People often ask if dehydrated veggies lose their nutritional value, and the answer might surprise you. Did you know that pound for pound, dehydrated vegetables have almost the identical nutritional content as fresh? It's true!
How is this possible? Well, in a nutshell, the lower the temperature you dry vegetables at, the more nutrients they retain. When it comes to dehydrating our veggies, a special air-drying process is used that gently evaporates the water from the produce. The result? Our veggies retain their nutritional composition, as close to fresh as possible, while lasting infinitely longer. Plus, dehydrated veggies are extremely lightweight, take up less storage space, and are shelf-stable. You could say that's a win-win-win!
First Things First: Quality and Freshness
Before even getting to the dehydration stage, it all starts with the best produce available, at the peak of freshness and nutrition. Not all veggies are created equal, and the same goes for dehydrated veggies. At Harmony House, we're 100% FDA approved, and we focus on quality first. It takes the best produce to make premium dehydrated veggies, including our top sellers:
Are Dehydrated Vegetables Cooked?
Some people mistakenly think that dehydrated veggies are cooked. They're not. Fresh vegetables are used in their natural, raw state, just like the produce you find at your local Farmer's Market. Then all the tough work is done for you: cleaning, chopping, and sorting, before the produce is dehydrated.
Unlike cooking vegetables, which can involve steaming, blanching, boiling, etc., many of the nutrients can leach out and be lost during the cooking process. With vegetable dehydration, the evaporation process is much gentler, and uses lower heat, so the nutrients stay intact, making the nutritional composition as close to fresh as possible. Of all the food processing techniques available, dehydrated foods maintain more of their nutrition, even better than their frozen or canned counterparts.
The Key to Rehydrating
When it comes to rehydrating our veggies--or, simply, adding water back into the produce--you don't have to guess. With our handy rehydration chart, we make it easy. Most veggies can be rehydrated by adding 1 part vegetable to 2 parts water and then simmering for 10-15 minutes. You can also rehydrate vegetables by soaking them for 1-2 hours. If you're using dehydrated veggies in a recipe, such as soup, that requires cooking, there's no need to rehydrate them first. Simply toss the dehydrated vegetables into your recipe and enjoy a nutritious, nourishing meal that's packed with vitamins and minerals.