How to Make Fruit Roll Ups

Let me show you how to make your very own fruit roll-ups from scratch out of simple ingredients! All you need is fruit and lemon juice- no sugar. You can use a dehydrator or the oven; it's easy!

As a healthy mom, I'm a huge fan of recipes that are simple: with few ingredients and not a lot of hands-on work. I remember being young at school and wanting to trade snacks for someone with the fruit by the foot; my mom wouldn't buy those, probably for the cost and the food coloring dye; she avoided them.

I love red fruit roll-ups like my rhubarb fruit roll ups, but these strawberry ones with a mango swirl are a new favorite.

Homemade fruit leather has been a lifesaving snack for our family: incredible for lunch boxes, hiking snacks, road trip snacks, and snacks for the plane!

TL;DR (what you need to know)

• This recipe is made with fruit, and lemon juice.
• You will need a blender to make a fruit puree.
• I do not cook my fruit leather before drying it out (some do). I think it's an unnecessary step that makes the process take longer and use more dishes.
• You can use an oven at the lowest heat or a dehydrator. (I'll tell you which dehydrator I like the best below).
• Your oven or food dehydrator will need to be on for about 6-10 hours.
• Parchment paper or silicone baking mats are essential for this recipe.

Ingredients needed for homemade fruit roll ups

• Lemon juice: The acidic juice helps maintain the color of the fruit while it dries out, making it brighter.
• Mango: I am using the large Kent mangoes for this recipe; other mango varieties work just fine!
• I am using mango and strawberries for this fruit leather recipe, but other fruit you could use are apples, kiwi, and pineapple.

Equipment needed to make fruit leather

• Blender (or a food processor): You will need a food processor or blender to make the fruit completely smooth. You want to have smooth fruit puree when dehydrating it into fruit leather; chunks will make the drying process much longer.

• Parchment paper or silicone mat: It worked well to make this fruit leather on parchment paper, and then I roll up the fruit leather and parchment paper together and cut it into 1.5-2 inch chunks for the perfect fruit roll-up. However, using a silicone mat is more environmentally friendly. Do not use wax paper; it will melt into your fruit leather.

• Dehydrators (if you don't have one, you can use your oven): I have used a round dehydrator and a square Excalibur dehydrator. I liked the Excalibur better! More efficient in drying, better for cutting parchment paper the right size, easier to spread the fruit onto trays, and better for cutting up the leather into fruit rolls once they are dry. Honestly, look at the thrift store if this is something you want. I found mine there!

Step-by-step homemade fruit leather

Follow the photos from my kitchen to make your very own fruit roll-ups!

My experience with the oven vs dehydrator

Using a dehydrator: Put the dehydrator on the fruit setting or between 125°F to 145°F. It will take from 3 to 8 hours (maybe longer), depending on how efficient your machine is and how thick the fruit is spread. It will look dry and feel tacky when it is ready.

In the oven: You will need 2-3 cookie sheets for this recipe. Make it a bit thicker on the edges and thinner in the middle to help the fruit leather dry evenly. Place the cookie sheets in the oven as low as it will go (most ovens go to 180°F or 170°F) if you have a convection fan, that will make the leather dry out faster. It has taken me between 6 to 12 hours to dry.

I tested this recipe in the oven, in a circle dehydrator, and in a square excaliber dehydrator. Oven: I found the oven took the longest time (6 hours and sometimes up to 10 hours), and it turned the fruit a darker color because of the higher heat. The square excaliber dehydrator machine had a good fan moving the air, so it took 4-8 hours.

My fruit leather turned out thin and crispy. What can I do?

Sometimes I will dry the fruit leather, and it will be much thicker in the middle than the sides. Or we dried the fruit leather too long; it may be more crispy like a fruit cracker! To make your homemade fruit leather softer you can mist it with a spray bottle to make it softer. Or even sprinkle water on it with your hands and let it sit for a while to absorb the water. Add a little water at a time to rehydrate the leather until it becomes softer.

Can I use frozen fruit to make fruit leather?

Yes, you can make fruit leather with frozen fruit. Honestly, this is so easy because it's already peeled and chopped for you. You will need to let the frozen fruit thaw slightly by letting it sit on the counter for 30 minutes up to a couple of hours, but then use it according to the recipe. I like to use frozen mango or frozen strawberries to make fruit leather.

More healthy snack recipes

This blog is dedicated to healthy snack recipes that I make for my family! I use whole-food ingredients and try to make it simple, with not so many ingredients or too many steps.

🍓🥭Did you make this strawberry fruit leather? I'd love it if you took 5 seconds to give a star rating and review just below the recipe. That means a lot to me and helps the growth of Beside the Mountain blog.

For other dehydrator recipes, try these zucchini chips or my strawberry rhubarb fruit leather.