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Making Garlic Powder: A DIY Recipe!

Garlic powder in a wooden spoon, next to garlic cloves
Image Credit:
Shutterstock
Written By: Celeste Longacre Gardener & Astrologer

The flavor of homemade garlic powder is unbeatable—it truly tastes like garlic that has just been picked from the garden (and nothing like that prepackaged stuff). Plus, it’s ready to be used all year long! See how to dry garlic to make your own garlic powder.

Reasons to Make Your Own Garlic Powder

A lot of commercial garlic powder is pretty bad in terms of quality; it doesn’t even smell or taste like garlic and can have an unpleasant aftertaste. Some producers don’t even bother removing the skin, plus there isn’t FDA regulation around commodity spices, so it’s difficult to know what’s truly inside the bottle. Unless you buy local garlic, many of the garlic bulbs sold in stores have gone past their peak (rubbery or soft) and have lost much of their medicinal value.

Truly fresh garlic is pungent, white, hard, and full of a juicy liquid. One way to maintain not only garlic’s flavor but also its healing powers is to dry it and make it into garlic powder. There are so many ways to use garlic powder, from shaking the seasoning into salad dressings and soups, to putting it on potatoes, to sprinkling it over popcorn.

Dried garlic powder has a different purpose than raw garlic; it’s mellower and milder to enhance flavor versus the sharp taste of garlic in a main dish. Ideally, you could grow your own garlic, as it’s easy to plant your own bulbs in the fall. Otherwise, we recommend buying local garlic bulbs for the freshest flavor.

For those who wish to garden, garlic bulbs are popped into the soil in the fall and harvested in the summer once the leaves turn yellow-brown. See how to prepare your soil in our Garlic Growing Guide.

Making Garlic Powder in the Dehydrator

At harvest, I generally pick about eight bulbs of garlic at a time, bundle them tightly together, and tie them with string. I then hang the bundles for 2 to 4 weeks in a shady, airy place to begin to dry.

1. Separate Cloves

Whether you grow your own or buy your garlic cloves, the first step to making the powder is to separate all of the cloves. This can be a messy job, so do it all at once!

garlic cloves in a bowl

2. Peel Garlic

After separating the cloves, I cut the tops and the bottoms of the cloves and try to tear a strip or two of the skin.

garlic cloves on cutting board

3. Dehydrate the Cloves

Placing these cloves in a dehydrator tray, they are put at a low temperature (below 115°F/46°C) overnight. This will help to loosen the peels and aid the next process.

garlic cloves on a dehydrator tray

4. Chop the Cloves

After the cloves have been slightly dehydrated, you can remove the rest of the peels. Then chop the cloves slightly. I like to use a food processor to make little chips of garlic.

garlic cloves in a food processor

5. Dehydrate the Garlic

Back into the dehydrator they go for 6 or 7 days. Again, keep the temperature below 115°F/46°C, as this will help the garlic to maintain its healing properties.

dehydrator

Once the chips have cooled, they can be put in a tight jar until you have time to complete the process.

dehydrated garlic chips

6. Powder the Garlic Chips

When you are ready to make the powder, put the chips in a blender (not too many at a time) and hit the “chop” button. Wait about a minute after processing before opening the blender, as there will be lots of powder floating at first. I then put the powder through a strainer so that the ultimate product is fine. The larger chips just go back into the blender to repeat the process.

garlic powder in a strainer

7. Seal Into Jars

Place the powder in jars and seal them. The flavor of the resulting powder is unbeatable—it truly tastes like garlic that has just been picked from the garden. But now it is ready to be used all year long!

homemade garlic powder in jars 
 

Making Garlic Powder in the Oven

You can also make garlic powder in your oven. To do so:

  1. Preheat your oven to 175°F.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then place sliced garlic on top.
  3. The garlic is ready after anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. Test it by seeing if a piece “snaps” when you break it in half.
  4. After this, you need to let the garlic cool completely.
  5. Grind it into a powder by using a high-speed blender or coffee grinder.

Of course, garlic powder not only adds flavor to your meals but has some glorious health benefits too. Learn more about the healing benefits of garlic.

