How to Cut and Prepare Garlic

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Learn all about garlic and the ways to prep it, store it, and use it. You can enjoy this aromatic vegetable (yes, technically a vegetable) raw or cooked; it adds its unique flavor throughout your favorite recipes and it’s a favorite around here!

What is garlic?

Garlic is an allium, which means it’s a vegetable from the same family as onion, leek, shallot, and chives. Although it is technically a vegetable because the stem, leaves, and bulb can be consumed, it’s more commonly used like a spice or herb would be, rather than a vegetable.

Buy garlic with a tightly wrapped paper exterior without blemishes or dark spots. 

Purple is great, it's just the variety of garlic!

Garlic press and mincing garlic are often used interchangeably and are quite frankly the same thing when it comes down to it. Both essentially mean evenly sized very, very small pieces of garlic.

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Pressed & Minced Garlic

Chopping garlic is best when you want to season a large recipe like chili, pasta sauce, or soup. 

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Chopped

Thinly slice the clove to add a softer, mild garlic flavor throughout a recipe and provide texture. 

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Sliced

Peel a garlic clove, then use the flat side of the knife, pressed on top of the clove, and press your palm firmly down to smash the clove. This begins to release the flavor of the garlic (the reaction!), but because the enzymes are not totally destroyed, the flavor is mild.

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Smashed

To roast, cut the top off of a whole garlic bulb. Place the whole bulb on a piece of foil big enough to wrap around the entire bulb, drizzle a bit of olive oil on top, wrap, and bake.

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Roasted Garlic

How to Store Garlic

Whole garlic bulbs should be stored in a dry, cool, dark place, like a cupboard. A whole bulb should stay fresh for several months when stored properly. Once a clove has been removed from the bulb, the remaining cloves should be used within a few weeks.

The best garlic recipes...

Garlic is an ultimate flavor-booster in recipes!

Tap through for more ideas

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Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Caramelized Onion and Garlic Dip

Creamy Garlic Pasta with Scallops

Garlic Herb Dinner Rolls

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