Dehydrating apples is a quick and easy way to make apple chips and rings during the peak of apple season. Apple chips are a healthy, low sugar treat for kids and families. In this post I share with you how to make this super simple recipe!

bowl of apple chips sitting on counter with apples in background with window

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I’ll never forget when I got my first dehydrator, it was Christmas and my husband and my mother bought me the same one! To be honest it was hard to return one.

Dehydrating fruit, vegetables, herbs, and even meat is one of my favourite ways to quickly deal with a large harvest during the peak of summer. Its quick, efficient and the best part is, dehydrated food stores well and the nutritional value isn’t lost in the process.

A food dehydrator is one of the many preserving tools that homesteaders dream of having and if they do, it’s often running.

To make these yummy apple chips you'll need apples, a peeler corer, and a dehydrator and a little patience. The only downside to making apple chips is that it will take longer to make them than to eat them all up.

Have you dehydrated food before? Once you use a dehydrator you'll be introduced to a whole new world of food possibilities. The ideas and recipes are endless for dehydrating fruits, vegetables, meats, herbs and even mushrooms!

I often like to make these apple chips, fruit leather and beef jerky. I also use mine to dehydrate tomatoes and chanterelle mushrooms In the fall. It's a tool that's constantly humming along during harvest season.

In this post I’ll share with you how to dehydrate apples to make apple chips and my tips and tricks for the very best results.

HOW TO DEHYDRATE APPLES

To dehydrate your apples you’ll need a few preserving tools to make the process easier and go smoother. Try using sweeter apple varieties such as Gala, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp or Pink Lady. These apple varieties are often thought of as the best apples for dehydrating.

Tools for preserving

You'll need these two main tools to dehydrate apples an apple peeler/coring tool and of course your dehydrator.

APPLE PEELER

Prepare your apples using a peeler corer! I love the cherry apple red colour and it helps that it’s a solid, sturdy cast iron tool I can rely on.

FOOD DEHYDRATOR

This food dehydrator is great for beginners. It fits a good amount of food, doesn’t take up to much space and the air circulates very well so you don’t have to adjust the racks. it also has a heat setting which makes it super helpful when dehydrating a variety of foods.

HOW TO DEHYDRATE APPLES FOR CHIPS

Start by gathering apples. There's really no perfect apple variety for making apple chips, any apples will do. But if you can go with the sweeter varieties I mentioned above,

Golden Delicious Apples
Gala Apples
Fiji Apples
Pink Lady Apples
Honeycrisp Apples
Golden Delicious Apples
Granny Smith

The fall is a great time to find deals in the grocery store,or glean apples from neighbours in exchange for some tasty treats if you don't have your own apple tree.

I process all my apples in a weekend, and make apple sauce, apple butter, these tasty chips and apple pie filling!

People often ask me how I’m able to preserve so much of my garden and orchard harvest without it going to waste. The answer is always having a plan. Go ahead and start planning your preserving parties now and you’ll be shocked by just how quickly you can fill your pantry with these apple chips and so much more!

STEP ONE: PEEL THE APPLES

Then it's time to prepare apples using an apple peeler corer. I like to make room for this set up in my kitchen. I'm a lefty, so I set up my basket of apples and peeler on the left hand side.

Apple peels are filled with nutrients, if you have organic apples then you can leave them on. Wash apples well if you intend in keeping the peels intact for your apple chips.

STEP TWO: SLICE AND CORE THE APPLES

I separate peels and cores into a bowl for my backyard chickens and the sliced apples go into a warm lemon water bath with lemon juice to prevent browning before I slice them up.

apple processing station for dehydrating apples

Cut the apples in half or leave them in rounds, depending on what you'd prefer for your final product. I didn't cut my apples into rounds, but I wish I had. They look so sweet stacked in mason jars as a snack for school or work.

STEP THREE: PREPARE IN A SINGLE LAYER

Place a single layer of apple slices on the trays from dehydrator. Make sure to leave room between apples, for proper air circulation.

dehydrating apples on a tray with apple slices and full apples in backdrop

STEP FIVE: PREPARE DEHYDRATOR

Adjust the heat setting on your dehydrator to 135-145 F. This is the recommended temperature for dehydrating fruit such as apples, pears, apricots and more. If dehydrating apples in the oven, setting the temperature to 135-145 F.

Take out when apple chips when they are dried, but not too crispy that they crumble. This takes approx. 12 hours. Feel free to open up your dehydrator to check and taste.

If the apples are left to dehydrate for too long the apple chips will no longer be edible, and if they aren’t dehydrated long enough they won’t store without spoiling.

Apples can also be dehydrated using an oven or air fryer instead of a food dehydrator. I highly recommend the food dehydrator as a kitchen appliance because you can use it for just about anything.

HOW TO STORE DEHYDRATED APPLE CHIPS

Store in air tight container such as a plastic container or mason jar. They can be stored in ziploc bags as well, just try not to jostle them around too much or they may break and crumble like a bag of chips.

However you store them, these tasty treats won’t last long! Just remember to not eat too much at once as this high fibre treat may upset your stomach- like any dehydrated treat!