With its tangy, zesty flavor and crunchy texture, pickled garlic can be a wonderful addition to your pantry. Whether you enjoy it as a snack, use it as a condiment, or incorporate it into your recipes, pickled garlic is a great way to enhance the taste and aroma of your favorite dishes.
Garlic is one of the few crops we grow enough of for an entire year. Which is surprising, considering how much garlic we eat. But, since garlic is easy to grow, we are usually pretty successful.
We usually use at a minimum several cloves a day to cook our meals and need enough to add to our favorite bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, and canned spaghetti sauce.
Since I’ve been making all manners of pickles, adding pickled garlic to the pantry just made sense, so I decided to give it a shot.
What is pickled garlic good for?
Much like the garlic left over in a jar of pickled green tomatoes or dilly beans, you can eat just plain pickled garlic.
You can also use the pickled cloves to add a bit of flavor in salad dressings, use it in any recipe that calls for garlic for a little acidic flavor, or to add something different to your charcuterie boards.
It’s fantastic added to some salsa, mixed into your favorite stir fries, or one of my favorites… chop it up and add to your hot dogs or burgers. My personal favorite is chopping it to add to my venison burgers before they’re grilled, though.
How much garlic do you need to make pickled garlic?
You’ll need approximately one cup of garlic, unpeeled, to fill up each half pint jar. This will vary widely as to how many bulbs of garlic you’ll need depending on the size of the actual cloves.
However, plan on using 5-7 ounces of peeled garlic for every pint you plan to preserve.
That said, this recipe will require about 2 pounds of peeled garlic or 2.5 pounds unpeeled, harvested.
Also plan to use about a quarter cup of brine for every half pint jar you can.
Since this recipe requires that you peel all of that garlic, it can be a bit time-consuming. But, I have a pretty easy way to do this provided by the complete book of canning. Blanch it just like you do when canning tomatoes… the peels come off so much easier.
Ingredients for Easy Pickled Garlic Recipe
Garlic – of course. Peeled cloves are necessary for this recipe. Again, you can blanch them and the peels come right off. However, you can also buy peeled garlic in bulk at the grocery store if that’s more your jam… but the best way is to use the freshest garlic you can get your hands on.
Vinegar – whether you use distilled white vinegar, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar is a personal choice. Just make sure it is 5% acidity.
Wine or Water – again, a personal choice. Using water will not affect the safety of the recipe, but many people suggest a white wine. I’ve even known people to use red wines with Italian spices and it taste amazing.
Salt – just enough without it being overpowering, salt is a necessary addition for flavor in this recipe.
Sugar – sugar helps calm down the briney flavor, again, without overwhelming the garlic flavor.
Seasonings of choice
For Dill Pickled Garlic Use:
- Pickling Spice
- Mustard Seed
- Black Peppercorns
- Fresh Dill
For Bread and Butter Garlic Use:
- Mustard Seeds
- Celery Seeds
- Turmeric
- Allspice Berries
- Cloves
- Red Pepper Flakes
For Spicy Flavor Pickled Garlic Use:
- Fresh Dill
- Mustard Seeds
- Celery Seed
- Turmeric
- Coriander
- Red Pepper Flakes
How to Make Pickled Garlic
Regardless of which type of pickled garlic you make, the steps are the same. In fact, you can make a jar of each if you’d like as you’re going to be adding the spices to each jar and the pickling brine is the same regardless.
Peel the garlic. The first step is to peel the garlic. The easiest way to do this is to blanch the individual cloves after removing them from the garlic bulbs.
Simply bring a pot of water to a boil and throw the fresh garlic cloves in a pot of boiling water for 20 to 40 seconds. Remove and immediately plunge the cloves into an ice bath. The skins will peel right off.
Prepare jars and canner. Wash jars and lids in hot soapy water and fill them and a boiling water bath canner with water. Bring everything to 180°F and keep it there while you prepare the brine. If you’re not canning, make sure you sterilize your jars before packing.
Prepare the brine. In a large pot combine vinegar, white wine or water, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Throw the garlic cloves into the brine and boil for one minute.