Cooking & Recipes

About The Author

Celeste Longacre

Celeste Longacre

Gardener & Astrologer

Celeste Longacre has been growing virtually all of her family’s vegetables for the entire year for over 30 years. She cans, she freezes, she dries, she ferments, and she root cellars. She also has chi...

Read more from Celeste Longacre

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Comments

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 09/14/2012 - 11:30
To be safe, a garlic and oil mixture has to have some acid agent like citric or phosphoric acid added (and it has to be refrigerated, too). The FDA recommends that if you want to make your own infused garlic oil, you should prepare it fresh and use it right away. If you are saving any leftovers, you must refrigerate it right away and use within a week.
<span>Cary Lafaye</span> Tue, 09/04/2012 - 14:12
I have noticed that most garlic powder sold in stores comes from China and to me, has a bitter taste. If you are going to buy commercial garlic powder, do check the label to make sure it comes from the U. S.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/celeste-longacre">Celeste Longacre</a> Tue, 09/04/2012 - 14:45
Hi Cary Lafaye, This is one of the reasons that I make my own garlic powder. Personally, I'm not in favor of eating a lot of food from China.
<span>Hope Garden</span> Tue, 09/04/2012 - 13:23
Thank you so much for all the information about garlic. It came at a much needed time because I used the seeds off a previous year's crop, sprouted them and then planted.......uhhhh two 4x4 beds of garlic simply because I couldn't bear to "kill" any of the "babies" and I couldn't find anyone to take the rest! Thanks to your article, I have a great winter activity ahead of me! Personally, I won't mind a house that is redolent of garlic or "kitchen perfume" as my Dad used to call it.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/celeste-longacre">Celeste Longacre</a> Tue, 09/04/2012 - 14:44
Hi Hope Garden, Good luck with your new winter activity! I also love kitchen smells in my house....
<span>Sunriseeast</span> Tue, 09/04/2012 - 10:22
Six or seven DAYS? When I make "sun" dried tomatoes and apple rings, the temp is 135 degrees, and it takes 10 - 16 hours, depending on the thickness of the cut. Please, Celeste, confirm the dryer time for your thinly sliced garlic chips...
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/celeste-longacre">Celeste Longacre</a> Tue, 09/04/2012 - 14:38
Hi SunriseEast, The reason that it takes so long is that the temperature is very low and the garlic itself is so sticky. The first year I dried the garlic for only four days and, after I powdered it, it became quite sticky and solid in a few months' time. If you let it get really dry, this doesn't happen.
<span>Lnoft97@Aol.com</span> Tue, 09/04/2012 - 09:46
Oh my, looks like a lot of fun for do-it-yourselfers, but I wouldn't want my house reeking of garlic for days. I'm afraid it's a little bottle off the spice shelf for me. Nice article though if you have a ton of garlic - maybe make some for Christmas gifts along with dried herbs.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/celeste-longacre">Celeste Longacre</a> Tue, 09/04/2012 - 14:42
Hi Inoft97, I dry it out on the porch so that my house doesn't smell like garlic. At the low temperature, though, it really isn't too bad. And, yes, these little bottles make terrific Christmas presents.
<span>Robert Wallis</span> Tue, 01/07/2014 - 23:07
Hi, I grow Garlic in South Australia. We managed 900kg this year.ts all through our place and the smells not a problem. As its our first year selling we thought we might sun dry some flakes in case we can not sell it all. All my research and experience over the last 5 years indicates that most of the Alliun, the sulfur compound that makes Alicin when exposed to air (Alicin is the healthy stuff), is released at the moment of crushing. We have a number of top chefs as customers. They all say the slice their garlic just before use so as to leave some moisture in to keep garlic healthy and superior taste. Through a mix of garlic varieties we have natural garlic all year round. I have no doubt garlic powder retains a lot of the garlic flavour, however I am very sceptical on it Allicin potency. I have read on other sites rehydrating flakes might retain more Allicin and flavour!!! More to the point does anyone know what the ideal moisture content % dried garlic should have. I have read 5.5% on a chineese site but I HATE CHINEESE GARLIC so dicarded that info. Any ideas appreciated