Savvy woman’s hack to avoid paying for pricey seasoning jars

Jars of seasonings can be a pricey addition to your shopping list.

Most people are willing to put up with the costs to ensure their meals have flavour. However, there could be a cheaper way to add seasonings to your food at home.

A woman, who posts online at @northwestleftist, claimed one of her top money-saving tips is to make her own onion powder. The seasoning is a dehydrated, ground spice made from onions.

It has a pungent, savory aroma and adds depth to various dishes. By providing a concentrated flavour without the moisture or bulk of fresh onions, it’s an efficient seasoning for dry rubs, condiments, soups, and marinades.

Small jars of the powder cost around £1.10 at Sainsbury’s, which may seem cheap. But if you are buying multiple seasonings regularly, it all adds up. So, the woman explained the simple to make it yourself if you already buy fresh onions anyway.

The method not only saves her money, it also saves good ingredients from going to waste. In the video, which has gained more than 53,000 likes, she explained: “Anytime I cook anything with onion, I save the skins to make like a homemade onion salt seasoning bag.”

She was seen packing onion skins in the bag until it was full before showing fans how she does it. She added: “I will save all of the dry, gross pieces that you don’t want to use in your meal. Save every single little scrap, and spread it all out evenly.

“Don’t forget to take off the f****g plastic. You don’t want to end up blending that in your seasoning, because that will be gross. Once you have it all laid out, you’re going to throw it in the oven on a low heat for a really long time.”

Once she pulled them out, she explained that she left them in the oven for five hours to make sure they were “bone dry”. When you’re certain there’s no moisture left, blend the pieces into a fine powder.

Finally, you can add them to your own jar to use with your home cooking. The woman also noted that the same can be done with garlic to make garlic salt.

She added: “Most people buy onion and garlic seasoning anyways, so you don’t need to do that. I dump some salt in there as well. After it’s blended for a while, it becomes this really fine powder. That’s your seasoning.

“I use it on everything I use it to season eggs. I use it in cooking. Keep food out of the garbage. Reuse your scraps. Make your own seasoning salt.

TikTok users were left stunned by the clip, with many praising her for sharing her life hack. One user said: “So freaking smart!!!!”

Another added: “I love this!!! I give all my food scraps to my chickens but they don’t eat onions or garlic, so it’s the only food waste I have! So glad I have a way to use it now!!!” Meanwhile, a third argued: “5 hours?! I’ll just buy seasoning.”