Learn how to freeze dry raspberries at home to make delicious, crisp freeze dried raspberries perfect for snacking, baking, or storage.
My family loves freeze dried fruit, and these raspberries are so bright and flavorful. Follow these tips to make awesome freeze dried raspberries too!
Whether you enjoy them straight from the jar or added to your favorite recipes, freeze-dried raspberries are a delicious, healthy treat with a long shelf life.
If you love to freeze dry fruit, check out this post on How to Freeze Dry Peaches. You will also love How to Freeze Dry Apples because my family can't get enough of them!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Freeze dried raspberries are vibrant, sweet-tart, and retain their intense flavor without any added sugar.
- Compared to dehydrated fruit, freeze drying locks in color and nutrients while creating a crisp, lightweight texture.
- It's a great way to preserve fresh raspberries from your garden or local market.
What are freeze dried raspberries?
Freeze dried raspberries are fresh raspberries that have gone through a special preservation method called freeze drying.
It removes nearly all the moisture while keeping their shape, color, and flavor the same. The raspberries come out light and crispy.
Supplies Needed
To get started with freeze drying, you'll need a few pieces of equipment.
A Home Freeze Dryer like these Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers which are known for the reliability and build quality.
Parchment paper or silicone mats so the fruit doesn't stick to the freeze dryer trays.
An accurate scale that can be used to weigh the trays to make sure all the moisture has been removed from the raspberries.
Mason jars or Mylar bags for storage.
A mason jar vacuum sealer to remove the air from the mason jars to keep the raspberries from getting soft.
Recipe Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make freeze dried raspberries.
Fresh Raspberries or frozen raspberries can be used in the freeze dryer.
Prep Your Freeze Dryer
Make sure your home freeze dryer is clean and free of any ice or water.
Check the oil level of the freeze dryer and add oil if needed.
How to Make Freeze Dried Raspberries at Home
How do you freeze dry raspberries? Here are some quick visual instructions. The full recipe with ingredient measurements is below!
Gently rinse your raspberries in water and dry them.
Remember, removing as much moisture as possible before freeze drying helps shorten the drying time.
Spread your fresh raspberries in a single layer on the freeze dryer trays lined with silicone liners or parchment paper.
Either place the trays in the machine and start the freezing process or pre-freeze them on trays for 24 hours before placing them in your freeze dryer.
The drying time will vary depending on how much fruit you are freezing. Usually raspberries are done between 20-36 hours.
Once the raspberries are fully dry, immediately seal them in mason jars or mylar bags.
How to Check if Raspberries are Done Drying
Freeze dried raspberries should be light, crisp and free of any cold spots. If they feel chewy or cool, add more drying time.
The best way to check if they are fully freeze dried, is to check the weight. Pause your freeze dryer, weigh each tray, and add the trays back to the freeze dryer to run for another 4 hours.
Weigh the trays again. If the weight of each tray stayed the same, then the moisture has been removed from the raspberries. If the weight decreases, then add them back to the freeze dryer and run it for another 4 hours and check again.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- If pre-freezing the raspberries on the metal trays, make sure your start your freeze dryer to cool down before adding them to the freeze dryer.
- Try to make sure the raspberries are fully dry before freeze drying them to make the freeze drying process faster.
Specific Instructions for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers
If you own a Stay Fresh Freeze Dryer and want to watch how to freeze dry raspberries at home check out the links below.
- How to Freeze Dry Raspberries with Your Stay Fresh Freeze Dryer is also linked in the recipe card below.
- How to Use Your Stay Fresh Freeze Dryer with Pre-Frozen Food goes into detail about the settings for freeze drying frozen food.
- How to Use Your Stay Fresh Freeze Dryer with Unfrozen Food shows you how to add the food to the freeze dryer and let the machine do all the work.
How to Store Freeze Dried Raspberries
- Long-Term Storage: To keep your raspberries fresh for years, store them in 7 mil mylar bags with a desiccant pack to absorb any moisture (these work better than oxygen absorbers for sweet fruits). Seal the bags with an impulse sealer, then tuck them away in a cool, dry spot, out of direct sunlight.
