Is your garlic always going bad? Here's how to make Easy Homemade Garlic Powder or Garlic Granules to keep your garlic from spoiling!
Being the ultra-frugal, whole food mom that I am, there are few things in life that excite me more than saving money on real food. So when I saw an amazing deal on fresh garlic cloves at my local Costco, I jumped at it. Hint for all you fellow frugal moms: don't buy something in bulk if you can't use it before it'll go bad. (Another hint: don't ever buy peeled garlic.)
So anyway... here I was with my 5 pounds of fresh garlic stored in my fridge awaiting use.
And while we do use a lot of garlic in this house, I was unaware of just how quickly peeled garlic goes bad. It's pretty quick. Within a week or so, my garlic was sprouting.
No prob., I thought, I'll just plant the sprouting ones.
So I did. But then I noticed some of the cloves getting shriveled and moldy.
No good.
Sigh, what is a frugal mom to do with multiple pounds of garlic that need to be used ASAP?
Turns out, granulated garlic is super easy to make yourself. Thankfully... And unlike fresh, raw, peeled garlic, it lasts a loooong time. 😉
Just make sure you don't leave a plate full of it within reach of a curious 2-year old... 😉
Supplies You will Need
- A sharp butcher knife
- Parchment paper
- Dehydrator or oven
- Blender
Recipe Notes
- For help with peeling garlic, see Easiest Way to Peel Garlic.
Other Easy Homemade Pantry Staples
Easiest Coconut Milk - no nut milk bag needed!
Easiest Almond Milk - no nut milk bag here either!
Aluminum & Corn-Free Baking Powder - works great!
Easy Vegan Condensed Milk
Powdered Sugar Substitute, and
Liquid Stevia Drops - this saves TONS of money!
Stop Your Garlic from Rotting - Easy Homemade Granulated Garlic
Ingredients
- fresh peeled cloves of garlic (as much as you want / have)
Instructions
- Set your oven to as low of a temperature as possible. In other words, play "how low can you go?" with your oven. Mine goes down to 170. Alternatively, get your dehydrator ready.
- Slice peeled cloves of garlic as thinly as possible, trying to get them all about the same thickness. The thinner you slice them, the faster they'll dry out.
- Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, making sure the slices don't touch each other.
- Dehydrate until dried (I did mine overnight in my oven).
- Take dried pieces of garlic and dump them into your blender/food processor. Grind to desired texture--a more coarse grind will be like granulated garlic. A more fine grind will be like powder. Store in an airtight jar. Use in any dish calling for garlic.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
This is not only a great way to prevent your garlic from spoiling, but it also allows you to have garlic on hand at all times.
No more running to the store at the last minute because you used up your last clove, which saves on gas costs and those last minute impulse purchases.
Make a bunch of this instead and store it up for the future.
What dish would you use this granulated garlic in first?
Raia is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mom of six crazy kids. She started her blog, Raia’s Recipes, to share her love of simple, allergy-friendly baking (and chocolate). Her easy, healthy recipes prove that eating allergy-free doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive!"
Hi
What temperature should I put my garlic cloves in the food dehydrator?
Hi there. For raw you want an air temp of 115 at the most. So depends on what you are aiming for. Different dehydrator temperature gauges work differently. Hope that helps!
The reason the garlic sprouted is because it was refrigerated. It's how garlic grows naturally. It sprouts in winter too be ready to grow by spring.
great info!
Pickled garlic is also easy way to keep fresh garlic on hand. I also like to roast garlic and freeze it for later use.
Great idea! I have a preserved garlic recipe that I have been meaning to publish - gotta work on it! Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you! This is so helpful!
I need dehydrated granulated garlic for some recipes (when I don’t want to add moisture), and because of a medical condition, my kid can’t have any commercial granulated garlic or garlic powder due to the anti-caking agents that are often added without being listed on the ingredients list. I don’t have a dehydrator, so your instructions just made me feel like, “I can do this!” Thank you so much!
As far as keeping the health benefits of garlic when freezing, Meadowviewfarmandgarden has an article (with lots of great info in general) that says this: “ Whether frozen garlic has any appreciable health benefits or not is a function of whether it is frozen whole or chopped or crushed first. Garlic that is frozen whole has few, if any, health benefits as the alliinase is neutralized by the cold and while flavorful, the polysulfides do not form. On the other hand, if you crush or finely chop garlic and wait 15 minutes before putting into freezer bags or ice trays, it will have formed the allicin already and the sulfides will form upon thawing and result in the health benefits that studies have shown for garlic. One lady told me she freezes crushed garlic in small cocktail-size ice cube trays and pops out a few of the 1/2 square cubes whenever she wants garlic to cook with.”
Next time I buy a big bag, I will try freezing some of it using this method, and dehydrate some of it using your method.
Thanks again!
Sorry it's taken so long to approve this message -- wow really? That's crazy information! I wonder if they've tested that?? You are so welcome......did you end up trying it?
I tried to give this 5 stars but it wouldn't click. I use some form of garlic everyday in my meals. Fresh, powder, cultured, or granules. This is a great way to keep from spoilage. Thanks for the instruction on DIY.
Thank you! You helped us find a bug on the blog! Thank you for letting me know! Actually there was ONE issue w/ coding that was affecting 3 things! Thanks to you they are fixed now. You can go back and check and leave all the 5 Stars you want :). Thanks much--it really is a blessing to us bloggers when you leave great star ratings for us. Really helps us when these days it's harder for our things to be seen by Google. Hope to see you around again!
Happy to help!
:)!!
Hey you should look into the Problem of allicines. This ist why industry Schock frosts garlic because with too Long kontact to Air the garlic produces allicines wich are supposed to be harmful. Greetings
Thanks so much for this recipe! I bought a huge bag of peeled garlic cloves at Costco and its going bad already! I hate throughing out food/money. I will definitely make use of this recipe with my garlic and tomatoes too.
I'm eating garlic from Costco too :). Glad it's a help!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I just discovered that my garlic powder has sugar - boo.
I can only trust myself in the kitchen. 🙂
Wow. Sugar everywhere!
You are welcome, by the way!
I bought a bag of garlic last summer for the canning and pickling season. I needed this reminder to dry the rest of them.This time of year (dry winter in Minnesota), garlic will dry on a plate in the kitchen. I don't grind the slices into powder unless I specifically need powdered garlic.
Once you make your granulated garlic, how long does it last? And how much of a spoonful equals a garlic clove?
I have read that commercially prepared spices don't spoil but lose their potency so this will depend on how you prepare it. I personally think they could go rancid with enough time. Typically 1/8 tsp = 1 clove.