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How Many Vegetables
Fill a Dehydrator?

Susan Gast, founder of Easy Food Dehydrating

by: Susan Gast / Author, Blogger at Beesville Books, Bored Boomers, and a Food Dehydrating Fanatic!

Deciding how many vegetables fill a dehydrator is not an exact science.

It obviously depends on what size dehydrator you have and how often you use it. It also depends on what size family you're feeding!

Celery on a Nesco dehydrator tray

But for now, we're going on the assumption that you're filling FOUR full trays. I created this guide to help make that decision easier for you.

It helps to have a rough idea of how many vegetables to purchase at the store!


A person with dehydrator, fresh food

An Easy Guide for Vegetables so You'll Know How Many Vegetables Fill a Dehydrator!

This veggie buying guide helps you figure out how much to buy if you cannot afford to buy in bulk, or don't have room to store it and prefer picking up your vegetables on a weekly basis.

Maybe it's time to begin growing your own. But... most of us do not have tons of spare time to grow stuff or have room in our fridges and freezers.

Before you go out and buy too much though, a little farther down the page I'll show you roughly how many vegetables will fit on four dehydrator trays.

Please remember this is just a guide. It's not an exact science...

4 Trays = THE Minimum to Use for Nesco Dehydrators

The reason why I picked how many vegetables it takes to fill four full trays is this: FOUR trays are the Nesco dehydrator brand's recommended minimum tray usage.

If you use any less than four full trays, for instance, only two trays, then you are not getting the proper air circulation necessary to dry your vegetables properly.

Read more about Nesco dehydrators here. They have plenty of great accessories, such as spare trays (I purchased the four-tray starter Nesco); and they have non-stick solid sheets which are great for making fruit leathers.

The non-stick mesh sheets are great for stopping smaller pieces of food from dropping down into the tray below. When food dries, natural shrinkage occurs. Keeping the dried food on the trays means less stuff to clean up out of the bottom of the dehydrator, right? Right!

Excalibur dehydrators also have non-stick sheets for the same purposes I listed above as the Nesco dehydrator.

Here is Your Guide to How Many Vegetables Fills FOUR Trays

  • Cut Green Beans: fresh or frozen, 2lb
  • Broccoli: fresh or frozen, 2lbs
  • Butternut Squash: fresh, 1 medium squash; frozen 2lb
  • Cabbage: fresh sliced, 1/2 cabbage head
  • Carrots: fresh, sliced 5-8 carrots; frozen 2lb
  • Cauliflower: fresh, 1 medium; frozen 2lb
  • Celery: fresh, 1 stalk, sliced
  • Cut Corn: fresh: 6-8 ears; frozen 2lb
  • Garlic: Elephant, fresh: 1 large bulb
  • Mushrooms: fresh, 2lb
  • Onions: fresh 1-1/2 to 2 medium to large; diced frozen 2lb
  • Peas: fresh or frozen 2lb
  • Peppers: fresh, cut in strips 4-5; frozen 2lb
  • Potatoes: fresh, varies 4-6; frozen diced hash brown 2lb
  • Tomatoes: fresh, 7-9
  • Zucchini: fresh, 3-6

Nesco and Excalibur Brands are Super Dehydrators

As mentioned in our dehydrator section, I have an Excalibur dehydrator and a Nesco dehydrator.
I use the Nesco on a daily/weekly basis, and the Excalibur is great for proofing bread!

Now you're armed with the knowledge of how many vegetables fill a dehydrator and thanks for stopping by!

Don't forget to get your free "Six Simple Steps" eBook where I share how to dehydrate food safely!

🥦 Dehydrating

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🍲 Recipes

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⁉️ FAQs

How to Dehydrate Food - Top 20 Topics, 225 Questions AnsweredREAD MORE

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