Dehydrating Cherries: A Simple Guide to Preserving Sweetness

There’s nothing quite like the sweet, tart burst of a fresh cherry—but what if you could enjoy that flavor all year long? Dehydrating cherries is one of the best ways to preserve their taste, extend their shelf life, and create a versatile, healthy snack.

Whether you’re stocking up for baking, trail mixes, or just an on-the-go treat, learning how to dry cherries at home is easier than you think. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process to ensure your dehydrated cherries turn out perfectly chewy, flavorful, and long-lasting.

Cherries are one of the things we eat a lot of around here. And every year I can, freeze, ferment, and dehydrate pounds and pounds of them.

I use dried cherries in my Sourdough Cherry Scones and in my Trail Mix. My family also likes to eat them as a snack. 

They are also great for sprinkling on salads, tossing into muffins and cookies, and adding to granola. And they are really good stirred into oatmeal!

Which Cherries to Use?

In my experience, the best varieties of cherries to dehydrate are Bing, Lambert, and Queen Anne. But you can dry any type of cherries you have available.

It’s a really simple process. Honestly, the hardest part is pitting them.

I’ve used all kinds of cherry pitters over the years and I definitely have a favorite!

This is the cherry pitter that I use and love.

Without further ado, here’s how to make your own dehydrated cherries.

It doesn’t matter how many you have. You can dry as many as you want.

Prepping Cherries for Dehydrating

Start out by giving your fresh cherries a good wash. Then you need to remove the stems, pit them, and cut them in halves or quarters.

Make sure before you start that you cover your counter top or table. It’s going to be messy. Seriously messy. The juice gets everywhere!

I usually use either a paper grocery bag or a large garbage bag.

Dehydrating Cherries

Once they are ready, place the pitted cherries cut side down on your food dehydrator trays. Make sure they are in a single layer. If they overlap they’ll stick together.

I have an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator that I can’t imagine not having. It’s set up in the dining room all year round. Because there is always something to dehydrate.

If you’re in the market for a dehydrator, you can check out what they have to offer here.

When the trays are full, put them in the dehydrator and turn it on.

If your model is a simple on or off, you’re good to go. Just turn it on and let it do its thing. You will need to swap the racks around if the heating element is on the bottom.

If your model lets you set the temperature, set it to 145°F for 2 hours. Then lower the temp to 135°F for the remaining time.

It can take anywhere from 13 to 21 hours to dehydrate cherries. It depends on your humidity level and how big the cherries are.

Where I am is very humid and sometimes it takes a full 24 hours!

Dehydrated cherries are done when they are leathery and sticky. Very much like raisins. 

Your dry cherries need to be stored in an airtight container. If you put them just in a baggie, they will mold because they still have some moisture in them.

I go ahead and measure out ½ cup portions to use in my cherry scones and seal those with my FoodSaver.

The others I put in a mason jar. Again, I use my FoodSaver to pull a vacuum on the canning jar and seal it.

I’m not sure what I’d do without my FoodSaver! Seriously though, if you are going to have any kind of food storage, you should invest in one. You really helps prolong the time you can store things.

You can check out different FoodSaver models here.

Long Term Storage

You can also put the dehydrated cherries in a zipper bag and store them in the freezer if you don’t have a vacuum sealer.

If sealed in a package or jar, store them somewhere dark and cool. The shelf life of dehydrated cherries is about 12 months.

And that’s it! Easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

Don’t forget to label and date the jar or package and add them to your pantry inventory list!

Here’s More Easy Things to Dehydrate: