How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without A Dehydrator

How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!

Let’s talk about sweet potatoes. How can you not love ‘em!? They’re full of nutrients like vitamin A, potassium, and fiber. They’re super versatile. You can bake them up for a healthier baked potato. You can toast them and top them with goodies like avocado, cottage cheese, or eggs for a delicious sweet potato toast. They’re naturally sweet so they’re perfect to be used in desserts like this Dark Chocolate Strawberry Cake and these Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Donuts.

But now you can use them to replace some of the less nutritious flours in baked goods with homemade Sweet Potato Flour! You don’t even need any expensive tools or equipment to make it! So let’s get into it!

How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the link there is no additional cost to you, but I will make a small commission that allows me to keep bringing you delicious healthy dessert recipes!


How To Make Homemade Sweet Potato Flour

1. Preheat your oven to the lowest temp it’ll go. (Mine is 170 F.)

In order to turn the sweet potatoes into flour we have to dry them out, but without baking them. This can be done in a dehydrator, but if you don’t have one or don’t want to buy one, we can do it in the oven! Just turn your oven on to the lowest possible temp. it’ll go.

2. Wash your sweet potato and slice it into thin slices

You’ll want to slice your sweet potatoes into as thin a slice as you can get it without putting your fingers in danger ;). The thinner the slice the faster the whole process will go. I just used a sharp knife and cautious fingers, but if you want to be real precise you could also use a mandolin. That’d help get every slice uniform (also helpful in this process because then each slice is done drying out at the same time).

How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!

3. Crumple sheets of aluminum foil

The trick to using your oven as a dehydrator is making sure that the hot air can get all around the sweet potato slices so it can dry them out. So, by crumpling up a sheet of aluminum foil you’re creating pointy peaks that will hold the slices up and allow the hot air to get to the underside. (P.S. you don’t want to grease the aluminum foil in any way. It’ll just add moisture and we want DRY! ;))

Since you can’t use a baking sheet, transferring the aluminum foil to the oven is a bit tricky. I recommend using multiple sheets of aluminum foil (each about 10 inches long before you crumple them) instead of one giant one. Each sheet should hold about 6 sweet potato slices. You can do as many sheets as you like. Just make sure that you’re not crowding or overlapping the slices on the aluminum foil.

How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!

4. Place the sweet potato in the oven and….wait

Turning sweet potatoes into flour isn’t a hard process, but I never said it was going to be a quick one. Once your sweet potato slices are in the oven the process can take anywhere from 5-8 hours, depending on how thin your sweet potato slices are. The thinner the slice, the faster they’ll dry out, though.

Every 2 hours, check on your sweet potatoes and flip them over to ensure both sides are drying out.

I recommend prepping a big batch of the sweet potatoes and popping them in the oven first thing in the morning on a day you plan on lounging around or doing some housework. That way you can keep an eye on them without running into the problem of trying to leave the house while the sweet potatoes are still dehydrating.

You’ll know the slices are done when they are no longer squishy if pressed between two fingers. They should be hard and crispy and curled up around the edges.

How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment! How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!

5. Blend/grind the sweet potato slices

Once the slices are hard and crispy, we’re almost done! Yayyyyy! The final step is blending/grinding the slices until their in teeny, tiny, fine pieces. This can be done in a food processor, a high speed blender, or, my fave way – in a coffee bean grinder! I’ve found that this gets the best results when trying to “flour-ize” anything, including nuts and seeds! And it worked perfectly to turn these sweet potatoes into a nice, fine flour. Just place the slices in the grinder and whiz away until you get a fine grain. You’ll have to do it in batches, though, because a coffee grinder is small. It’ll take about 3-4 minutes to get it the right consistency. Then, just transfer that batch into the airtight container you want to store it in and keep grinding until you’re all out of slices.

How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!

One small – medium sweet potato will make about 1 ½ – 2 cups of flour. The flour will stay fresh an airtight container in the fridge for weeks, too!

How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!

That’s it! It’s taken barely any hands on time and you’ve got a fresh batch of homemade sweet potato flour!

