Easy To Make Dehydrated Camping Food

Looking for food that you can put together ahead of your next camping trip? Try out these easy to prepare Dehydrated Camping Food ideas.

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An Electric Food Dehydrator is a great kitchen appliance to have on hand for preparing camping food. The dehydrator uses heat and air circulation to remove moisture from food over an extended period of time. Enter your settings and let the dehydrator do the rest, checking occasionally. 

Bringing dehydrated food along on a campout means no special handling such as refrigeration in a cooler needed. 

Fruits To Dehydrate For Camping Snacks And Desserts

Some fruits that work well in a food dehydrator include:
Apples-You can dress up your apple slices with spices such as cinnamon. Soak your slices in lemon juice before dehydrating to prevent them from turning brown (Grundig).
Apricots-As with apples, place the apricots in lemon juice before dehydrating. 
Bananas-Ripe, but not overripe, bananas work well. 
Cherries-Rinsing and pitting the cherries is the way to go before dehydrating this great camping snack (The Spruce Eats). 
Peaches-Peel, slice, and soak in some lemon juice before popping in the dehydrator (Southern Plate).
Strawberries-As with all other produce, rinse off before you get started. Then remove the green leafy tops and stems (The Spruce Eats).

Great Vegetables For Dehydrated Camping Food

Dehydrating vegetables is a great way to make them camping trip friendly. They will be handy for making a yummy soup, spicing up a rice dish, etc…
Bell Peppers-Core and take out the seeds. Then cut into strips and  1/2 size pieces before placing in dehydrator (Preparedness Mama).
Celery–Rinse it, cut off ends, and then blanch. After drained and cooled, cut celery stalks into smaller (salad size) pieces.
Corn–To make dehydrated corn, blanch your fresh cobs (Time varies based on cob size). Drain, lcool, and remove corn kernels from cob. Spread out in single layer for dehydration. 
Green Beans–SimplyCanning recommends blanching them for five minutes, putting them in cold or ice water to stop cooking, and draining them well before dehydrating. For easy storage, cut the beans into smaller pieces before dehydrating. 
Peas-Frozen peas can be spread out straight on the tray to dehydrate. Fresh peas need to be steamed or blanched until skin indents slightly. Then, cool and dry before placing on dehydrator tray (Easy Food Dehydrating).
Zucchini–A vegetable slicer comes in handy here. Thinly slice the zucchini (not less than 1/8 inch) and sprinkle with some sea salt and olive oil. Place in dehydrator (Traditional Cooking School). 

Don’t Forget The Jerky

Jerky-A perennial favorite when camping. The USDA strongly recommends that before dehydrating, you heat beef to a temperature of 160 °F and poultry to 165 °F. This helps ensure that potentially harmful bacteria are destroyed. 

After heating to 160 °F or 165 °F, maintain a constant dehydrator temperature of 130 to 140 °F during the drying process.

The leaner the cut of meat, the better for dehydrating. When it comes to beef, flank, round, and sirloin are good cuts (Preserve & Pickle).  

Once you get the hang of making dehydrated camping food, you will be hooked on the ease and cost savings.  

For more Camping Food tips:

23 Delicious Camping Recipes Besides S’mores