Recipe This | Dehydrated Cherries In Air Fryer (2024)

Dehydrated Cherries. Let me show you how easy it is to dry cherries at home using the dehydrator setting on your air fryer.

You will love how easy it is to dehydrate cherries and you can use it as a way to preserve in season summer cherries and save them for snacking on throughout winter and beyond.

Dehydrated Cherries

I was never a cherry eater as a kid, in fact I don’t think I ever ate cherries until we moved to Portugal.

We had a favourite Portuguese piri piri restaurant that made the best ever piri piri chicken with chips and salad.

Everything about it was amazing. In fact, we even asked for seconds of the salad because the salad was the best simple garden salad you have ever tried.

In the summer months when cherries were in season, the grandma of the owner, would be bringing large portions of cherries to the kids.

I would watch Kyle binge on the cherries and then cherries in the summer became our thing.

With us saying goodbye to Portugal and moving back to England, we have grabbed a batch of fresh cherries, dehydrated them and then plan to take them back to England with us to snack on.

Plus, as well as our free newsletter, we also have a free air fryer mini course. It is ideal for air fryer beginners or those that want to get more confident with their air fryer. The free course runs for 5 days with a new lesson delivered each day to your inbox.

What Are Dried Cherries?

Dried cherries, also known as dehydrated cherries, are cherries that have been cooked at a very low temperature until all moisture has been removed.

Once all the moisture has been removed from the cherry and they have a texture similar to supermarket bought dried fruit, then they are done.

Can You Dry Cherries?

Yes, you can and its so easy too. Its one of those things that you are expecting to be complicated, then you make it, and wish you had done it much sooner.

Though, compared to other air fryer dehydrator recipes that I have created, cherries require a longer prep time.

Do Cherries Dehydrate Well?

Yes, they do and OMG they are amazing.

We have dehydrated more than a dozen different fruits in our air fryer this summer and out of them all, the cherries are a joint winner with dehydrated raspberries as the best tasting and the best flavour and texture.

If you are wondering what dried cherries are like, then think a sweetened version of a raisin.

You hold a dried cherry in your hand and close your eyes and you would think it was a raisin.

Best Way To Preserve Cherries?

Is to dehydrate your cherries and then they will last months and months. You can be dehydrating cherries during the summer months and then have them as a fun snack over Christmas.

We also find the best way dehydrate your cherries is in an air fryer. Many air fryers now have a dehydrator button, and you can load your air fryer oven shelves with cherries and then let the air fryer work its magic.

How To Quickly Pit Cherries?

The easiest and fastest way to pit cherries is to use a cherry pitter.

We got our cherry pitter from the supermarket, but there are also some great ones online including this one.

You chop the end off your cherry and remove the stalk, before loading your fresh cherries into your pitter.

Then it removes the stones for you and then you can place them onto your dehydrator tray ready for the dehydrating process.

Dehydrating Cherries With Pits

You will find that a cherry pitter will do a good job with about 85% of your cherries. That other 15% will have the stone missed and the stone will still be inside the cherry.

Sometimes you will miss the odd one and it will go and get dehydrated anyway.

You probably wonder about what happened to those cherries with pits and if its possible doing dehydrating cherries with pits.

Well, as the cherries shrink as they dry, the stones are more visible, and you can just pop out the stone.

It doesn’t even take a second to do this and if you don’t have a cherry pitter its an excellent backup plan.

Ingredients For Dehydrated Cherries

Air Fryer Oven – I recommend this air fryer oven for dehydrating fruit, and it is fantastic because there are three shelves, and you can do a small batch or a large batch of dried cherries.

Storage – You need a plan of action of where you plan to keep your dried fruit. You can keep it simple by using them in drinks straight away (yes I do that), use a zip loc bag (I prefer this one) or you can opt for traditional pantry containers (like this one).

Cherries – If you are wondering what the best cherries for dehydrating are, then the answer is simple, as any will do. But the better quality, the best dried cherry flavour. You also want to avoid cherries that are broken or are bruised.

Pitter – For the best results and to make it easiest for you, I recommend that you invest in a cherry pitter. Though they are very cheap and last a long time.

That is, it! You probably think that are complicated ingredients and accessories to dehydrate cherries in air fryer, but there isn’t. It is also a fantastic easy recipe for air fryer beginners.

How To Dehydrate Cherries?

• Prep. Remove the stalks from your cherries, chop the tops off. and give them a wash and pat them dry.
• Pitt. Load your cherries into your cherry pitter and remove the stones.
• Air Fry. Place your cherries onto the air fryer shelves and make sure they are spread out. Then air fry for 9 hours on 55c/130f.
• Store. Remove from the air fryer and allow to cool before placing into your preferred storage container.

How To Store Cherries?

There are two best ways to store cherries. And one method will have your cherries lasting longer than the other.

You can store your cherries in an airtight container, in a dark pantry, then they will last at least a year.

You can also store cherries in a zip loc bag in a warmer pantry, then the shelf life is more likely to be 2-3 months.

What Can You Dehydrate?

There are lots of food you can dehydrate and it’s not just about cherries. In fact, this recipe is number #13 in a summer theme we are running of fruit to dehydrate in the air fryer. The last fruit we featured was dehydrated peaches, the week before it was dehydrated mango, and we can’t wait to carry on the theme.

As well as these you can also dehydrate most fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. There is also the option to dehydrate other foods such as marshmallows, potatoes, and beef jerky. Though, those are the dehydrated foods I think of first as there is so much choice.

I recommend that if you are a beginner to dehydrated foods that you start with dehydrated fruit recipes from the berry family.

Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!