Does Anyone Use Onion Powder
 

I want to make a big batch of chili since it's starting to get cold. I was going to share with my niece and nephew but remembered that they won't eat chili with onions or green peppers. I figure I could cut the green peppers in chunks and they could remove them, but was wondering if onion powder would work in place of the onions.

Sometimes kids are just plain weird.

I use onion powder in a lot of dishes. I don't like chunks of onion either. As for the pepper, they might not like the flavor. I know my son doesn't . Picky eaters are hard to cook for sometimes.

I use onion powder in a lot of recipes. However, if you are using chili peppers in the chili do you really need the green peppers? I never put them in mine. The chili flavor overrides the green pepper flavor anyway.

My son hates onions but onion powder is okay. It's the texture of onions, he dislikes. It would be safer to ask your niece and nephew; some people have unpleasant digestive reactions, to certain foods.

Onion powder will be perfect.

I use both onion powder and onions. With kids they've had lots of friends who wouldn't eat onions. I grate them and then put them in what ever I'm making and they don't even know it. I also put it in mac and potato salad where it isn't cooked and they don't know.

I use onion powder. Don't care for green peppers-as I was made to eat them as a kid. I make chili without them, and don't have any complaints.

i used it all the time when my kids were home. as long as they didn't see onions(or mushrooms-never did find a way to hide those) they were fine.

My sister uses onion powder in her cooking "experiments".

She doesn't care for the texture of cook or raw onions. And I ruined tomatoes for her. When we were kids I would grab a tomato and the salt shaker and go sit on the back steps. I ate the tomato like an apple. My sister tried it and the seeds squirted all over her and she thought it was gross.

But she will eat tomatoes in sauces if its pureed or cooked down quite a bit.

My husband and I love onions. He likes a nice slice of fresh red onion alongside his pinto beans. I will take nice slices of onion and brown them with a little cooking spray in a frying pan and put it on top of a hamburger patty and a thin slice of melted cheddar. YUMMY!!

A few of the grand-kids would faint at the sight of a veggie within 5 feet of them....lol
So I started using a chopper to finely chop veggies for sauces. To this day they had no clue their favorite chili had peppers and onions in it. Or my sauce for lasagna had zucchini and yellow squash in it.

When we were growing up we ate what was on the table.....veggies and all... Lucky for us Dad didn't like eggplant.
He did have a rule we were to at least give new foods an honest try. If we didn't like it we didn't have to eat it.

For years I blended the onion with some of the sauce in a blender and then poured it into the chile, when the girls went off to college and started cooking for themselves they called me up. "Mom, the sauce does not taste the same." When I told them to add the onion they about died. I laughed and laughed. They finally forgave me and they put onion in all their sauces.

you might just dice up some onion, peppers, etc and put them on the table.

I also choose to use a food chopper to chop onions so fine I can even hide them from myself. I like the flavor but not the texture. As for bell pepper, I don't even want a little bit...its flavor permeates anything else. Yuck.

My husband hated onions when we married. I puree them in blender with a little water....problem solved!

I make my own onion powder & mushroom powder - I dehydrate onions, mushrooms, & many other things. I just powder some of them in the blender. I think the flavor is much better, & none of the preservatives found in commercial products. Sometimes, instead of onion poder you can use onion juice - just dice an onion, then use a garlic press to extract the juice - that works really well, too.

hugs
Shirley in Indiana

I use onion granules because that is what my store has and if the taste of the peppers is not the problem puree the peppers with what ever liquid you use in .the recipe.

My kids claimed they didn't like onions either..let alone bell peppers. I love both. Answer: I put onions and bell peppers in my food processor and they never knew either was in there but still had a great taste. Oh and yes I do use onion powder too.

I agree, sometimes kids are just weird. I use onion & garlic powder. They add flavor to the food. When I use onions I chop it real fine and once cook in whatever food it dissolve you never know it's in there unless you have acid reflux to onions.

