How to Freeze Dry Strawberries

Learn how to freeze dry strawberries to preserve that fresh from the garden flavor all year long. These make healthy snacks to grab on the run or are amazing when paired with homemade granola.

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While I was wandering around in the grocery store, I came across a flat of strawberries.  I did a double take on the price, which I could not pass up and purchased not one, but two flats of fresh strawberries.  (A flat is 8 clamshell containers.  Each container weighs 1 pound, so a flat is 8 pounds of strawberries.)

How to Freeze Dry Strawberries

I got them home and started snacking on the strawberries.  After an entire clamshell, I forced myself to quit.  I also decided to call my son and have him grab me two more flats on his way home from work!

The strawberries were perfectly ripe and delicious, so I knew they would be perfect for my favorite strawberry preservation method – freeze drying them!

Ways to Use Freeze Dried Strawberries

Here are a few of the reasons why I like to keep freeze dried strawberries on hand at all times.

• Homemade Granola – You can top your granola with freeze dried strawberries. The strawberry flavor is very concentrated and is the perfect addition to add to this dish.
• Snacks – Grab a bag of strawberries for a quick and healthy snack on the go.
• Strawberry Powder– You can add strawberry powder to homemade yogurt, oatmeal or smoothies.
• Desserts – Reconstitute and make strawberry ice cream, strawberry pancake and waffle topping, or strawberry shortcakes.

Ingredients Needed

When making freeze dried foods at home, you are in control and know exactly what goes into your food. In this case, the only ingredient is strawberries. Not strawberries coated in some weird chemical or with something extra added. Nope, just pure delicious strawberries.

Fresh or Frozen Strawberries – Either will work to freeze dry.

• For Fresh Strawberries: Simply wash, dry well and slice.

• For Frozen Strawberries: Don’t wash frozen strawberries. Please use extra caution when slicing. An easy way to do this is to slice off the top of the strawberry where the green top was. Turn the frozen strawberry onto the flat side and slice down. This will give you more stability.

Supplies Needed to Freeze Dry Strawberries

Let’s quickly cover everything that you will need to freeze dry strawberries at home. You can find a printable version at the end of the post.

• Freeze Dryer – I purchased my freeze dryer from Harvest Right in 2021.  I have a medium 4 tray Freeze Dryer. They have now updated this model to hold 5 trays.
• Oil or Oil Free Pump – When you purchase a freeze dryer, you will get a pump too.  The pump is the key to freeze drying foods.  This kicks on to pull the moisture out of the food.  I choose the Premier Industrial Pump.
• Freeze Dryer Trays – I actually have 2 full sets of trays for my freeze dryer.  While one set is in the freeze dryer, the other set is in my chest freezer filled with food ready to be dried after the first set of trays is finished.
• Freeze Dryer Lids (optional) – I didn’t have a set of lids for my first year, but since investing in them, I now wonder what took me so long!  I highly recommend grabbing a set of lids right away, so you can stack the trays in your freezer.  The lids also double as trays with dividers to freeze dry food in.
• Freeze Dryer Silicone Mats (optional) – Harvest Right carries silicone mats that fit onto your trays and make clean-up quick and easy. These would be perfect to use when freeze drying strawberries, but the trays clean up pretty quickly without them too.
• Knife – A good sharp knife is a must for cutting the strawberries into 1/4″ slices.
• Strawberry Huller – I always grab my strawberry huller to remove the core and any unripe parts of the strawberry.
• Cutting Board – I love using a wooden cutting board whenever I am cutting fruits and vegetables.
• Metal Spatula – Use a metal spatula to remove the strawberries from the trays.
• Canning Funnel – A canning funnel is the perfect tool to transfer your strawberries to a jar or a Mylar bag.
• Food Processor or a Blender – Use a food processor or a blender to make strawberry powder.
• Mylar Bags – These are the bags needed to protect your freeze dried food for long term storage.  I purchase Mylar bags directly through Harvest Right or the quart sized ones and the gallon sized ones that I purchase through my favorite company – Azure Standard.  I do have all three sizes in my freeze drying supply tote, but if you had to start with just one, I would suggest the Harvest Right ones.  They are about 2 quarts worth and usually will hold a full tray of my freeze dried food well, plus I got some included when I purchased my freeze dryer from Harvest Right.
• Oxygen Absorbers – Oxygen absorbers are placed into the Mylar bags before sealing.  I purchase the ones that fit the Harvest Right bags here, the quart sized ones here, and the gallon sized ones here.
• Impulse Sealer – This is the sealer that you will need to seal Mylar bags for long term storage.  Mine came with my Harvest Right Freeze Dryer.
• Canning Jars – You can store your freeze dried food in quart canning jars or in half gallon sized jars for short term storage, up to a year.
• Canning Lids – Canning lids will be used on the canning jars when storing your food short term.
• FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer – You will need a FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer to use with the FoodSaver Jar Sealer.  These work together to vacuum the oxygen out of canning jars for short term storage of your freeze dried foods.
• FoodSaver Jar Sealer – Another must have tool for your kitchen.  I recommend that you have a wide mouth and regular mouth jar sealer to vacuum the air out of the jars of freeze dried food and make them shelf stable for up to a year.
• Permanent Marker – You can never have to many permanent markers.  Make sure you label everything!
• Freezer – I use my chest freezer to pre-freeze foods before placing them into my freeze dryer.  It makes the freeze drying process a lot quicker, because you can save hours of time by having everything frozen before you fill your machine.  This also works well to always have your extra set of trays filled and ready to place into your machine after the defrosting process.

