Learn how to dehydrate garlic easily at home to make sliced, minced, and garlic powder. This easy step by step guide will teach you how to prepare, store and use your dehydrated garlic.
We cook with garlic. A LOT of garlic.
My guacamole has garlic. Our brisket rub has garlic. My smoked salsa has garlic. Those delicious sous vide potatoes are poached in garlic butter. The dill pickled carrots have garlic.
I think you get the picture!
Being that we are heavy garlic consumers, it became obvious a couple of years ago that it was time to "harvest" our own garlic and preserve it for use throughout the year. I suck at growing things but am pretty ok at cooking. For us, "harvesting" garlic was buying a bulk bag at the local store.
This how to guide is dedicated to garlic in everything.
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Tips + tricks
No. 1--> When slicing the garlic, keep the slices as uniform as possible. Keeping the garlic somewhat similar in size will help keep the dehydrating more consistent, with reducing the chances of under or over-dried garlic mixed in with the perfectly dried garlic.
No. 2 --> Keep the temperature on the dehydrator low. We want dried garlic, not browned/cooked garlic. Trust me, one year we tried to dehydrate the garlic too warm and it turned brown and bitter.
No. 3 --> If you can, put your dehydrator in the garage or outside in a protected area. The smell of dehydrating garlic will float through your whole house. You'll emanate the smell of garlic for a long time!
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Ingredients
This one is not hard. There's only 1 ingredient!
- LOTS of garlic
How to make
- Start by peeling the papery skins off the garlic. Discard all of the papery peels. Then break apart the cloves of garlic from the bulb.
- Chop both ends off of the garlic cloves. Most people only recommend to chop the bulb end off, but we've learned that chopping both ends off makes for a much easier peel.
- Peel each clove of garlic. Get rid of any and all peels.
- Slice the garlic cloves in a uniform width. If you are doing dehydrated sliced garlic stop here and skip to step 6.
- Mince the sliced cloves. I love to use my little chopper for this, it makes quick work of a mundane job.
- Spread the prepared garlic on the trays of your dehydrator, aiming for as close to a single layer as possible. The less the garlic touches, the better.
- Dehydrate the sliced or minced garlic at 105f until it's completely dry. The garlic is ready when it snaps when folded. This can be up to or more than 12 hours.
- Remove the dehydrated garlic from the trays of the dehydrator. Allow them to cool to room temperature before preparing them for storage.
How to store
Here are a couple of ways to store your dehydrated garlic:
Glass Jar
You can store your sliced or minced dehydrated garlic in a clean glass mason jar with the lid tightly screwed in a cool, dark cupboard for up to a year. It works great, and this is how I store my garlic.
If you want to go the extra step when making a large batch, you can use your Food Saver Jar vacuum seal attachment to suck out any excess air. This will keep your food fresher even longer!
Freeze It
You can put your dried garlic into a mason jar or other freezer-safe, airtight container, and place it in the freezer indefinitely. It should keep frozen for over a year.
How to use
Using dried garlic is almost as easy as using fresh.
Garlic powder
A great use for dehydrated garlic is garlic powder. To make your dried garlic into garlic powder, simply run the mince or slices through your blender, spice grinder, or mortar and pestle.
Use this garlic powder exactly the same as any other!
Fresh Garlic
If you need fresh garlic and, shit! you're out? Dehydrated garlic can easily be subbed in!
Simply soak the desired amount of dehydrated garlic in a small bowl of hot water for 10 or so minutes, until it reabsorbs the moisture, then mix it into your recipe as required. I've done this with my Loaded Guacamole more times than I care to admit!
Dehydrated garlic
Using dehyrated garlic in place of fresh garlic in cooked recipes could not be easier. Got a pot of soup going? Throw some dehydrated slices in there. Need some minced garlic in chili? Save the mess and throw a couple spoonfuls of minced dried garlic in the pot.
Garlic Salt
You can easily turn your homemade garlic powder into garlic salt. To do this, simply blend 1 part garlic powder with 3 parts salt in the blender. For example, 1/4 cup garlic powder + 3/4 cups salt into the blender and pulse a few times to get them well combined!
Recommended tools
There are a few tools used in this project that will make your life a lot easier.
Dehydrator
I use this Excalibur dehydrator I bought in like 2014. It's a 9 tray model, with a timer, adjustable thermostat (between 105f and 165f). I love this little machine, it works great. I've used it to proof bread, make yogurt, dehydrate citrus wheels. It's a beast and hasn't hiccuped once.
Chopper
If you're mincing a tonne of garlic (or anything), for the love of Jim, get a chopper! Trust me, it's soooo much easier than hand mincing.
Blender
If you're wanting to whip up some garlic powder, a good blender is a great tool to have. I used my Vitamix for this job, and again, after 10 years of pretty steady use, that thing still pumps out some silky garlic powder.
