PureRoots onion powder is peeled onion, dried and milled fine. That is the entire ingredients list. No salt, no starch, no anti-caking agent — the three things almost every other onion powder on the shelf is cut with.

Which matters more than it sounds. Fillers are added to stop caking, and they can be a third of what you are paying for. Without them this powder is stronger by the spoon, so you use less of it and it lasts longer than the weight suggests.

Machine-dried, not sun-dried

Onion is high in sugar and high in water, which makes it the worst possible candidate for open-air drying. Left in the sun it caramelises unevenly, browns in patches, and ferments where slices overlap and stay damp.

Controlled drying takes the water out at a steady rate and stops before the sugars colour. What you get is a pale, even powder that smells of raw onion rather than fried onion — which is what you want, because the frying happens in your pan.

How to use onion powder

In gravies and masalas. One teaspoon stands in for one small onion. No chopping, no browning, no tears.
Bloomed in hot oil. Thirty seconds at the start of a dish builds a base in the time it takes to open the fridge.
In dry rubs and marinades. Sticks to meat and paneer in a way chopped onion never does.
In soups, dips and dressings. Onion flavour without pieces of onion, which matters in anything smooth.

Taste and texture

Sweet and pungent, recognisably raw onion rather than the toasted note of fried onion paste. Free-flowing and fine. Because there is no anti-caking agent, it is denser in the spoon than diluted powders — halve what a recipe asks for the first time.

Ingredients and storage

Ingredients: 100% dried onion.

Storage: Airtight, cool, dry. This is the one most prone to clumping in humidity — keep it away from the stove and never shake it over a steaming pan.

Best before: 12 months from packing.