How to Freeze Dry Strawberries

Yay, it’s time to start making your own freeze dried strawberries! Remember that you can find all of the information in the printable card at the end of the post.

1. Twist the green tops off of the strawberries.  Put these in the compost bucket or feed them to your chickens.
2. Wash and dry the strawberries.
3. Using the strawberry huller, remove the core and any unripen spots on the strawberries.
4. Inspect each strawberry for blemishes, soft spots, bug holes, or mold and remove those parts.
5. Place on a cutting board and slice into 1/4″ slices.
6. Place the sliced strawberries in a single layer on the trays. For the ends of the strawberries, place them cut side up on the trays, as they dry better this way.
7. Homesteading Tip – Either put the trays into the freeze dryer to let the freeze dryer freeze them or place a lid on each tray and place them in a chest freezer.  By pre-freezing your food, it will save a ton of time on the freeze drying process.  This is why I have two sets of trays.  I can have one set in the freeze dryer and one set in the freezer waiting to be loaded into the freeze dryer.
8. Place all of the trays into the freeze dryer and follow the instructions on the screen.
9. Before opening your machine, push the warm trays button and let your trays warm up. This helps prevent condensation from cold trays on your food.
10. When the process is complete and before defrosting your machine, make sure the strawberries are dried all the way.  Feel them to make sure that no moisture remains and none of them are sticky.  If they are sticky, continue drying them for another two hours before checking again.
11. After you remove the trays, defrost your freeze dryer or open the door and let it defrost naturally.
12. Remove the trays and decide if you want to store them as sliced strawberries or powder them in a food processor or blender.
13. Place the food into short or long term storage.

How to Store Freeze Dried Strawberries

You can store your freeze dried strawberries in one of two ways; short term storage or long term storage.

• Short term storage – Anything you will use within a year.  This can be stored in a jar, vacuum sealed, and placed on your shelf.
• Long term storage – Anything you want to store for a year to 20+ years.  This should be stored in a Mylar bag with an oxygen absorber.

Short term storage – store in a glass canning jar:

1. Wash and dry your jars and canning lids.  Homesteading Tip – This is one way I would recommend reusing your canning lids.  Make sure they are in nice shape without any dents, and you can reuse them lots of times for freeze dried food storage.  I used to always dent my lids when removing them until my son bought me this can opener for my birthday.  I highly recommend getting one!
2. Use a funnel to fill jars with your sliced or powdered strawberries.
3. Seal the lid with your FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer and FoodSaver Jar Sealer.
4. Label the jars with your permanent marker. Trust me, even if you can see what is in there, label the lid with the contents and the date which they were made.
5. Store them away from direct sunlight, moisture, and oxygen (this is why I use the jar sealer).

Long term storage – store in a Mylar bag:

1. Grab your bags, a funnel, a permanent marker, oxygen absorbers, and an impulse sealer.
2. Label the bags first before adding any food.  Write the contents, any quick notes on rehydrating, and the date.
3. Use the funnel to fill the bags with your sliced or powdered strawberries.
4. Add the properly sized oxygen absorbers to each bag.
5. Make sure that the strawberries are all at the bottom of the bag.  Do not overfill.  Use the impulse sealer to seal the bags.  I usually seal them twice to be on the safe side.
6. Store them for 20+ years by properly sealing them with the oxygen absorbers, placing them out of direct sunlight, and storing them away from moisture.

Homesteading Tip – I place all of my Mylar bags with freeze dried food in plastic totes.  Label the outside of the tote to easily grab what you are looking for.

How to Rehydrate Freeze Dried Strawberries

This will take a little trial and error to determine how you prefer your strawberries to be rehydrated. The best part is you get to eat them to figure this out. Enjoy!

1. Add as many strawberries as you would like to a bowl of cool water.
2. Start tasting them around 4 minutes to see if they are to your liking.  If not, leave for another minute and try them again.
3. Consider writing your time preference onto the bags as a reminder for next time.

Common Questions for Freeze Drying Strawberries

I get a lot of questions about freeze drying food. Here are a few common questions and their answers to help you out!

More Food to Freeze Dry Next

Freeze Dried Eggs

Freeze Dried Tomatoes

Freeze Dried Pancake Batter

I hope you enjoy homemade freeze dried strawberries as much as I do. Leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

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