I use onion powder all the time, as far as the green pepper, sometimes I substitute a red pepper or use my green or red peppers (dried) from penzseys. I also have a friend who doesn't like carrots or celery, so I saute them, then put them in the food processor then add to recipe. She swears I really don't put those in things, but suprise I really do, you just don't eat chuncks of them. good luck

Red, Yellow and Orange peppers are not as strong tasting as the green ones. I use those instead of the green ones even with stuffed peppers.

Onion powder works great. I have a grandson that won't eat onions either, but I can put all the onion powder I want in dishes and he will eat them. As for green peppers, I dehydrate them and run them through the blender and make a powder out of them and use them as you would in any other dish that someone doesn't like chunks in. Good luck.

A word about using onion powder....learned from Alton Brown of the food channel. He is not only a chef but a food scientist so he knows alot about the properties of ingredients.
When using onion or garlic powder they must be reconstituted for the flavors to be enhanced. I have tried his method and now use much less powder when i do.
If you add the powder to a sauce the sauce and any fat it contains just coats the powder and you need to use a lot.
If you just take the powder, add a little water and make it into first a paste then a slurry and add it to your sauce it becomes much more powerful, hence you need to use less.....give it a try...it works.

Thanks for the tidbit of info. I will remember this next time I have to use garlic powder as a substitute in something.

Here is what I have done since my kids were young and wouldn't eat either onions, peppers or cooked carrots that they could see: I put them each raw into my food processor and mince finely.. or puree. Then I put into a gallon freezer bag and flatten and freeze. Then I can just break off the size piece of each I need for a certain recipe and it thaws quickly because it's thin. I use these in all kinds of things including chili, meatballs and meatloaf, soups, casseroles, etc. They add a lot of flavor and are not there for the kids to see.
When I decide what I am going to make, I break off the veggie chunks and set them out to thaw. If it's last minute, a short time in the microwave thaws them even quicker.

Use onion powder and not the green peppers. Or put them in just yours when you divide the chili. Just do a quick saute and you are ready to go.

I used to do that to my kids all the time. They swore they didn't like onions, so I would sub onion powder when possible. They were never the wiser! :)

I would put the onions & green pepper in a blender and make juice out of them. What they don't see they won't object...

That is a great idea. Would be really handy for us working gals that come in late and have to fix dinner. My son, who is what you might call a gourmet cook, told me he makes stock from scratch, then freezes it in an ice tray. When ever he needs stock he just pops out however many cubes he needs. With your recipe and his, you have a start to a real tasty dinner.

I use the mini food processor to pulverize onions when I'm cooking for my son. He likes the flavor, but not the pieces. My daughter used dried chopped onions for the same reason. She says the kids never notice those. I'm not sure I could get enough onion flavor for me with onion powder, plus I prefer fresh.

For t he green peppers, I'd cook a little dish on the side to add to mine. Either you like green peppers or you don't.

So many options! I'll let you know how it turns out. :thumbup:

My DH doesn't like the crunch that onions or green peppers add to a dish so long ago I started using onion powder and to still have the flavor of green pepper I puree it and add as part of the liquids in the recipe.

Just a note of caution.

There are some of us with food sensitivity/intolerance and allergies. I was at an event today with a lady who is deathly allergic to strawberries. There was fruit punch, but no one knew if it had strawberries in it. She drank water.

A friend's DD has Crones and Colitis. Onions, garlic, leeks etc will put her in the hospital.

The nightshade family of plants can be highly allergic for some (Tomatoes, peppers, potatoes). Picking them out of the pot is not good enough.

I fully understand that many are either picky eaters or fussy about the texture of their food, but for some of us a hidden ingredient is dangerous, even deadly.

I may not get sick on the spot if I have dairy or wheat, but I will suffer for at least 2 weeks, miss work and generally be miserable.

I'm with you Tothill...even though some might think we are just "picky" eaters, many food sensitivities can cause a lot of trouble for some of us!

My husband truly dislikes onions and garlic. I sort of slide a few teaspoons or shakes of either powdered one into what I am cooking and he never notices. I also sometimes puree veggies to put in recipes for those that don't like them. I came from a big family and we ate what was put in front of us or we would starve. Said to say that never happened and I have the figure to prove it. Ha! Happy Cooking!