burning. Send me an email if you want to chat about this more. We can brainstorm some more options. marly at namely marly dot com.
So….do you bake them for 2 hrs or 4 hrs?!?
“Place the pan in the oven and bake for 2 hours. Remove the pan from the oven and use forks or tongs to flip the slices. Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 2 hours until the slices are dried.”
Hi Rebecca. Thanks for your comment! Yes, it is a total of 4 hours. I can change the wording of that instruction so it’s more clear.
I made these strawberries and added them to some granola. It was delicious!
I’m so glad you liked them Sandy!
Wow! These dried strawberries look good, Marly! Can’t wait to put them on my oatmeal. Thanks!