If you’re making quick pickles, you’ll simply stop here, pack the jars with the spices, garlic, and brine and allow everything to cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
Pack jars. Place spices and herbs of choice in the bottom of the jar. Using a slotted spoon, remove the garlic from the brine and pack into hot jars, leaving 1/2″ of headspace.
Pour brine over the garlic and spices, leaving a half inch of headspace. Remove any air bubbles and adjust for proper headspace if necessary.
Wipe the rim, center the lid, and finger tighten the screw band.
Process. If you’re canning, you’ll place the jars in the waiting boiling water canner ensuring the tops of the jars are covered by at least 1″ of water.
Place the lid on the canner and bring everything to a rolling boil. Process half-pint jars for 10 minutes adjusting processing time for altitude if necessary.
Turn off the heat and remove the lid from the canner after processing. Allow the jars to sit for 5 minutes before removing to a towel-lined counter.
Leave the jars undisturbed for 12-24 hours before checking for proper seals. Remove screw bands and store properly sealed jars in a cool, dark place for up to 18 months.
Wait… why is my garlic turning blue?
Any time garlic is exposed to an acidic ingredient such as vinegar for a long time, it can take on a blue color or green color.
Rest assured, though, your garlic is still safe. Much like when making fermented honey garlic, it takes on a chemical reaction. The acidic ingredients cause the cloves of garlic to develop polypyrroles which cause it to appear blue or green.
Despite the color change, it is still safe to consume.
Other Pickling Recipes to Try:
If you try this pickled garlic recipe, I’d love to hear about it in the comments! Also, feel free to leave me a recipe review on the recipe card below and tag me on instagram @therusticelk!
Pickled Garlic
Pickled garlic is a fantastic way to preserve garlic for later use. Briney and delicious, it's great on its own or as an addition to virtually any recipe that calls for garlic.
Ingredients
Pickled garlic
- 12 Large Heads of Garlic, Peeled and Separated
- 2 1/2 Cups White Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Canning Salt
- 1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 1 Cup White Wine (can sub water)
Spicy Pickled Garlic (to each jar add)
- 1 Head Fresh Dill
- 1/2 tsp Mustard Seed
- 1/4 tsp Celery Seed
- 1/8 tsp Turmeric
- 1/8 tsp Coriander
- 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Basic Dill Pickled Garlic to each jar add
- 1 head of Fresh Dill
- 1/4 tsp Pickling Spice
- 1/4 tsp Mustard Seed
- 1/4 tsp Black Peppercorns
Bread and Butter Pickled Garlic
- 1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1/8 tsp Celery Seeds
- 1/8 tsp Ground Turmeric
- 2 Allspice Berries
- 1 Whole Clove
- 1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions
- Peel garlic cloves by placing them in a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds and then immediately plunging them into an ice bath. The skins will slip right off.
- Prepare canner, jars and lids.
- Make basic brine by combining vinegar, wine (or water), salt, and sugar in a large pot and bringing it to a boil over medium-high heat. Place the peeled cloves in the pot of boiling brine and boil for one minute. Note; if making quick pickles simply add spices, garlic, and brine to jars and allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating.
- In each jar place the spices of choice in the bottom, then using a slotted spoon remove the garlic from the brine and pack into the jars over the spices, leaving 1/2" of headspace.
- Pour the brine over the top of the garlic and spices, leaving 1/2" of headspace. Remove any air bubbles, adjusting for headspace if necessary. Center the lids and finger tighten the screw bands.
- Place the packed jars into the waiting boiling water canner ensuring the tops of the jars are covered by at least 1" of water.
- Place the lid on the canner and bring to a boil over high heat. Process jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude if necessary.
Notes
Altitude adjustments:
0-1,000 ft 10 Minutes
1,001-3,000 ft 15 Minutes
3,001-6,000 ft 20 Minutes
6,001ft + 25 Minutes
Any type of vinegar can be used in this recipe as long as it is 5% acidity.
White wine, red wine, fruit juice, or water can be used with the vinegar to make this brine.
Any combination of spices can be used to flavor your garlic different ways and the recipe will remain safe. Since you are making the brine and adding the spices to each individual jar feel free to make more than one type, the processing time will remain the same.