Learn How To Dehydrate Onions For Food Storage using a Dehydrator. Use Dry Onion in your Cooking or further Mince it into a Delicious Onion Powder for your Seasonings.
You might be surprised, but dehydrated onions are a great snack. You do not only have onion flakes always ready for your cooking. Turning your onions into dehydrated in the comfort of your home is a great advantage.
DEHYDRATED RECIPES
As I have got into loving my dehydrator more and more, I am slowly discovering more things to dehydrate.
My pantry is filling up with goodies, and I am getting excited with ideas, I will be using all of my dehydrated food.
Years ago, I only used to make fruit roll-ups and dried zucchini as keto chips. From time to time, I made my pork rinds and churro from them, but that was about it.
But recently, I have realized making my dehydrated strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries is much cheaper than store-bought ones.
Strawberry powder is now my favorite decoration for everything I bake.
And let us not talk about healthiness. I always try to dehydrate all of my berries or vegetables when the actual season is, so I always have the most nutrition and vitamin-filled snacks in my pantry.
You can learn all about them in my posts, whether it’s cucumber chips, dried broccoli, mushrooms, and even chicken and almonds.
CAN YOU DEHYDRATE ONIONS?
You might wonder if you can dehydrate onions, especially in your house. This post is all bout it. You will learn everything you can about dehydrating, preserving, storing, and using dry onion similar to dried garlic flakes in your lifestyle by explaining what, why, and how.
WHY DEHYDRATE ONIONS?
There are a few reasons why you should dehydrate onions.
- If you have a big garden and have your vegetables. You grow your own onions, and it is a great way to process them for storage. Growing onions in your garden are very simple.
- When you see onions on sale during the season. It is best to get a few bags and save them for the whole year. That way, you will not only have seasonal veggies in your pantry, but you will never have to buy all the seasonings.
- Add the dry onions to use for your seasoning. Because, frankly, making various seasonings is one of the easiest tasks. They will never be added with extra unwanted ingredients to keep them from going bad.
ARE DEHYDRATED ONIONS GOOD?
They are not only delicious but filled with nutrients and are extra delicious. You can enjoy them as a snack as well. Having a glass jar at home is a great advantage because you can even rehydrate them for future use.
WHAT DO DEHYDRATED ONIONS TASTE LIKE?
Dried onions give you an extra concentrated onion flavor of tart together with sweetness. Extra crispy flakes with mild spicy flavor are even stronger if you pick your fresh onions right during the season.
For those who are not fond of the odor of onions, the advantage is that you do not have the onion smell of onions in the kitchen if you leave onions outside on the kitchen counter.
DO DEHYDRATED ONIONS HAVE CARBS?
Same as any vegetables, even onions have carbs. Not so many as baked desserts or loaves of bread. Because of dehydration, the carbs get concentrated more, and we need to count them in.
One teaspoon has 2 grams of carbs, and one tablespoon has 4 grams of carbohydrates.
DOES DRIED ONIONS HAVE NUTRITIONS?
With only 8 calories but 29 mg of Potassium and vitamin C for a teaspoon, you can immediately see how much great nutritional value you can add to your meals.
HOW TO MAKE DRY ONION FLAKES NATURALLY?
To go into a natural way of drying food, not using any gadgets, machines, or other kitchen equipment is the heat. And the only natural heat we get is the sun.
Placing your sliced or chopped onions in a shaded place in your garden on a nice warm day is a natural way.
The only problem is that not all people in the world have sun at all times and therefore it is ok to turn and use some help of various kitchen tools.
HOW TO DEHYDRATE ONIONS AT HOME?
There are a few ways to dehydrate your onions at home.
- Sun – As mentioned above, the sun is the most natural way to dry your food.
- Heater – Simply place your chopped onions on a heater covered with a newspaper or paper towel. You can dry the onions or any sliced veggies in a few days.
- Oven – You can also dry your onion in an oven on the lowest heat.
- Air Fryer – Some Air Fryers has now got the function of dehydrating, which you can use.
- Dehydrator – My and the most convenient way of drying your fruits, veggies and meats. Also, dehydrator trays fit a significant number of onions.
