Onion Powder Substitutes: How Much Fresh, Dried or Salted Onion to Use

Out of onion powder? The right swap comes down to water. USDA lists onion powder at 5.39 g of water per 100 g, against 89.1 g in raw onion.¹² For a dry rub or spice blend, grind up some dried minced onion. For a soup, sauce or meatloaf, fresh onion works fine, as long as you allow for its water. And onion salt can step in too, if you take some salt out of the recipe.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of these labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
• Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

The onion equivalents here come from two university extension charts, and they disagree with each other by about threefold. They’re kitchen rules of thumb, not flavor measurements.

How much fresh onion equals onion powder

Both extension services publish the swap, and they don’t agree:

The chopped-onion figures make the gap obvious. NDSU sets 1/4 cup of chopped onion against 1 teaspoon of powder; NMSU sets the same 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) against 1 tablespoon. Per teaspoon of powder, that’s 1/4 cup of chopped onion by NDSU’s chart and about 1 1/3 tablespoons by NMSU’s.

If onion powder is a dry seasoning

Rubs, seasoning blends, seasoned flour and popcorn need onion that’s dry and spreads evenly. Fresh onion can’t do that.

1. Dried minced onion, ground

Dried minced onion (NMSU calls it instant minced onion) is dried onion in small pieces.⁴ Grind it in a spice grinder or mortar for a rub. Whole pieces are fine in a meatloaf or a dip that’s going to sit. Dried onion flakes grind up the same way.

Ratio (Disputed): The two extension charts set dried minced onion against fresh onion, not against powder, but each one also lists powder, so each implies a swap:

Start with 2 teaspoons of dried minced onion per teaspoon of powder, the lower figure, and add more after tasting. Ground minced onion is coarser than powder, so it won’t disappear quite as completely into a smooth sauce.

2. Granulated onion

Ratio (Method): Start with the same amount and taste.

3. Onion salt, in place of some of the salt

Onion salt is salt blended with dried onion. McCormick’s lists salt first, then onion, an anticaking agent and extractives of onion, and the label doesn’t give proportions.⁵

Onion (Attributed): NDSU lists 1 1/3 teaspoons of onion salt and 1 teaspoon of onion powder as equal to the same small onion,³ so 1 1/3 teaspoons of onion salt replaces 1 teaspoon of powder.

Salt (Computed): McCormick Onion Salt carries 440 mg of sodium per 1/4 teaspoon;⁵ Morton Iodized Table Salt carries 590 mg.⁶ So 1 1/3 teaspoons of that onion salt adds about 2,350 mg of sodium, almost exactly the 2,360 mg in 1 teaspoon of Morton table salt. Take 1 teaspoon of salt out of the recipe. If the recipe doesn’t have that much to remove, use less onion salt and live with a milder onion flavor. These figures only hold for those two products. For another brand, swap in its sodium per 1/4 teaspoon for the 440.

If onion powder is flavoring something wet

In soups, stews, sauces, braises and meatloaf, fresh onion is the obvious swap, and it brings a fresher, sharper onion taste. Cooks notice that powder tastes rounder and less sharp.

Fresh onion, grated or finely chopped

Ratio (Disputed): See the table above. Per teaspoon of powder, NMSU’s chart gives about 1 1/3 tablespoons of chopped onion and NDSU’s gives 1/4 cup. Start with NMSU’s smaller amount, cook it in with the other aromatics, taste, and add more, up to NDSU’s figure, if the dish needs it. Grating the onion on a box grater helps it vanish into a sauce or meatloaf.

Water (Computed): A small onion weighs 70 g in USDA’s data, and raw onion is 89.1 percent water,² so one small onion carries about 62 g of water, a little over 1/4 cup. In a dry mix like a meatloaf binder or a dip, you’ll notice that. Cook the onion down first, or cut back another liquid.

Onion juice

Ratio (Method): Onion juice (grated onion squeezed through a cloth, or bottled) carries the flavor without the texture. Add it a teaspoon at a time to soups, dressings and marinades, and expect it to add liquid.

What doesn’t work as well

• Celery seed. It sometimes gets suggested for onion’s savory note. But it smells like celery, and we found no source describing it as onion-like.
• Any powder in a hot, dry pan. Ground spices don’t do well under intense heat and can turn bitter,⁷ and that goes for onion powder and its dried substitutes alike. Add them with liquid, or once the fat has other ingredients in it.

What isn’t known

• NDSU’s and NMSU’s onion equivalents differ by about threefold, and neither says how it got its figure.

Related

• Onion powder and onion powder vs. onion
• Onion salt, onion salt vs. onion powder and onion salt substitutes
• Garlic powder substitutes and garlic powder
• Chives and French onion soup spices

Footnotes

1. Spices, onion powder (FDC 171327), USDA FoodData Central. fdc.nal.usda.gov · Regulator ↩

2. Onions, raw (FDC 170000), USDA FoodData Central. fdc.nal.usda.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩²

3. Julie Garden-Robinson, Ingredient Substitutions (FN198), NDSU Extension, 2018. ksre.ksu.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. In a Pinch Ingredient Substitution (E-131), NMSU Cooperative Extension, 2016. pubs.nmsu.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. McCormick Onion Salt, label ingredients and Nutrition Facts as listed by Stop & Shop. stopandshop.com · Merchant ↩ ↩²

6. Morton Iodized Table Salt, Nutrition Facts, Morton Salt. mortonsalt.com · Merchant ↩

7. Marco Rossi, How To Improvise Instant Pot Seasoning Without Burning Your Spices, Tasting Table, 2023. tastingtable.com · Publication ↩