Homemade Paprika in 3 Easy Steps

You can make your own homemade paprika in three easy steps. Do not worry, the dehydrator and the spice grinder do most of the work.

Did you know that Paprika is made from finely ground dried sweet bell peppers? Honestly, I never knew that dried sweet bell peppers make paprika. That really was a “you learn something new everyday” moment for me. Anyhow, the recipe creator and creative cook were activated. I HAD to make my own paprika.

That got me seriously thinking about the white cardboard box of wrinkly red bell peppers that have certainly seen way better days on the kitchen island.

After eating some raw on sandwiches, blending a few with tomatoes for tomato sauce, throwing some in a stir-fry, and topping some pizzas with some. I was still left with a half box of very very ripe red bell peppers. That was delicious and very sweet, in case you were wondering. The original idea of homemade paprika came to the front of my mind again.

 After finally putting an end to my procrastinating. I made my first jar of homemade paprika, which came together after essentially three (3) easy-to-do steps. 

What you will need:

Dehydrated Red Bell Peppers

Coffee Grinder – or a food processor

Small Spoon

Small Fine Strainer

Glass Jar (for storing)

First Step

First, sliced pieces of red bell pepper went into the dehydrator. You can slice them into thin pieces similar to the size you would put on a pizza. The rule of thumb is that the thinner the pieces are, the less time it would take to dehydrate. While thicker pieces will take longer to dehydrate.

I used a 5-tray dehydrator from Commerical Chef. I left these to dehydrate at degrees for a few days. Until they are super hard, dry, and crispy upon breaking. I stored the dehydrated red bell pepper in a recycled glass pasta sauce jar.

Check out my lifestyle post, Sustainable Storage Idea – Pasta Sauce Jars, where you find information on reusing and recycling old glass pasta sauce jars. If you need ideas on what to store in these recycled jars, then check out my other lifestyle blog post – Pantry organizing – 20 Items To Store In Reused Pasta Sauce Jars

Second Step

The second step was to grind up the dehydrated pieces of red bell pepper. I used a Hamilton Beach Coffee Grinder for this step of the process. The same grinder I used to make homemade Oat Flour. I highly recommend breaking up the dehydrated red bell peppers into small pieces, so that it can be easier for the machine to grind up. 

Continue the process of breaking up the dehydrated red bell peppers and grinding them up in your coffee grinder. You can empty your homemade paprika into a bowl. We still have one more step to complete before we are done,

Third Step

The third step was to strain out the solid bits of dehydrated red bell peppers that didn`t quite grind up finely into a powder. To do so I used a small metal strainer to filter out all the large solid bits. Do not throw out those larger bits of dehydrated red bell pepper, as I almost did. They are useful for adding seasoning and a slight texture to stir-fries, beans, or rice.  

This step is quite easy to do. Though, I recommend that you do this in small batches.

Once you have a fine smooth powder, you can store your paprika into a glass jar. Depending on how much you end up with you can reuse a recycled glass pasta sauce jar or a small glass mason jar.

It is most important to note that your homemade paprika will clump together in the jar because we are not using any anti-caking agents. Yes, the one you find in the ingredient list on some salt containers and in some ground spice blender.

That is why I use Sea Salt from brands without artificial anti-caking agents such as Morton. Leaving the container open for a few hours a day is a great way for any leftover moister to escape. 

Let me know in the comments if you would give this recipe I try. This is a great way to use up any old and wrinkly ripe red bell peppers. The riper the bell pepper is, the sweeter your paprika will be. 

If you do try this recipe then please consider rating this recipe. It helps me out so much. Feel free to share this recipe with your family and friends, they might have a “you learn something new everyday moment” like me. 🙂 Thank you so much. Until the next post, keep growing.

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