CAN YOU DEHYDRATE RAW ONIONS?
You can dehydrate raw onions, the type of onions you should dry.
Fresh onions contain all nutrition, and nothing gets destroyed by drying them on low heat.
Cooked, baked, blanched, or any other way of transforming raw onions will only lower nutrition, and we do not want that.
BEST ONIONS TO USE
As you see, I have used white onions in our recipe for the bright color you get. But depending on your taste and preferences, you can use any kind of onion, be it white, yellow, red onions, green onions or shallots.
Leek is also a part of the onion family, and that can be used as well.
Regarding the carbohydrate content, green onions or Scallions are the lowest in carbs, with shallots being the highest in carb amount.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO DEHYDRATE ONIONS?
How long to dehydrate onions depends significantly on how you chop or slice them. The thickness and size give you a few hours of difference. The big difference is also between julienned onions and if you cut onions into rings. Onion rings take the longest because they are usually cut the thickest.
But generally, approximately 5 to 7 hours should be sufficient time for dehydrating.
WHEN ARE DEHYDRATED ONIONS DONE?
Check if the onions are dry. If they have a dry paper like texture they are done. Take a bite of one of the dried pieces. If it is crunchy and you do not feel any moisture in, that should be the sign that your onions are done and ready to store.
HOW TO MAKE ONIONS INTO ONION FLAKES
Transforming fresh onions into onion flakes in a few easy steps is precisely what I am about to show you. It is an easy recipe, and you can use the steps to dry any vegetables or other food in your kitchen.
Kitchen gadgets needed:
- Sharp Knife
- Dehydrator
Ingredients needed:
- Fresh onions
- Water
*Exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below.
STEP BY STEP DIRECTIONS TO DEHYDRATE ONIONS
First step: Prepare ingredients
Prepare your onions.
Wash and clean them from all of the impurities. Slice the outer onion skin. Cut the onions into half and cut out the root or a stem.
Using a sharp knife, slice the onions into thin onion streaks approximately a quarter of an inch thick.
Second step: Prepare onion slices
Take each slice of onion, and separate each of the streaks using your hands.
Third step: Spread onions
Place fresh chopped onion pieces onto dehydrator trays making sure they are all single-layered. Depending on how many onions you plan to dehydrate, you can use that many trays. I have used one tray for one and a half of the medium size of the onion.
Fourth step: Dehydrate
Place all of the dehydrator trays onto a dehydrator and close the lid.
Switch to 70 degrees Celsius or 160 Fahrenheit and switch the dehydrator for 6 to 7 hours.
If you are using all the trays, alternate them every 2 hours for equal dryness.
Once fully dry, allow the onions to cool at room temperature and add dried onions directly into jars.
TIPS FOR DEHYDRATING ONIONS
- Drying time – depends really on the thickness and shape of your onions.
- Food processor – can be used to chop your onions if a large amount of onions are used.
- Dehydrator trays – swap your trays every 2 hours for equal drying
- Cutting onions without crying – freeze your onions for 10 minutes before cutting
- Cooling time – before preserving them for longer, let them cool at room temperature.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Ways to use dehydrated onions
The ways to use dehydrated onions are enormous. Apart from making your spices, add the onions to any dish you wish. Use onions in recipes that call for onions.
Use dry for:
- Soups
- Enchilada seasoning
- Taco seasoning
- Sausage seasoning
- Everything bagel seasoning
- Wild garlic chips
- Green Goddess salad
Using dehydrated onions
Dehydrated onions can also be used as a substitute for fresh onions. To rehydrate them, just soak them in the water for about 15 minutes and use them as fresh. Then use as you would fresh onions.
Add onion flavor into:
- Tacos
- Goulash
- Bolognese sauce
- Mozzarella baked chicken
- Bacon
- Guacamole
- Cabbage beef casserole
- Vegetable stew
Do I need to blanch onions before dehydrating?
No, you do not have to blanch onions. It will not add any advantage. Addition to that you might still loose some nutritions.
How to dry onions without dehydrator?
