How to Make Garlic Powder

Making homemade garlic powder is easier than you might think. With a few bulbs of organic garlic, an oven, and a mortar and pestle (or food processor), you'll be seasoning food with this hand-ground spice before you know it!

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Homemade Garlic Powder

One of the first things I did before we ever moved onto land and began homesteading, was to start making my own condiments and seasonings wherever possible.

Since we use garlic powder like it's going out of style, it made sense to start making my own.

So when my husband got me this amazing mortar and pestle for Christmas one year, I was very excited! I know it makes me sound like an ultra-homesteader, but the idea of hand-grinding my own spices has always been very appealing to me.

So with my new mortar and pestle in hand, I set out to make some fresh garlic powder!

Don't worry though, you don't need a mortar and pestle to make your own homemade garlic powder, you can also use a food processor or a blender. We will talk about both later in the post.

How to Make Homemade Garlic Powder

Interestingly, fresh garlic powder has a much different taste than its store bought counterpart! The taste is much stronger than store bought powder, so when you use it be sparing at first until you know how to season with your new stash!

Here is an overview of the process, with a few important details for making your own garlic powder.

Choosing your garlic: Whether you are buying your garlic bulbs at the store, or growing your own garlic, you want to look for garlic bulbs that are fresh and firm.

NOTE: Garlic that has started to sprout (see the little green tail coming out) will have a much stronger flavor with more of a bite than if you use garlic that hasn't sprouted. However, sprouted garlic is still fine to use!

Peeling your garlic: Once you have your garlic in hand, you'll need to peel the garlic bulbs to extract the cloves (unless you buy a bag of garlic cloves already peeled). This can be a tedious tasks, but there are a few ways to speed up the process.

Since I've never had any luck with the shake method, I'm going to tell you about two other options for peeling your garlic.

How to Peel Garlic Option 1:

Simply hold the whole head of garlic in your hand and pierce through the skin with a fork or a knife. Pull the clove to one side until the skin breaks and remove it from the skin.

How to Peel Garlic Option 2:

You can also separate the cloves from the head and remove as much of the loose peel as possible leaving just the skin that is closely attached to the clove. Then you will soak the cloves in cold water for one hour.

After the soaking step, the sticky part of the skin should be dissolved and you should be able to slip the cloves out of the peel easily!

Before drying: Next, you'll need to make the garlic as small as possible, so that the drying process doesn't take forever. You can chop it, press it, or grind it in a food processor.

Drying garlic before powdering: This step is meant to dry, not cook the garlic. So, you'll want to do it low and slow. You can dry your garlic in an oven at it's lowest temperature (usually 175°F) or in a food dehydrator at between 135-175°F until the garlic is fully dry.

There cannot be any moisture left in the garlic, or you will end up with mashed garlic when you go to process it, instead of that lovely powder.

Powdering your dried garlic: While I love to get my hands on the action, you don't have to use a mortar and pestle for making your own garlic powder.

If you want to do things a bit quicker, you can use a spice grinder, coffee grinder (used for spices only), high powered blender, or a food processor.

Please note that if you use a food processor, you may not get as fine a texture as you would with a smaller grinding area.

You can combat this by doing more garlic at once, or using a small food processor instead of a large (say 8 cup) processor!

Granulated Garlic versus Garlic Powder

Though the terms tend to be used interchangeably, there is a difference between granulated and powdered garlic. The only real difference between the two is the size of the granule.

Granulated garlic has a texture that is about the same size as a salt grain, while true powdered garlic has a texture more like that of flour. Most "garlic powder" you find at the grocery store is actually granulated garlic, and true garlic powder has a very fine texture.

While I prefer granulated garlic, because it's easier to sprinkle over food than powdered, you can make either one with this method for making your own garlic powder.

Simply process the garlic until it reaches your desired finished texture.

Storing Your Homemade Garlic Powder

This garlic powder, if thoroughly dried before grinding (a must) will last until it's gone, if stored properly. Simply store your homemade garlic powder in an air tight container wherever you store your other spices.

We like to use a small glass mason jar, but you can use any airtight container. I do recommend that it be glass, as plastic containers can change the taste over time.

If you're making homemade garlic powder in bulk, you can also store it in mylar bags and just remove enough to refill your jars from time to time.

Common Questions about Garlic Powder

More Homemade Pantry Staples:

If you're ready to fill your kitchen with higher quality homemade condiments and baking items, these posts will keep you happy for a while!

• Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
• Easy Homemade Mayo
• Homemade Chocolate Syrup

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