Oven drying leeks and using them to make homemade leek powder is a great way to use up leftovers and dip your toes into dehydrating food.
Last summer I started to wonder about dehydrating foods and how to use up vegetables that often sat unused in my refrigerator, like a bunch of celery or the green tops of leeks that generally get tossed in favor of using the thicker white stalks.
So I began to research dehydrating food and what the best dehydrators were. Aaaaand promptly had a heart attack because of how expensive they were. It seemed a little ridiculous to me to buy a huge machine when I wasn’t even sure if I’d like it. My only other foray into the world of dehydrating food was with pears and those were only meh. So I decided to test it out in the oven first to see how it would go and then would revisit the idea of getting a dehydrator if it went well.
Turns out it dehydrating leeks was an EXCELLENT idea. Same with turning it into homemade leek powder. It also turns out that I don’t need a dehydrator because the oven works just fine.
HOORAY for making use of what I already have.
Oven Dried Leeks + Homemade Leek Powder
Ingredients
- 1 leek
Instructions
- Wash and chop 1 large leek — sometimes I even just do the green tops because I use the rest of the leek for cooking. This is also a really great way to put those tops to use.
- Place the chopped leek on a paper towel and pat dry. Let sit overnight so that it really dries out. (You can skip this step, it will just take a bit longer in the oven to get all the moisture out.)
- Next day, preheat the oven to the lowest possible setting (mine gets down to about 170°F/80°C). Place chopped leek on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. Place in the oven for 4-5 hours until the leek bits crunch in your hand. Be careful not to let the white parts burn. They will probably turn brown (mine totally did) and that’s okay. Let cool completely before transferring to a lidded jar or grinding into a leek powder.
To make leek powder:
- Place dried leek pieces in a high speed blender or spice grinder and pulse until you reach your desired consistency. Store in a lidded jar.
