NATIERRA Organic Freeze-Dried Blueberry, Banana & Strawberry | USDA Organic, Non-GMO & Vegan | Variety Pack (of 3)

I received these to review and, honestly, while they are quality freeze-dried fruits, I don’t know if I can promote these because they are quite expensive. I received six packages, two each of blueberries, strawberries and bananas. The six packages represent eight servings (the bananas include two servings per package; there’s one serving in the strawberry and blueberry packets.)

Honestly, eight servings of fruit seems a tad pricey when I think of all the fresh fruit I could purchase for the same pricepoint.

As a taste-trial, I offered the fruits to a large group of 4 and 5-year-olds in my Sunday School class. The freeze-dried bananas were the favored of the three — mostly because they were extra sweet and tasted “like candy.” I decided not to offer the blueberries because they had a very “scratchy” texture to them — the outer peel of the blueberries dried extremely tough and I was afraid it might cause some choking incidents. The strawberries were too bitter for the youngsters.

On my own, I tried the blueberries in a smoothie. I had thought the liquid in the smoothly would change the texture and rehydrate the blueberries. It didn’t. The freeze-dried blueberries actually only added more “grittiness” to my protein drink.

I’m not sure why these freeze-dried fruits are so expensive — except that they do have a very long shelf life. The packages indicate a Best By Date of October 2025 but from all my research, freeze-dried fruit should last, at least, 8 or 9 years.

If I am to be honest in this review, I much rather prefer naturally dried blueberries over the “freeze-dried” berries. They just seem to work better with yogurts, in salads or cereals and oatmeals.

If you enjoy an extreme crunch, freeze-dried might be to your liking. As for me and my Sunday School toddlers, we much prefer a softer bite. Again, the freeze-dried bananas definitely received a “thumbs up” from all who tasted them. That, I think, is because they were much easier to chew when compared to traditional banana chips that are sweetened and dehydrated but often “tooth-breaking” hard.

As for the freeze-dried strawberries, I liked the flavor — they are much like the dried strawberries that you get with all the standard breakfast cereals available on the American market. So, to end this review I can only say that it’s a “thumb’s up” for the bananas and strawberries and a definite pass on the blueberries.

Oatmeal in the backcountry – it can be a challenge. Let’s say you find some that tastes like oatmeal…it’s still just oatmeal. But when you add your boiling water along with freeze dried strawberries, bananas, and blueberries it becomes a delicious treat. I was skeptical, but the bags were so lightweight I figured worth the risk. I’m so glad I brought them – other people were jealous.

I have a strong sweet tooth and I’ve found that dried fruit is an effective and healthy substitute when I get a craving. I was excited to give these a try.

You get 2 bags of each fruit, so 6 bags total, and there is a good amount in each bag. They are packaged nicely in re-sealable bags, and the shelf life (unopened) is 2 years. In my experience, they don’t last more than a day once you open them. I could not stop eating them.

The pineapple was easily my favorite, both the texture and flavor were the most enjoyable. I’m not a huge fan of bananas but I found these to be pretty good. My kid LOVES the banana so I let him have those.

My disappointment was with the mango. I love mango and was really looking forward to these, but they were extra crunchy and some pieces were so hard I was afraid I would break a tooth. I really thought that the mango would be the best but in reality, I found them almost inedible. They taste fine, they are just too hard. Maybe I just got a bad batch.

I wasn’t thrilled with the mango, but the pineapple and banana bags were gone in 2 days. These are worth a try but be careful with the mango.

All three fruits are good, but I need to rave about the bananas first. I’m not a huge banana fan, whether they are freeze-dried, dried, or fresh. But these! They are wonderfully sweet, with that light-as-air crunch that makes freeze-dried fruits so special. Size and shape are uniform, and all slices are white and fresh-looking, with no browning. They are so good I rationed them to straight out of the bag as snacks.

The finely sliced strawberries are also very good, with a refreshing tartness present in all pieces. They are yummy right out of the bag, and also very nice either mixed into yogurt, or used as a crunchy topping. Tip: Save any powdered fruit in the bottom of the bag (there’s not much) as a decorative topper for yogurt or whipped cream.

I don’t normally eat blueberries plain, so eating these straight out of the bag isn’t something that appeals to me. However, they were quite good in yogurt, and an attractive and tasty addition to salad.

Six bags are included in the offering, two of each flavor. I’ve included photos of the contents of one bag of each fruit on an 8″ plate for scale.

While eating a fair amount of freeze-dried foods, I realized as I sampled the banana that I don’t believe I’ve ever had freeze-dried bananas, so do forgive any rookie freeze-dried banana comments.

First, the obvious (since it’s printed on the bags), these are freeze-dried with no sugar added. They are all naturally sweet enough that I wouldn’t want added sugar. The ingredients are pretty simple. Banana is Banana, Pineapple is Pineapple, and the ingredients for Mago is (wait for it….) Mango.

Mango is from Peru and Mexico, Banana is from Brazil and Columbia and Pineapple is from Costa Rica and Columbia (all packaged in the USA).

They all have a satisfying crunch (as you would hope), and the flavors are clearly the products (would be easy to win a blind taste test). For those, like me, that have only had dried bananas in chip form, a freeze-dried banana is crunchy, but softer; and you get some of the texture of a “normal” banana as you chew – which you wouldn’t from a chip.

The packages are different serving sizes. The Mango and Pineapple are 1.5oz and are considered one serving each. The Bananas are 2.5 oz and considered two servings. All of the bags are re-sealable.

If you have allergy concerns, they are all packaged in different facilities — so each has a different allergy warning. On the set I got: Mangs warn the facility handles soy. Bananas warn the facility handles soy and tree nut (coconut, specifically). And the Pineapple, the facility handles soy. Again, none of those are ingredients in the bag, but a facility warning.

These are tasty snacks. Or they would make great toppings on other foods. They also mention using them in smoothies. For me, though, it’s eating a bag and enjoying the crunch and the flavors.