{Making your own kitchen staples is one of the best ways I know to save money on whole foods, and this homemade granulated garlic is a case in point. I already make my own Easiest Coconut Milk, Easiest Almond Milk, Aluminum & Corn-Free Baking Powder, Easy Vegan Condensed Milk, Powdered Sugar Substitute, and Liquid Stevia Drops, but granulated garlic is one thing that I have not made yet. I love saving money with our dehydrator, and now thanks to Raia from Raia’s Recipes, I have another great staple to make and another great way to save. This is a great solution to the common problem of garlic spoilage–makes me so upset to see food go to waste!}

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 needs 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.

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.

Tried this recipe?Mention @wholenewmom or tag #wholenewmom!

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!”