Recap:

1. Preheat your oven to the lowest possible temp.

2. Wash your sweet potatoes and slice them as thin as you can get.

3. Place the slices on a crumpled piece of aluminum foil and pop into the oven.

4. Allow the sweet potato to dehydrate for 5-8 hours, flipping the slices every 2 hours.

5. Remove the slices once they’re hard and crispy and no longer squishy to the touch.

6. Blend/grind the slices until they’re a fine texture, similar to a fine almond flour.

7. Use your flours for all sorts of baked goods and store the left over in an airtight container in the fridge!

How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without a Dehydrator. This method is easy and doesn't require any expensive equipment!

What are you going to make with your sweet potato flour? Cookies? Cupcakes? Brownies? Muffins? Bread? The possibilities are endless!

38 Replies to “How To Make Sweet Potato Flour Without A Dehydrator”

  1. You know I'm going to try this in a dog treat recipe. It could work!! Thank you so much for this. I might try putting the potato in the microwave to speed up the process a little bit. Thanks again!
    1. That's such a good idea, Amy! I bet your dog will love it ;) And you're so welcome! Let me know if the microwave trick works!
    2. Alex lyonga feh says: Reply
      Good day and thanks for the great lessons. I do enjoy it all and wish to having more tips via mail.
    3. Microwaving will cook it though
  2. Whaaaat?! I never knew I needed sweet potato flour in my life until now! Cannot wait to try this!
    1. Yes! It's so easy and so good! I hope you do try it! :)
  3. We love trying new flours for baking. Our sweet potato crop is phenomenal this year. Can’t wait to try some breads and pancakes with it.
    1. That's awesome you're growing your own sweet potatoes! Have fun experimenting with the flour :)
  4. Lowest temp possible?? Say how much?
    1. All ovens are different, but the lowest mine would go is 170 F.
  5. I tried this at 80 C (170 F is 76 C), but the colour turned very dark. Any suggestion?
    1. Hmmm...are you using a conventional oven? And where were the racks placed? I used a conventional oven with the racks placed in the middle.
    2. Keep the oven door slightly open. The ideal T for drying is 50C.
  6. can i use sun to dry them. Where i am it is now very hot.
    1. Sounds like an awesome idea! I can't say for sure if it'll work since I haven't tried it or heard of anyone who has - but if you end up with the slices being hard and crispy instead of squishy the end result would be fine :)
  7. My dogs are crazy about dried sweet potato slices.
    1. Aww what a great idea for dog treats :D
  8. Hi. We don't need to steam the potatoes first?
    1. Nope sure don't :)
  9. How long does it take to expire?
    1. If you keep it in an airtight container it'll last a few months in the fridge.
  10. Just wondering ... instead of crumpled foil, do you think it will work if i put the thin slices on a stainless wire grid baking rack (also called cooling racks but now they are used for many oven projects) that fits in a large baking sheet? We use this set-up for many baking/roasting projects where air needs to circulate under the food. Seems like it might work but will love to hear your thoughts. Like you, the lowest oven temp I have is 170F
    1. I think that sounds great and a whole lot easier than the crumpled tin foil! ;) I was trying to use things most people would have/could find, but it'd totally use that option if I had it :)
  11. Hi I want to do this and Irish potato too for business. An I store the powder a strong plastic bag? How long can you store it out of the fridge?
    1. Hey Lucy! I'd recommend storing it in an airtight container, but I'm not sure how long it'll last out of the fridge since I always keep mine in there. Sorry!
    2. This is indeed a great idea and am trying it out almost immediately. Thanks so much for sharing this. Was just thinking of how to get a dehydrator when I bumped into this.
      1. What great timing! ;D Hope you enjoy it!
  12. At what temperature do I have to dehydrate the potatoes?
    1. Whatever the lowest temp your oven goes will be fine. Mine was set at 170 F.
  13. Do you peel the potatoes first?
    1. You can but you sure don't have to ;)
  14. what a great recipes,i will av to try this and make a business with even with that pancake,thanks
  15. How do you make bread using this flour? Do you have a recipe?
    1. Hi Lisa, I haven't tried making bread with this, sorry!
  16. Has anyone tried freeze drying the slices? Easier process, but I know that not everyone has a freeze dryer.
    1. Not that I know of, but sure sounds interesting! I'd love to hear if you try it!
  17. theodora hamlet says: Reply
    I'm going to try aluminium baking pans what do you think?
    1. It does need heat and air around the slices so laying them flat on a pan might now work. :/

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.