Homemade Green Onion Powder
Have you ever prepared fresh onions from the garden or leeks for a recipe and tossed those beautiful green tops? Now you can use them and enjoy their great flavor in so many different ways by powdering them! By dehydrating those cast off green onion tops you can make a delicious addition to your kitchen spices with this green onion powder.
In our gardens here, we are currently growing about 200 onions. We don’t grow enough onions (yet) to make white onion powder, but with these tops, we make use of what would be composted. In early summer, we trim our onion tops to keep them from falling over – a sign to the bulb to stop growing. The pollinators love the blossoms, so I do let a few go to seed every year for them (and to save the seeds).
How to Make Homemade Green Onion Powder
Today, we’re using those trimmed tops to make our delicious green onion powder. First thing, wash the tops thoroughly and chop in a food processor or simply roughly chop with a knife. The smaller the pieces are cut, the faster they will dry.
The next step is to dehydrate the green onion tops. Although a countertop dehydrator is idea, you can do this with only an oven. To dehydrate with a dehydrator, place the green onions on dehydrator trays – the thinner the layer, the faster they will dry. I like to set my temperature lower and dry longer to preserve more of the nutrients. I dry them at 115°F overnight and they are beautifully crispy in the morning. If they are at all soft, just let them go a bit longer until crisp.
For oven dehydrating, line baking sheets with parchment paper and lay the green onion pieces in a thin layer. Place the baking sheets in the oven on the lowest temperature setting. Some ovens go as low as 175°F (or keep warm setting), but keep the temperature at or below 225°F. If using the higher temperature, watch to make sure they don’t start toasting or burning!
When the green onions are dry and crispy, empty the dehydrator trays onto parchment paper. Hold the sides of the parchment paper together and pour into a blender or spice/coffee grinder.
Blend or grind into a fine powder and package in an airtight container. At least for me, the coffee grinder did a much better job grinding fine and evenly. The blender did an alright job, but the green onions didn’t really have enough weight to them and left some 1/4″ pieces. So if you have access to a spice grinder, use it instead.
To use your green onion powder, use as you might regular onion powder in your recipes. It also makes a wonderful addition to dips and marinades! I hope you enjoy this green onion powder!