What Is Freeze Dried Fruit?

Freeze-dried fruit is shelf-stable fruit that has undergone a process to remove nearly all of its moisture while retaining flavor and nutrients. It’s very light, with a dry, crispy texture and intense, concentrated fruit flavor.

According to the FDA, freeze drying, technically called lyophilization, "is a process in which water is removed from a product after it is frozen and placed under a vacuum, allowing the ice to change directly from solid to vapor without passing through a liquid phase." This process leaves the fruit a crispy shell of the fresh version. Meanwhile, it retains most of its sugars so the fruit tastes like it did before the freezing. Freeze-dried fruit can be used in many of the same ways as you would use sun-dried and dehydrated fruits. For example, you can put it in baked goods, candy bars, and trail mix.

Freeze drying fruit is a process used to preserve fresh produce so it will be shelf-stable and last longer without preservatives. The goal of freeze-drying fruit is to preserve its nutritional profile. Freeze-dried fruit can be used as a healthy snack, to add sweetness to dishes, and in baking.  

The process of freeze-drying fruit commercially involves putting the berries or pieces of fruit in a vacuum chamber with a below-freezing temperature. The solid water molecules in the fruit to become a gas, leaving the food and dissipating. Through this process, the fruit and berries remain intact, and much of the nutrition found in the fresh fruit stays as well. After it’s processed, freeze-dried fruit must be packaged in airtight, moisture-proof packaging to maintain freshness.

It's possible to freeze-dry fruit at home with the proper equipment, though a freeze dryer and accessories can cost thousands of dollars. Freezing fruit uncovered in your own home freezer will dry it out to a certain extent, but this is not exactly the same thing as lyophilization.