What’s so great about chive spice?

Chive spice is one of those flavor things that you don’t know…..until you know. It’s a powerful spice that will make store bought onion powder seem like chalk dust. Chives grow sooooo fast and could easily be grown indoors or outdoors. We grow them outside and they come back every spring. We also grow them in the greenhouse and we can pick them all year long. Onion powder is a spice called for in so many dishes. Also, many times do you have a recipe that requires chopping up and sautéing onions – and perhaps you just don’t have the time, but you need that onion kick of flavor in a pinch? If you are unsure of what the flavor might be, think about the baked potato with chives – if you like this – you’ll be a fan of chive spice. Is it different than onion powder? Absolutely. It’s definitely more of an herb flavor. I admit it is NOT for everyone. Literally, a pinch of chive spice will do amazing things for your cooking. So let’s get started.

Chives grown in a garden for chive spice

Equipment

There are three main tools you need for creating chive spice: a food processor, spice grinder, and a dehydrator – HOWEVER – you can choose to revise this recipe to meet your own needs. For example, perhaps you are okay with chopped, dried chives? You could easily create chopped dried chives with a knife and an oven. However, if you do decide to move forward with the recipe as written below, I recommend the following equipment: Cuisinart Food Processor, Cuisinart SG-10 Spice Grinder, and the COSORI Food Hydrator. We have all three of these and they have served us well in so many cooking adventures and ALL THINGS related to any spice creation.

Ingredients

Fresh Chives

Directions

Pick the chives by cutting at the base. It is amazing how fast they will grow back! Typically our chives grow back in two weeks. It’s a lovely, vicious cycle – the more you cut, the more you have!

Wash them and pat them dry with paper towels. The more moisture, the longer it will take to complete the process – so the dryer the chives, the better!

Use a food processor to chop them up before putting them in the dehydrator. We process our chives until it almost looks like dough. The more “whole” the herb, the longer it will take to dehydrate. So, another way to think of it is…the more chopped and exposed to air…the faster it will dry. Your chives should be malleable, as though you could roll them into chive balls, like cookie dough.

Once chopped, almost to a thin paste or dough, spread it out on parchment paper on the dehydrator trays that come with your dehydrator (ours has six). Spread the chives in thin layers, therefore allowing it to dry more rapidly.

Place trays in the dehydrator and dehydrate at 105 degrees, however, I’ve seen temperatures between 100 and 125, so your temperature may vary based on your climate, dehydrator and speed.

We dehydrate our chives for approximately six hours. Keep an eye on the chives and you can determine when to pull them out based on how brittle and crumbly they appear. When they crumble at your touch they should be ready.

Next, grind them in a spice grinder until they are a powder and store in an air tight container. If they are still damp, they won’t grind into a powder – you will quickly learn how to gauge the amount of time needed for your chives in your dehydrator.

Notes:

You definitely can create chive spice via your oven. The goal would be to follow all the directions above regarding washing, rinsing, drying and chopping (as finely as you choose) and then placing in the oven at a low temperature. If your oven will go as low as 105 degrees go for it. If not, you’ll have to gauge how long it will take based on your oven’s temperature options.

How do I use chive spice? I use it in omelets, quiche, anything potato related such as potato salad, baked potatoes and more. I use it in so many different dips. It’s fabulous in soups as well as marinades for fish, beef, chicken and more.

Chive Spice

Chive spice is one of those flavor things that you don't know…..until you know. It's a powerful spice that will make onion powder seem like chalk dust. Chives grow sooooo fast and can easily be grown indoors or outdoors. We grow them outside and they come back every spring. We also grow them in the greenhouse and we can pick them all year long. Onion powder is a spice called for in so many dishes. Also, many times you have a recipe that requires chopping up and sautéing onions – and perhaps you just don't have the time, but you need that onion kick of flavor in a pinch? Literally, a pinch of chive spice will do amazing things for your cooking. So let's get started.

Print Recipe

Equipment

There are three main tools you need for creating chive spice: a food processor, spice grinder, and a dehydrator – HOWEVER – you can choose to revise this recipe to meet your own needs. For example, perhaps you are okay with just chopped, dried chives? You could easily create chopped dried chives with a knife and an oven. However, if you do decide to move forward with the recipe as written below, I recommend the following equipment: Cuisinart Food Processor, Cuisinart SG-10 Spice Grinder, and the COSORI Food Hydrator. We have all three of these and they have served us well in so many cooking adventures and ALL THINGS related to any spice creation.

Ingredients

Fresh Chives

Instructions

Pick the chives by cutting at the base. It is amazing how fast they will grow back! Typically our chives grow back in two weeks. It’s a lovely, vicious cycle – the more you cut, the more you have!
Wash them and pat them dry with paper towels. The more moisture, the longer it will take to complete the process – so the dryer the chives, the better!
Use a food processor to chop them up before putting them in the dehydrator. We process our chives until it almost looks like dough. The more "whole" the herb, the longer it will take to dehydrate. So, another way to think of it, the more chopped and exposed to air, the faster it will dry. Your chives should be malleable, as though you could roll them into chive balls, like cookie dough.
When it is finely chopped, almost to a thin paste or dough, you will spread it out on parchment paper on the dehydrator trays that come with your dehydrator (ours has six). The chives should be spread in thin layers, therefore allowing it to dry more rapidly.
Place trays in the dehydrator and dehydrate at 105 degrees, however, I’ve seen temperatures between 100 and 125, so your temperature may vary based on your climate, dehydrator and speed.
We dehydrate our chives for approximately six hours. Keep an eye on the chives and you can determine when to pull them out based on how brittle and crumbly they appear. When they crumble at your touch they should be ready.
Next, grind them in a spice grinder until they are a powder and store in an air tight container. If they are still damp, they won’t grind into a powder – you will quickly learn how to gauge the amount of time needed for your chives in your dehydrator.

Notes

If you decide to create chive spice via your oven, the goal would be to follow all the directions above regarding washing, rinsing, drying and chopping (as finely as you choose) and then placing in the oven at a low temperature. If your oven will go as low as 105 degrees go for it. If not, you’ll have to gauge how long it will take based on your oven’s temperature options. It’s absolutely possible to do, it does however mean that your oven will be engaged for a bit of time – so prepare ahead for that!