Homemade garlic powder is a delicious way to flavor any dish! It’s super easy to make and can be dried in your oven or food dehydrator! Here’s how to make your own garlic powder!
Garlic… Is there anything that it shouldn’t go on??
I’m 100% that person that puts a whole head of garlic in a recipe that calls for two cloves. I order the garlic bagel with the garlic cream cheese. It’s my favorite seasoning! I even use it as medicine in my immune-boosting fire cider!
Basically, I love garlic! And, added bonus: vampires won’t be visiting our house anytime soon!
If you haven’t started growing your own garlic yet, DO IT! It’s seriously one of the easiest crops to grow! It’s very hardy and you don’t need much room to grow it! And there’s nothing that beats the flavor of fresh homegrown garlic and homemade garlic powder!
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6 Reasons You Should Be Growing Your Own Garlic:
Easy to grow:
Even a black-thumbed gardener can grow garlic! You can plant it in the fall or the early spring, but bulbs planted in the fall have the best flavor. Your garlic will pop up in early spring and be ready to harvest by mid-summer!
Planting is easy and you can set aside some of your best bulbs each year to use as seed bulbs for your next growing season! Since each clove that you plant will grow into a new head of garlic, it doesn’t a lot of seed garlic to grow a large harvest! Plus, garlic doesn’t take a lot of room and can even be grown rotationally with other crops.
Superior taste:
In my opinion, homegrown garlic is a necessary addition to every homestead spice cabinet! The taste is far superior to store-bought, conventionally-grown garlic. You’ll notice that it’s stronger in flavor, which means that you don’t need to use as much. And, as an added bonus, you can also enjoy delicious garlic scapes if you are growing hard-neck garlic!
Variety:
Store-bought produce is so boring compared to homegrown – and garlic is no exception! Soft-neck or hard-neck. White, purple or rose. Jumbo or regular. The possibilities are endless when you grow your own garlic! Plus, you can enjoy amazing garlic scapes – more about them here!
Safe & Fresh:
When you grow your own garlic, you have peace of mind in knowing that it’s been grown and processed in a healthy manner. Since China is one of the top garlic producers in the world, a lot of the garlic and garlic products available in supermarkets are actually grown and shipped from halfway across the world! Growing your own ensures that you have the freshest garlic possible!
Save Money:
Once you start growing garlic, you will never need to buy store-bought again! I haven’t bought a clove of garlic in over three years! Each year, we withhold our biggest and best heads and use them to plant our new crop each fall. We have ample garlic to use in all of our canning recipes, to give as gifts, to use fresh and to make delicious seasoning mixes!
Great gifts:
Homegrown garlic makes a delectable and beautiful gift! Whether you braid it, make seasoning mixes with it or make delicious jams and chutneys out of it, anyone will be happy to have the chance to taste your homegrown garlic!
How to Make Your Own Homemade Garlic Powder:
One of my favorite ways to preserve our garlic harvest is by making homemade garlic powder.
It’s extremely convenient to have powdered garlic on hand when we don’t have time to chop up fresh garlic. It’s perfect to use in marinades, dressings and seasoning mixes. Plus, we far prefer homemade garlic powder to store-bought because it’s more flavorful! And, since it has a stronger flavor, we don’t need to use as much, which make it last that much longer!
The best part, though? Homemade garlic powder is so easy to make!
Processing:
Processing your garlic for garlic powder is simple, but can be time consuming! The most strenuous part is peeling the garlic. We like to take an evening and turn on a movie to enjoy while we spend the night peeling! Riveting stuff right?! Talk about wild nights on the homestead! ?
Drying:
Once your garlic is peeled, you will need to slice and dry it. I use my dehydrator to dry ours. I would highly recommend having a dehydrator on hand! In fact, I consider a good dehydrator a must-have appliance for any homestead kitchen! I have this dehydrator
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use your oven on a very low setting. You can also air dry your garlic, although it takes considerably longer.
However you choose to dry your garlic, your house will end up smelling like a giant loaf of french bread! ? I think it’s fabulous, but since not everyone likes a garlic-scented home, you can crack a few windows to get some fresh air in while you are drying your garlic!
Grinding:
After your garlic is thoroughly dried, it’s time to turn it into powder! The fastest, easiest way to powder it is by using a Bullet-style blender. If you don’t have one, you can use a coffee grinder. Just be sure to thoroughly clean it and realize that your coffee might have a hint of garlic flavor for a while! You can also use a food processor if you want to make garlic flakes rather than garlic powder. And, finally, if you want to go old-school with it, you can use a mortar or pestle to grind your dried garlic into a powder!
Storing:
Use an air-tight glass container to store your garlic powder. You can use a mason jar, or invest in some handy glass spice jars, like these
Homemade Garlic Powder in 5 Easy Steps!
Directions:
- Peel the garlic cloves.
- Slice the garlic into thin slices. The thinner the garlic, the faster it will dry.
- Dry the garlic. Make sure garlic is completely dry. It should be crunchy and snap and break when you bend it. Drying times will vary.
To Dry Your Garlic:- Using a dehydrator: Lay the garlic slices on dehydrator trays, allowing room for airflow between the slices. Dehydrate at a low temperature (around 125oF) for about 10-12 hours or until garlic is completely dried.
- Using an oven: Preheat oven to lowest temperature, which is usually around 150oF depending on the oven. Lay garlic slices in a single layer a on cookie sheet. Bake until garlic is completely dry, about 2 hours.
- Grind the garlic slices using a Bullet-style blender, coffee grinder, food processor or mortar and pestle. Make the garlic has completely cooled before grinding.
- Store garlic powder in an air-tight glass container.
- Enjoy!
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This is so helpful! We’re headed to a property we own in rural West Virginia next week and we have tons of delicious wild garlic. The bulbs are small, but potent! We’ve only ever used them fresh while we were in WV, but I’ll have to try making my own garlic powder with some!
Wild garlic is so delicious! I bet it will make amazing garlic powder! Enjoy! 😀
I love this! I think it is so important to know how to preserve food. We go through a ton of garlic powder, so this would be a fun and useful project. Thanks!
You will love how great it tastes when it’s fresh! So different from store-bought! 🙂
I have never done it before but I swear after reading this post I will do it. It seems quite easy and useful. Thanks for the guidance.
It really is easy! And delicious! 😀
Wow! I had no idea it is so easy to make garlic powder! Thanks for sharing!
I reeeeeally want to grow my own garlic, but I think that our winters are too warm where we live (South Carolina).
I will be doing this, however, I will dry minced garlic and not powdered. YUMMMM
Yes! Mincing it is a perfect way to enjoy it too! So yummy! ?
Peeling is not easy… How do you peel it? Have you used a garlic press?
What have you tried?
I agree – peeling is a pain! But we generally just do it the old fashioned way and make a night (or a couple nights!) out if it. We peel while watching a movie usually. Having a little tub of water to rinse sticky fingers in can be a big help. If you ever find a sure fire way to make it easier, I would love to know!