Freeze-Drying Purple Onions

One of the coolest things about having a Harvest Right freeze-dryer is being able to freeze-dry things I cannot buy commercially. Yes, you can buy freeze-dried onions. You can get white and even green onions.

But purple? (We could be pedantic and say red I suppose, but these were truly purple in color, not the paler red, like Spanish ones. It’s all in the variety you buy or grow!) You just won’t find these easy to buy commercially freeze-dried. Color really pops flavor, at least for me. I much prefer a bold bowl/bag of food over beige/white and every bit of color you add to me the better it’s going to taste.

Freeze-drying onions isn’t a hard job, but of course you will cry your eyes out doing it. But I find once I start crying, if I go wash my face and eyes with cold water, dry my face and blow my nose, then I quit crying. Your mileage might vary. Then I go wash up again and get back to work. I wear gloves so my hands don’t stink for days as well.

Why Do It Yourself?

• The option of different colors and varieties.
• Freshness. These have all the flavor and aroma that you’ll not get commercially.
• Being able to get the size of onions you’d like for your recipes.
• They are lightweight once dried.
• Having one of a kind ingredients for the most bougie meals.

To Process:

When it’s off season and we don’t have onions we grew ourselves, I go shopping. I buy the onions in 10 to 25 pound bags. Restaurant supply stores are a great source and can be 2-3 times cheaper than the store.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Use the biggest sheet you have that fits in your freezer.

Cut the ends off the onions, halve each onion and pull off the top layer or so of the peel and discard. Then chop up.

Spread the cut onions into a thick layer on the sheet. Once full, cover with plastic wrap and set in the freezer till fully frozen. Since I work in batches, I then transfer them to gallon zip top freezer bags, seal out the air and return to the freezer and do another tray. I usually process about 3-4 trays worth in total to run a batch in the freeze-dryer.

I find you will need about 10 pounds onions before trimming to do a run in a large size freeze-dryer. I usually take about 1 gallon freezer bag per freeze-dryer tray.

Yes, it will stink bad when you do the first freeze in your freezer. Maybe not the time to have a delicate cheesecake in the freezer…..but once frozen and bagged up the smell drops quickly.

When ready to freeze-dry, put out your freeze-dryer trays and spread them on the trays, packing them in tightly.

Have your freeze-dryer ready and chilled (we turn our machine on about 45 minutes before time). Place in the machine, seal the door and set the machine to run. Harvest Right runs on an automatic system.

When the machine’s cycle is done, open up and check every tray. The onions should be dry, airy and crispy. You want to be able to break in half with a snap. If not ready you can add a few more hours to get there.

Process quickly into storage containers, be it glass mason jars for long-term storage where you can see it, or in mylar bags. Add in an oxygen absorber, and a desiccant packet if you want, and seal it up. How you seal is up to you! We use an Avid Armor sealer personally, for the longest seal you can get. See here to see the various methods of sealing.

I use glass mason jars as I will use these onions in both trail meals and at home cooking.

I also had a tray of green bell peppers. Can you say trail fajiatas?

FTC Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links that give us commissions on products purchased. These items are what we used above.

~Sarah