If you do not own a dehydrator, you can simply follow the steps and place all the onion flakes onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. In your oven at the lowest temperature, you can dry any veggies. The time depends on your oven temperature set.
If it’s summer, you can also dry onions in a shaded place in your garden or a heater in the house.
How do you dehydrate onions in Air Fryer?
As air fryers have become increasingly popular, people started using them as a dehydrator. Some of the brands started introducing Air Fryers with dehydrator functions.
Depending on the Air Fryer type, follow the instructions for dehydrating.
How to make McDonald’s chopped onions?
The way McDonald’s makes their onions is exciting. The onions are chopped into small pieces, more like square flakes, and dehydrated. To use them in McDonald’s restaurants, they are then rehydrated for fresh use.
With our simple recipe, you can make an actual copy-cut of McDonald’s onions just by changing how you cut them.
You can quickly process the onions into a minced or powdered onion. I have written a separate article on the exact steps. Place the dried onion pieces into your magic bullet or a food processor. By pulsing it a few times you get perfect minced dried onions. Keeping it blended thoroughly will give you super smooth onion powder.
Dehydrated onions can be, in minutes, turned into fresh ones. Rehydrating onions takes only 15 minutes. Simply place all of your dry onion flakes into the water, and in 15 minutes, they will rehydrate, and you can use them as fresh onions in your cooking.
How to store dehydrated onions?
Dehydrated onions are a great way to preserve in any glass jar, container, or mason jar. Dry veggies need some air. Do not push or overfill.
Conditioning dry onions for storage
Before you store your onions for a longer time, conditioning is a great idea.
Conditioning your dry vegetables means you place the onion slices into an airtight glass container and you shake the jar every day for up to 7 days. Daily check if your onions get mold or some moisture forms inside the jar. If after 7 days they are all perfect, you can store them for a more extended period without worry.
Storing dehydrated foods
Store the dehydrated onion flakes in a glass container on the shelf of your pantry.
How long will dehydrated onions last?
Dehydrated onions can last for over a year if stored properly. They do have a very long shelf life.
Can you freeze dry onions?
As dry onions are great to store in your pantry, there is no need to freeze them. Most of us have the biggest problem with space in the freezer, and I would suggest keeping that for some other food.
More great dehydrator recipes
Want to dehydrate more? Learn to dehydrate:
- Cucumber chips
- Strawberry powder
- Dry raspberries
- Zucchini chips
- Dehydrated strawberries
- Pork rinds
- Raw crackers bread
- Fruit roll-ups
- Sweet keto churro pork rinds
- Smoked paprika zucchini chips
- Dehydrated blueberries
- Dehydrated broccoli
- Onion powder
- Dehydrated mushrooms
- Dehydrated chicken
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How To Dehydrate Onions for Food Storage
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Onions
- Water
Instructions
- Prepare your onions. Wash and clean them from all of the impurities. Slice the outer onion skin. Cut the onions into half and cut out the root or a stem. Using a sharp knife, slice the onions into thin onion streaks approximately a quarter of an inch thick.
- Take each slice of onion, and separate each of the streaks using your hands.
- Place fresh chopped onion pieces onto dehydrator trays making sure they are all single-layered. Depending on how many onions you plan to dehydrate, you can use that many trays. I have used one tray for one and a half of the medium size of the onion.
- Place all of the dehydrator trays onto a dehydrator and close the lid. Switch to 70 degrees Celsius or 160 Fahrenheit and switch the dehydrator for 6 to 7 hours. If you are using all the trays, alternate them every 2 hours for equal dryness.
Video
Notes
- Drying time – depends really on the thickness and shape of your onions.
- Food processor – can be used to chop your onions if a large amount of onions are used.
- Dehydrator trays – swap your trays every 2 hours for equal drying
- Cutting onions without crying – freeze your onions for 10 minutes before cutting
- Cooling time – before preserving them for longer, let them cool at room temperature.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
Please note that nutrient values are estimates only. Variations can occur due to product availability and manner of food preparation. Nutrition may vary based on methods of origin, preparation, freshness of ingredients, and other factors.
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