Why would someone dehydrate lettuce, spinach, or kale?? I know – it sounds odd – but hear me out! The end result is a magic powder full of vitamins & minerals. It helps you reach your daily vegetable intake by giving every dish a nutritional boost. Replace those store-bought green powders with this homemade version for a fraction of the cost!
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Now, some folks out there are already sold on green powder. They put it in their smoothies, scrambles, tacos, dips, soups, etc. – and that’s fabulous! But to live that lifestyle costs upwards of $200 a year for store-bought green powder. Now I don’t know about you, but I’d rather keep that money…
For the same benefits without the hefty price tag, try dehydrating your own greens!
A quick sprinkle of this supergreens powder instantly boosts your diet with the vitamins, fiber, iron, and minerals present in the greens. It will empower you to easily amp up every meal & improve your overall health.
One thing I do want to note – nutritional value varies depending on the greens used. Luckily, you can judge it by the color of the leaf.
Deep, dark green leaves mean more nutrients. For example, dehydrating kale, spinach, swiss chard, collard greens, or turnip greens is much more beneficial than a head of iceberg lettuce. So shoot for dark leafy greens and achieve superfood status!
Collecting Your Greens
We typically make green powder as a way to preserve our garden harvest. If you’re also harvesting greens from your garden, there’s nothing unusual here – just trim, wash, and dry them.
However, this method is also great for saving that bag of wilting store-bought lettuce.
Whenever you’ve got grocery-store greens that are starting to brown – don’t let them go to waste. Make some nutrient-rich green powder instead!
Pro Tip: Remove & discard any rough, thick stems – or set them aside for a salad. They take longer to dry than the thin leaves. You really want everything to be evenly sized for a uniform dry.
Dehydrating Your Greens
I prefer to dry our greens in the dehydrator because it’s got a full-proof, set-it-and-forget-it mentality that I just love! For this method, line your sheets with a single layer of greens & dry at 105°F for 4 to 8 hours – depending on the humidity in the air & the moisture of your plants.
But even if you don’t have a dehydrator, you can still make green powder!
The idea is to bake your greens at a low temperature & slowly evaporate all the moisture.
Start by putting a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet and cover it with a single layer of your greens. That allows air to circulate the leaves – helping the drying process.
Set your oven on the lowest setting – with the door cracked to let moisture escape – and cook for 2 to 4 hours.
Keep a very close eye so they don’t burn. You really want them to be dry & crack apart in your fingers, but still be a vibrant green color – not brown.
Once they’ve cooled, they will lose some of that crisp – that’s okay! They’re still dry & that’s the important part.
Storing Your Green Powder
Once your dried greens have cooled, grind them up in a food processor, coffee grinder, or – my personal favorite – a Magic Bullet.
Because there’s no moisture left, your powder should store indefinietely, but I’d encourage you to use it up within a year. Just in time the next year’s harvest!
Using Your Green Powder
I mentioned a few ways you can use green powder at the beginning of this article, but really, the possibilities are endless. It’s packed full of nutrients & tastes like nothing, so you can hide it in almost anything. We literally add green powder to every meal. I kid you not – I even sprinkle it on salads!
Pro Tip: Whatever way you enjoy your green powder, be sure to add it right before serving. Because it’s already been dried, cooking it again zaps the nutritional value. Just sprinkle & enjoy!
What do you think? Are you ready to turn boring old lettuce into nutrient-rich green powder? It’s a simple way to help balance your diet & improve your overall health.
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I dehydrate stinging nettle dandelion leaves. Lettuce chard and beet greens
What a fabulous combo! A little homegrown & little foraged 🙂 Plus that’s a nice protein boost with the addition of the stinging nettles.
Yes indeed! That is super fabulous. I love dandelions… And around summer 2016, I went on my way to harvest them out. I washed and dried them—made powder out them and use them in a variety of my meals…
Super healthy…and overall ways to go on living by enjoying the great gift of nature.
Much love Laura. Keep up the great work!
Oh that’s a fantastic use for dandelions! We’ve made them into jelly and I have two bags of petals still sitting in the freezer, waiting to be turned into wine. I’m honestly too nervous to get the process started, but one of these days! Love the idea of incorporating them into more meals.