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Homemade onion powder is so much more potent than anything you can buy in the store and it is surprisingly easy to make!
Whether you have a surplus of onions from your garden, or you buy onions, this post will teach you how to make onion powder.
This homemade onion powder recipe is awesome because you get to decide how many onions, and in turn how much onion powder you want to make. If you have 20 onions, you can dehydrate 20 onions. If you only have 1 or 2, that’s also great!
Every time I make onion powder, I am shocked at how easy it is to make! I think you will be too. If you are ready, let’s dive into making your own onion powder.
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This post is all about how to make onion powder.
Table of Contents
What materials do you need to make this recipe?
You only need a a few materials to make this onion powder and they are…
- A food dehydrator: I love my excalibur 9 tray and use it all the time to make powders, beef jerky and yogurt. If you do not have a food dehydrator, I would highly recommend this one!
- A cutting board: to slice all of the onions
- A sharp knife: to cut thin sections of onion
- A food processor or spice grinder: To turn the dehydrated onion into powder
- A small airtight container or mason jar: to store your finished powder
How do you dehydrate the onions?
- Thinly slice the onions into rounds and then break them apart gently.
- Spread them out loosely onto the dehydrator tray and then add them into your dehydrator.
- Set your dehydrator to 125F and dehydrate for 8-10 hours. They may need more or less time depending how thick they are.
- You will know they are done when they are crispy and have no bend in them anymore. You may be shocked how small they come out!
How do you turn it into powder?
When the onions are dry, add them into a food processor and blitz until they are the texture you want. You can leave some larger chunks for your own dehydrated minced onion.
If you want the fine ground onion powder, run the onion powder through a strainer and keep the powders separate.
Place them into an airtight container or a mason jar and store until you are ready to use. I like the combination of larger and smaller pieces in my onion powder so I leave it as is!
Can you make this onion powder in the oven?
Yes! You can make this in the oven. The process remains mostly the same as when using the dehydrator.
- Slice the onions into thin rounds.
- Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and into the oven.
- Turn the oven onto the lowest heat it can go. Usually that is around 200F. You may also want to crack the door open just a hair to allow some of the heat to escape. Remember, we are trying to dehydrate, not cook the onions. This process should take 4-6 hours so check frequently and never leave a stove unattended. I would not recommend doing this with kids around.
- Once the onions are dry, place them in a food processor or spice grinder and blitz until it the texture you want.
- Store airtight and you are ready to use!
How much does this make?
I’m not going to lie to you. Making your own onion powder tastes far superior but you never get as much as you expect to.
I did 3 small-medium onions and it filled 2 trays in my dehydrator.
That blended down to around 1/2 a cup of onion powder. Keep that in mind to scale up or down depending how much you are hoping to get.
The recipe
Homemade Onion Powder
Difficulty: Easy15
servings15
minutes8
hours8
hours15
minutesIngredients
1-5 large onions
Directions
- Peel and slice the onions in rounds and lay them out on the trays of your dehydrator.
- Add the dehydrator trays to your dehydrator and set it to 125F.
- Allow the onions to dry for 10-14 hours. They need to be very dry or they will clump. When they are fully dry, they should have no bend in them at all.
- Add the dehydrated onions to a spice grinder or food processor and blitz it up. If you want onion flakes, pulse so the bits are larger and if you want powder, grind it longer.
- If you want super smooth onion powder, run it through a fine mesh strainer.
- Store in an airtight spice or mason jar until you are ready to use. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Notes
- Ensure the onions are very dry or they will clump together when you blend them up and store.