Easy Pickled Garlic Recipe

Have you ever had pickled garlic? Its strong and fragrant flavour can add accents and finishes to a lot of different dishes! It’s always nice to have a jar of pickled garlic in the fridge because there are more occasions where you can use it than you could imagine! Furthermore, pickled garlic is healthy, quick, and easy to make! Let’s jump right with this pickled garlic recipe. 

Ingredients for this Pickled Garlic Recipe: 

• Garlic
• White wine vinegar
• Water
• Mustard Seeds
• Chilli 
• Salt
• Sugar

Pickled Garlic Recipe: 

Before making pickled garlic, we must first decide on something: Either we can blanch the garlic or leave it raw. It will lead to quite different results if you blanch it or not! 

If you blanch the garlic, its flavour will be smoother and less punchy. This might be desirable if you want a softer and more fragrant garlic which adds flavour without overpowering the dish. Also, blanching the garlic helps preserve its white colour. If you don’t blanch the garlic, the flavour will be more intense, and the garlic will have a stronger punch. Additionally, there is a good chance that the garlic will change its colour during the pickling process. The acidic liquid can bring out blue to greenish tones in the garlic due to its enzymes reacting with the pickling liquid. Even though this is not harmful in any way, the colour can be irritating. Still, this might even be a desirable side effect if you intend to use it as a topping for other dishes. The blue can certainly look interesting! 

How to Pickle Garlic:

In any case, we want to peel our garlic cloves. If you intend to leave the garlic raw, you can skip the first part of the pickled garlic recipe. 

To blanch the garlic, you need to have a pot of boiling water on your stove and a bowl of ice water nearby. Add your peeled garlic cloves to the water, and let them simmer for two to three minutes. Afterwards, transfer the garlic to the ice water, and let it cool. 

Add equal amounts of white wine and white vinegar to your pot, and heat the two ingredients to a boil. Next, dissolve the salt and sugar in the boiling liquid.

If you want to make your pickled garlic spicey, add the chilli. Slice your chilli into equal slices. I am leaving the seeds in for an extra kick!

Add the garlic cloves, mustard seeds, and chilli into your jar of choice. Fill the jar with the pickling liquid so that the garlic cloves are submerged in the liquid. Let everything cool to room temperature, seal the jar, and store it in the fridge. Let the garlic pickle for at least five hours, but preferably overnight before consuming.

Inspirations for Pickled Garlic Recipes: 

• It is a fantastic additions to avocado toasts (Like with this avocado toast with olive oil, za’atar, pickles and mustard)
• Mincing it finely and finishing soups or stews with it
• For dressings 
• On bread/burgers (Can be combined with other spreads or dips) 

I hope you enjoyed this pickled garlic recipe. It is so simple to make and so versatile! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Some more Pickle Inspirations: 

• The delicious classic: Dill pickled cucumbers will never disappoint.
• These crunchy pickled onions are a staple in my fridge!
• Pickled jalapeños are a classic.
• Pickled cauliflower is a seriously underrated pickle.
• Pickled red cabbage makes a fantastic addition to so many dishes.
• Do Chua & Vegan Banh Mi are a match made in heaven!
• Nothing like having a few crunchy pickled beets on your sandwich!