How To Dehydrate Onions In An Air Fryer ?

Onion is an essential vegetable that enhances the taste of the food magically. Because of the seasonality, the prices of onions vary a lot. Therefore, we often store it in bulk to consume in the winter. Storing onion without any treatment is not always a good idea. If you want your onions to store for a long time, then dehydrating them is a preferred idea. In this article, I am going to teach you how to dehydrate onions in an air fryer. After the read, you will be able to prepare dehydrated onions by yourself at home.

Dehydrated onions can be stored for longer and they are fresher than stored in any other method. As onions are the most popular food ingredient, I recommend you to learn the most effective way of storing them so that you never fall short of them. However, not all air fryers can dehydrate onions. I will suggest to you some awesome air fryers that dehydrate onions perfectly at the end.

Nutrition values of Onion ( 100 gm raw)

• Calories – 40
• Carbohydrates – 9.3 gm
• Proteins – 1.2 gm
• Fats – 0.1 gm
• Fiber – 1.8 gm
• Water – 90 %
• Sugar – 4.1 gm

The vitamin and mineral content of onion consists of vitamin C, B6, B9, and potassium. Other than these, it contains antioxidants. Yellow and red onions contain more antioxidants compared to regular ones.

How to utilize dehydrated onions

Dehydrated onions can be a great substitute for the chopped onions in the kitchen. In this section, I am going to discuss how you can utilize dried onions flakes or dried minced onions in your everyday cooking life. A great way of using them is to use them directly to the food. You may use them in the food after cooking. For example, you may sprinkle some dehydrated onions on simmering soups to add some flavor. You may also use them during cooking as raw onions.

To get back the texture of the raw onion, you may also rehydrate the dried onions. To do this, take two parts of warm water and add one part of dried onions in it. Then keep it for 20 minutes and the onions will be rehydrated as if these are fresh like before. You can use these rehydrated onions for any purpose you want.

Ingredients and equipment for dried onions

The only ingredient to prepare dehydrated onion is the onion itself. Select some good-quality fresh onions for this process. You will find onions in different colors and sizes. Do not bother about it. Select whichever you like. But I would prefer the yellow ones as they contain more nutrients than the regular ones.

Ingredients	Click to check Prices
Fresh onions
Air fryer with dehydrator
Kitchen knife
Mandolin/ slicing blade
Kitchen goggle

Process of preparing dehydrated onions in the air fryer

• The first step of dehydrating onions is cutting them uniformly. Cut them into thin pieces before putting them on the racks of the air fryer. Use a mandolin or a slicing blade to get evenly sliced onions. You may use a kitchen gas to save your eyes from the gases that
• First, peel off the thin skins and then cut the onions in half. After that, cut each half into ¼ inch pieces. Do not bother about the shape of the slices but it is better to have uniform pieces.
• Spread the onion slices on the racks of the air fryer. Separate each small piece from the slices. It is not a big deal if the small pieces touch one another but do not arrange them in multiple stacks.
• Now it is time to set the time and temperature of the air fryer to prepare perfectly dried onions. Set the temperature at 125°F and dehydrate for 4 hours. If the water does not completely go away after this set time, then cook for another couple of hours. The time of dehydrating depends on the size of the slices and the type of air fryer.
• After the dehydration is complete, store them properly. If you want to prepare onion flakes, then crush the dried onions. Use an airtight jar for storing purposes.

Suggested air fryers for dehydrated onions

You may already know that all air fryers will not dehydrate onions. Your air fryer should attain a temperature of 125°F or less. Otherwise, the nutrition values and taste of the onions will get destroyed if you carry on the process at a higher temperature. You may get some good suggestions for an air fryer with a dehydrator. If you prepare dehydrated food too often, then it is important to have multiple racks or layers. Otherwise, you will fall short of capacity and end up with the limited output.

GoWise USA 17 QT model is a good recommendation for you if you don’t have your air fryer yet. It has 5 layer racks which is so important for an air fryer that dehydrates. The cooking time of up to 8 hours is also an important feature that you should look for. Read more about this model here.

You may also check the best dehydrators under 100 dollars if you want to dehydrate on large scale.

Bottom line

I think now you have a good idea about how to prepare dried onion flakes with your air fryer. As the air fryer is a very common kitchen appliance in recent times, I would recommend you purchasing a multi-functional one so that you do not need to invest in different appliances for different purposes. Dehydrating onions does not require a dedicated dehydrator. You can do it with the air fryer as per the process I have discussed above. I would request you to try it at home and let me know your experience.