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📖 Printable Recipe
How To: Dehydrated Garlic
Use this how to guide to make your own dehydrated garlic. I'll even teach you how to make garlic powder and garlic salt from your homemade dehydrated garlic.
Ingredients
- Garlic, lots of garlic.
Instructions
Dehydrated garlic:
- Peel off the papery skins from the garlic bulbs, then break apart the cloves from the bulb.
- Chop both ends of the clove off, especially for fresh garlic, this will make it easier to peel. Then peel any remaining skin off the garlic cloves.
- Slice the garlic into uniform widths. If you're wanting sliced dehydrated garlic, skip step 4 and continue to step 5.
- Mince the sliced cloves if you want minced dehydrated garlic.
- Spread the prepared garlic on the trays of your dehydrator, aiming for a single layer and no large clumps.
- Dehydrate the garlic mince or slices at 105f until completely dry, about 8-10 hours. You'll know the garlic is done when it snaps in half after cooling.
- Allow the garlic to cool in the dehydrator until room temperature before preparing for storage.
Garlic Powder:
- To make your dehydrated garlic into garlic powder, simply add the dehydrated garlic to the jug of your blender, I use my Vitamix, and blend until it's a fine powder. See long term storage for storage directions.
Garlic salt:
- Combine 1 part garlic powder and 3 parts salt in a blender. Pulse until well combined. See long term storage information for storage directions.
Long term storage:
- Remove the cooled, dehydrated garlic from the trays of the dehydrator and place the garlic into an airtight container. I prefer to use mason jars for this, as I know I always get a good tight seal. Store the jar in a cool, dark place for up to a year.
- Alternatively, you can place the cooled garlic into an airtight container and store it in the freezer. The dehydrated garlic will keep in the freezer for over a year.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
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Vickie
Sunday 2nd of July 2023
How to dehydrate in the oven and how long and what temperature
Ally
Sunday 2nd of July 2023
Hi Vickie, I would be hesitant to dehydrate this in your oven unless it has a specific dehydrate function. I have dehydrated garlic at too high a temperature and it turned out bitter. A previous commenter tried at 170f and found hers over done.
Gerry
Monday 3rd of October 2022
Just my opinion, but I have dehydrated lots of garlic. A farmer who grew multiple types of garlic in the California desert had the best garlic powder I ever had, and i have used his methods for 10 years. Garlic does not need to be refrigerated, and definitely doesn't need freezing. It will last indefinitely in a cool, dry local. In fact he made a point of saying that it should always be kept in Mylar bags, and never put it in the fridge, where mold and bacteria can attack it. He said, garlic in a Mylar bag away from heat, has no expiration date.
Thanks !! I enjoy your site and appreciate the information.
Ally
Tuesday 4th of October 2022
Hey Gerry! That's great to know! My limiting factor for storing garlic is truly the cool space. I live in northern Alberta where we get bitterly cold winters subsequently, my home and garage were built with in-slab heating, so I lack a suitable cold storage location. In my situation, I need to freeze, pickle, ferment, and dehydrate my garlic, or else I won't get to store it!
Am
Wednesday 27th of April 2022
Hi. I dehydrated my garlic in the oven at 170 F. I fell asleep and left it until it is brown. Kind of like coffee with some milk. Darker than camel though.
Have I ruined it? Thank you for a great tutorial. I wish I had used the dehydrator but it had grapefruit slices in it and they take a very long time to dry. I read that 1-2 hours in up to 200 F oven will work. Thought I was safe at 170 F.
Not sure how long it was in there.
Ally
Monday 2nd of May 2022
Your best bet would be to actually rehydrate some in some hot water and taste it! If it's dehydrated too long or too hot it will be bitter, so I would just test it!
Hillerie Terland
Friday 7th of January 2022
I was wondering if you noticed a loss in flavor with your dehydrated garlic, verses fresh? I just got into dehydrating and, like you, I use an insane amount of garlic in everything. I'm starting to make meals for backpacking and would love to add loads of garlic to my dehydrated meal packs, but not sure if it's worth my time to dehydrate all of it if the flavor is sub-par, or that of store bought. Thanks!
Ally
Saturday 8th of January 2022
I haven't noticed a marked drop in flavor! It tends to rehydrate pretty close to fresh. It would be worth trying with a single bulb to see if you noticed a big difference!
Michelle Popa
Thursday 30th of December 2021
Does your dehydrator keep the smell of the garlic and does it affect the taste of foods you dehydrate after?
Ally
Thursday 30th of December 2021
I haven't found that it does! I do usually allow a couple days of air out time if I'm going from savory to sweet type foods, but that's generally due to scheduling constraints!