Recently I’ve been slightly obsessed with dehydrating various herbs, spices, chillies, fruits, and vegetables. It’s both a satisfying and fascinating process to be able to take a fresh vegetable, turn it into something that takes years to go bad, and then rehydrate it into something similar enough to its original fresh form.
Check out my guide to dehydrating ingredients in a conventional oven:
In order to make dehydrated soup mixes, you need to understand the fundamentals of dehydrating vegetables in a conventional oven, so I do recommend reading the above article. But the basics of it consist of 4 steps/principles:
***Note that using a dehydrator is recommended, but not necessary. Instructions for using a dehydrator are very different than an oven. Click here for instructions on using a food dehydrator.
Set oven to the lowest heat setting (usually 170 degrees on modern ovens).
Cut vegetables into small/thin pieces and place on a baking sheet in a single layer.
Place in the oven and let sit until dehydrated; able to be crumbled easily with fingers and no visible moisture. It usually takes 1-4 hours depending on the type of vegetable, but I check every 30 minutes or so.
Make sure to keep the oven door cracked open in order to let out moisture and make sure you’re not cooking the vegetables.
Once you understand how to dehydrate items in a conventional oven, it is very easy to create soup mixes and experiment with flavors and ingredients. But you need to start with a base.
When I make dehydrated soup mixes, the yield is 5 cups, but I want to make sure to leave room for other flavors without making it overly spiced or too salty. The ratio if bouillon powder to water is usually 1 teaspoon per cup of water, so I’d add 4 teaspoons of bouillon and 1 teaspoon of another flavor such as Goya Sazon. From there, you can add any other number of spices and herbs, just be sure to use them in moderation so as to not make the soup too salty or too spicy.
Types of soup bases:
I recommend Knorr brand. They have the best tasting bouillon bases, but be warned that they use MSG - if, for some reason, you have an intolerance or aversion to that.
Chicken bouillon
Beef bouillon
Vegetable bouillon
Tomato bouillon
Shrimp/seafood bouillon
Mushroom bouillon
Miso powder
Powdered cream or milk
Common herbs and spices that I use:
Many of these, like crushed red pepper, garlic, onion, and ginger powder can be made at home by dehydrating and grinding with a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Ginger powder
Black pepper
Crushed red pepper
Cayenne pepper
Curry powder
Cumin
Dried basil
Dried thyme
Dried oregano
Dried parsley
Fennel seeds
Goya brand sazon
Common vegetables that I dehydrate and use:
Carrot
Onion
Celery
Garlic
Peas
Corn kernels
Broccoli
Bell pepper
Spicy chillies
Green beans
Kale
Spinach
Common grains/starches I use:
Pasta (ditalini, elbow macaroni, orzo, alphabets, etc.)
Rice noodles (vermicelli, pad thai, etc.)
White rice/wild rice
Bulgur wheat
Barley
Farro
Potato
It is important to get a balanced mix of seasonings and vegetables. For example, I would add a pinch of thyme, garlic, onion, peas, carrots, celery, and corn to a chicken noodle soup mix, but I would not add curry powder, basil, cumin, broccoli, or bell pepper to that chicken noodle soup. Below I will show some of my own personal, tried-and-true recipes with exact measurements to help you create the balanced mix.
A Few Dehydrated Soup Recipes
Boil 5 cups of water, add soup mix and boil for approximately 10 minutes (according to the pasta/grain cook time), stirring occasionally. Makes 3 servings.
Keep in mind that all these ingredient amounts are to taste, and it may take a bit of experimentation to decide how much of an ingredient is right for you. What I usually do is make a test batch and then adjust accordingly before long term storage.
Chicken Noodle
Approximately 1 cup of egg noodles, ditalini, or orzo
Spice/flavoring mix:
5 teaspoons Knorr chicken bouillon powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried and powdered lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Dehydrated vegetable mix:
1 tablespoon carrot
1 tablespoon celery
1 tablespoon peas
1 tablespoon corn
1/2 teaspoon onion
Minestrone
Approximately 1 cup of ditalini, orzo or elbow macaroni
Spice/flavoring mix:
4 teaspoons of Knorr tomato bouillon powder
1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Dehydrated vegetable mix:
1 tablespoon carrot
1 teaspoon yellow onion
1 tablespoon green beans
1 tablespoon celery
1 tablespoon kale or spinach
4-6 sundried tomatoes
Sazonado (my personal favorite)
Pictured at the top of this page. Keep in mind this one is spicy.
Approximately 1 cup of ditalini pasta
Spice/flavoring mix:
4 teaspoons of Knorr chicken bouillon powder
1 packet of Goya Sazon y Achiote
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pinch cumin
1-2 dried spicy chili pepper (or chili powder)
Dehydrated veggie mix:
1 tablespoon corn
1 tablespoon carrots
1 teaspoon onions
1 tablespoon kale
1 tablespoon peas
Optional: pinch of dried cilantro
Vegetable Miso Noodle Soup
4-5 packets of instant miso powder
1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder
2 tablespoons small dehydrated tofu cubes
3 tablespoons vermicelli noodles
Optional: crushed red pepper, garlic powder
Dehydrated vegetable mix:
1 tablespoon seaweed
1 tablespoon celery
1 tablespoon carrot
1 tablespoon green onion
1 tablespoon cabbage
Cream of Chicken Soup
4 tablespoons chicken bouillon
2 cups of dried milk powder
2 tablespoons of dried onion flakes
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flower
This would be a replacement for canned cream of chicken soup, best used in other recipes. Mix 1/2 cup of the mix with 1 and 1/4 cup of water or milk and heat on a low simmer until hot and well mixed.
You can also make this into a cream of mushroom soup by adding fresh mushrooms while heating, or dehydrating mushroom slices and adding them to the dry mix.
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Variety Jones
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