Can I eat dried kelp in Minecraft?

Yes. Hold dried kelp and right-click to eat it. It restores 1 hunger point (half a shank). It's not a great food source on its own, but it's fast to eat and easy to farm in large amounts.

How do I get kelp to make dried kelp?

Kelp grows naturally underwater in ocean biomes, mostly in normal, cold, and lukewarm oceans. Just swim down and break it like a plant. It drops raw kelp which you then smelt.

Is a smoker faster than a furnace for drying kelp?

Yes. A smoker cooks food items twice as fast as a regular furnace, using the same amount of fuel. If you're smelting a large amount of kelp, a smoker is the better choice.

What is the difference between dried kelp and a dried kelp block?

Dried kelp is the food item you eat. A dried kelp block is made from 9 dried kelp and is mainly used as fuel or compact storage. One dried kelp block smelts 20 items in a furnace.

Can dried kelp be used as furnace fuel?

Raw dried kelp cannot be used as fuel, but dried kelp blocks can. One dried kelp block smelts 20 items, which is slightly better efficiency than coal per item ratio when you have a lot of kelp.

Dried Kelp in Minecraft: How to Get & Use It (1.13, 1.20)

Dried kelp is a food item you can make or craft in Minecraft. It restores half a hunger point, which isn’t much, but it stacks to 64 and is cheap to produce in bulk. Good for long mining sessions when you just need to keep the bar topped off.

Where to Find Dried Kelp in Creative Mode

If you’re in Creative Mode, you can grab dried kelp directly from the inventory menu. Here’s where it sits depending on your version:

Platform	Version(s)	Creative Menu Location
Java Edition (PC/Mac)	1.13 to 1.19	Foodstuffs
Java Edition (PC/Mac)	1.19.3 to 1.20	Food & Drinks

What You Need to Make Dried Kelp

There are two ways to get dried kelp, and they use different materials:

Smelt it: 1 Kelp (plus fuel) in a furnace or smoker
Craft it: 1 Dried Kelp Block in a crafting table (gives you 9 dried kelp)

How to Make Dried Kelp with a Furnace or Smoker

This is the most common method. Go find kelp underwater first, then bring it back and smelt it.

Step 1: Open the Furnace

Right-click your furnace to open the furnace menu.

Step 2: Add Fuel

Put fuel in the bottom slot. Coal works fine. Wood, charcoal, or even other dried kelp blocks can work too.

Step 3: Add the Kelp

Place raw kelp in the top slot. The flame icon will light up and the kelp will start cooking.

Step 4: Collect Your Dried Kelp

Once it’s done, dried kelp appears in the output slot on the right. Move it to your inventory.

How to Make Dried Kelp with a Crafting Table

If you already have a dried kelp block, you can convert it back into 9 individual dried kelp pieces. Useful if you stored a bunch in block form and now want to eat it.

Step 1: Open the Crafting Table

Right-click your crafting table to open the 3×3 crafting grid.

Step 2: Place the Dried Kelp Block

Put 1 dried kelp block anywhere in the crafting grid. The recipe isn’t position-sensitive, just drop it in any slot.

Step 3: Take Your Dried Kelp

9 dried kelp will appear in the output slot. Move them to your inventory.

Item ID and Give Command

Here’s the item data for dried kelp in Java Edition:

Description (Minecraft ID Name)	Stack Size	Platform	Version(s)
Dried Kelp (minecraft:dried_kelp)	64	Java Edition	1.13 to 1.20

To give yourself dried kelp with a command in Java Edition (1.13 and up):

/give @p dried_kelp 1

What You Can Do with Dried Kelp

Eat it to restore a small amount of hunger. Hold it and right-click.
Craft dried kelp blocks using 9 dried kelp in the crafting grid. These work as fuel and are more compact for storage.
Use a composter with dried kelp. It has a 50% chance of raising the compost level by 1.