- Shorter Storage: Store the freeze dried raspberries in mason jars and use an electronic mason jar vacuum sealer to remove any air. This keeps that light, crispy texture intact.
- On the Go Snacks: For a quick grab and go snack, seal small portions in small mylar bags with your impulse sealer.
Using just a regular airtight container isn't recommended because the moisture in the air of the container will cause the raspberries to soften and not last as long.
How to Rehydrate Freeze Dried Raspberries
To rehydrate freeze dried raspberries, just soak them in water or spray water on them for 10-20 minutes until they reach the desired texture. They will be very soft and fragile when they rehydrate.
You can also add them directly to smoothies, oatmeal, or baked goods without rehydrating them.
Ways to Use Freeze Dried Raspberries
There are endless ways to enjoy freeze-dried raspberries, especially if you blend them into a fine powder.
- Baking: Mix the powder into cake batter, cookie dough, or pancake mix.
- Frosting and Glazes: Create vibrant, naturally flavored frosting by whipping raspberry powder into buttercream, cream cheese frosting or white chocolate ganache.
- Drinks: Stir the powder into lemonades, iced teas, smoothies, or milkshakes.
- Savory: Dust the powder over goat cheese or mix it into a vinaigrette for salads.
- More: Add it to yogurt, smoothie bowls, granola, or ice cream.
Freeze Dried Raspberries vs. Dehydrated Raspberries
Dehydrated raspberries (or dried raspberries) are made using heat, which removes water but changes the texture and can dull the flavor. The freeze-drying process preserves the fruit's structure resulting in a crisp, vibrant freeze-dried fruit that keeps the flavor.
Freeze-drying fruit allows the fruit to be preserved for longer than dehydrated fruit.
Frequently Asked Questions
It usually 20-36 hours to freeze dry raspberries. The time will vary based on how much fruit is added to the freeze dryer and how much moisture is in the fruit.
To make raspberry powder, you need to remove all the moisture from the raspberries by freeze drying them. You can blend freeze dried raspberries into a fine powder using a blender, spice grinder, or food processor.
📖 Recipe
How to Freeze Dry Raspberries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 90 ounces raspberries (approximately three 6 oz. containers per tray)
Instructions
Prepare the Raspberries
- Gently rinse the raspberries in cool water and allow them to completely dry. Removing as much moisture as possible helps shorten the freeze-drying time.
- Arrange the raspberries in a single layer on freeze dryer trays lined with silicone liners or parchment paper.
Unfrozen Raspberries Instructions
- Place the trays in your freeze dryer and run the freeze drying cycle according to your machine's instructions.
- You'll find detailed steps for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers in the section above called "Specific Instructions for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers."
Pre-frozen Raspberries Instructions
- Pre-freeze the trays of raspberries in your freezer for 24 hours.
- Follow the instructions for your freeze dryer to cool the shelf temperature before adding the frozen trays of raspberries. After the raspberries have been added to the machine, follow the prompts to begin the freeze drying process.
- You'll find detailed steps for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers in the section above called "Specific Instructions for Stay Fresh Freeze Dryers."
Check For Dryness
- After about 20 hours of dry time, pause your freeze dryer and weigh each tray. Place the trays back in the freeze dryer and run for an addition 4 hours and check the weight again.
- After four hours, if the weight decreased, then you will want to continue to run the raspberries in the freeze dryer because there is still moisture left in the fruit. Continue to check the raspberries every 4 or more hours until the weight no longer changes.
- After four hours, if the weight remained the same then you can begin packing your freeze dried raspberries.
- Immediately seal the raspberries in mylar bags with desiccant packs for long term storage. Or add them to mason jars and vacuum out the air to keep them fresh for shorter storage.
Video
If you have ever searched "how to freeze dried raspberries" then learning how to freeze dry berries is a great way to enjoy your harvest all year long. Next time you have extra fruit, try this favorite way of preserving. It is truly the best way to lock in flavor, color, and nutrients.
Aubrey says
I can't believe how flavorful they are! Great tips.