WATCH: Why you should never throw your garlic and onion peel away

From adding a strong aroma to delicacies to enhancing the healthy amount of meals, onion, and garlic are a lot more than just taste enhancers. Picture: Pexels/Karolina Grabowska

From adding a strong aroma to delicacies to enhancing the healthy amount of meals, onion, and garlic are a lot more than just taste enhancers. Picture: Pexels/Karolina Grabowska

Published Feb 16, 2024

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Garlic and onion are a staple in many of our favourite dishes but how often do you toss the outer skin away after peeling?

From adding a strong aroma to delicacies to enhancing the healthy meals, onion and garlic are a lot more than just taste enhancers.

Both garlic and onion are packed with the goodness of nutrients such as minerals, vitamins A, C, E and antioxidants.

In fact, onion peels are a rich source of flavonoids known as Quercetin, a potent antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties.

And did you know that you can turn the peels into seasoning?

According to social media star Joe Clark, garlic peels can be used to make no-waste power.

Sharing the zero-waste cooking hack on Instagram, Clark said: “There are so many quick tips and tricks you can use to make more food from your food!”

In the viral video, we see him removing the garlic skin and placing it in a bowl. Then, he runs the peels through the water to clean them. Clark then dries them with a cloth and puts them in an oven tray and cooks them until they are a bit dry.

Once they are crispy, you can either crush them with a pestle and mortar or blend them into a fine powder. Store this powder in a container, and your seasoning is ready.

This home-made garlic powder can be sprinkled on top of foods as a seasoning, added to water as a broth, or mixed into fresh dough while making home-made bread.

Joe added: "If you are feeling fancy, you can even add some table salt and even chilli powder too. This seasoning is amazing, and my best secret tip is to use it baked into your bread dough, for the most amazing home-made secret garlic bread!"

The video has gone viral, amassing millions of views.

One user wrote: “My mum has done this my whole life. I honestly figured it was normal.”

A second user wrote: “What a marvellous idea.”

Third commented: “Oh that is so cool! I just saw a video of someone doing this with unions also! Thanks for sharing.”