They say you can never have too much of a good thing. If you’re a garlic lover, you’ll no doubt agree this is certainly true when it comes to this flavorsome ingredient.
If you’ve grown your own garlic this year, you may find yourself with quite a bounty – wondering what on earth you’re going to do with it all.
The good news is whether you want to use them quickly or preserve them for later, there are plenty of recipes to consider. Here are 21 recipes that use at least an entire bulb of garlic. There won’t be any of this messing around with a clove or two here and there.
If you don’t love garlic (or have vampiric tendencies), look away now. But if you love garlic, read on. We’ve got some intensely delicious garlic-heavy recipes for you to consider:
1. Roasted Garlic Bulb
First off, if you’ve never roasted garlic before, give it a go. Roasted garlic loses some of the pungency of the fresh product and can convert even those for whom garlic is usually a bit too much. Once roasted, garlic mellows, becoming softer, more gentle, and much sweeter.
Roasting whole bulbs is surprisingly easy and only requires olive oil and tin foil. Plus, your house will smell amazing. Do it once, and you’ll never look back. Roasting garlic makes it more versatile, and it’s easier to use more quantities in a huge range of recipes.
Slather it on warm, fresh-baked bread, pop it in with mashed potatoes or another roast veg, or use it as a condiment, or in a range of other recipes, some of which we will take a look at below.
How to roast garlic in the oven @ thekitchn.com.
2. Roasted Garlic Pizza
One of my favorite ways to use roast garlic is on a pizza. We often simply add roasted garlic puree to a typical tomato base. Then top with some seasonal veggies, herbs, and cheese (or vegan cheese, should you prefer). But you can also use roasted garlic to make a tomato-free pizza, as in the recipe for white pizza below.
Roasted Garlic White Pizza @ sipandfeast.com.
3. Garlic Soup
Another great way to use up a whole lot of roasted garlic is in a delicious (and health-boosting) garlic soup. There are plenty of recipes out there that will allow you to whip up a batch of garlicky goodness in next to no time. You can make a big batch and save some for later, to reduce your workload. One great garlic soup recipe is below. But I also add roasted garlic to plenty of other seasonal soups – from a mixed roasted vegetable soup to red lentil soup, to leek, garlic and potato soup which is a real winter warmer.
Roasted Garlic Soup @ thehappyfoodie.co.uk.
4. Garlic Vegetable Stew
Like soups, stews are also a great way to use up an entire bulb or even more of your garlic crop. The great recipe below combines garlic with red lentils and tomatoes, for example. Garlic and tomatoes go very well together, and the comforting earthiness of the red lentils ties everything together and provides you with some pulses that are a great protein source.
Garlic Vegetable Stew With Red Lentils and Tomatoes @ crumbsandcaramel.com.
5. Vegan Roasted Garlic, Mushroom and Barley Stew
This interesting and delicious stew is another way to make the most of the produce of the season. Garlic and mushrooms are a classic combination that always seems to work very well. In this stew, these two ingredients are combined with barley for a meal that is vegan-friendly, but which can surely also satiate any meat-eaters too.
Vegan Roasted Garlic, Mushroom and Barley Stew @ rabbitandwolves.com.
6. Garlic Bread
Garlic bread is definitely a favorite in our family. And you don’t have to be shy when it comes to adding our headline ingredient. There are plenty of ways to make garlic bread – and plenty of breads that work very well as a base. We often stuff a sourdough loaf with cloves and bake it in the oven. But roasting the garlic before you add it really takes your garlic bread up a notch.
One recipe can be found below – but it’s great to experiment and discover the perfect bread and garlic ratio for you.
Roasted Garlic Bread @ dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk.
7. Tomato and Garlic Focaccia
Another favorite in our household is focaccia. This simple bread is pretty easy to make and you can top it with a range of different seasonal ingredients. Tomatoes, peppers, garlic, caramelized onions, and herbs like basil, oregano, marjoram and rosemary all work very well. Drizzle the whole lot with olive oil and it can be a lunch, side dish, or even a great mid-week dinner idea.
Tomato, Garlic, Rosemary Focaccia @ foodologygeek.com.
8. Garlic Butter
Instead of adding the garlic to the bread, instead, make roasted garlic butter to use on whatever breads you bake or buy. Garlic butter can also be used in frying mushrooms and, of course, in a wide range of other recipes. Making garlic butter means you will have the garlic flavor in an easy and ready-to-add form that you can reach for whenever you need or want it. Make up a bigger batch, and you can also freeze it for later use.
Roasted Garlic Butter @ happyfoodstube.com.
9. Garlicky Potato Gratin
Roasted garlic works extremely well with potatoes as well as with bread. The flavors infuse into this starchy vegetable, which easily takes on the flavors of the ingredients with which it is cooked. The gratin dish described below is easily customized to use up other seasonal ingredients you may have. But it plays around the rich and unctuous flavour of the roasted garlic. This can work as a side dish, or as a vegetarian main meal alongside some seasonal greens.
Roasted Garlic & Caramelized Onion Gratin Dauphinoise @ happilyunprocessed.com.
10. 40 Clove Garlic Chicken
There are so many recipes that combine garlic with chicken that there is no way that we could possibly mention them all. Suffice to say that garlic can elevate many a simple chicken dish to something really special. And the more garlic the better! This recipe, for example, uses no fewer than 40 cloves!
40 Clove Garlic Chicken @ tasty.co
11. Milk-Simmered Garlic Swiss Chard
This recipe is another great one for a garlic lover’s collection. It involves simmering the garlic in milk, which considerably mellows its flavor. The simmered garlic is pureed and then added to sautéed chard. Make the garlic cream ahead of time, and it can be stored in the fridge for a day or so until it is needed.
Swiss Chard With Sweet Garlic @ foodandwine.com.
12. Roasted Garlic and Caramelized Onion Hummus
Hummus is another favorite of mine, and I make plenty of different ones using garlic and other ingredients from my garden. Hummus is typically made with chickpeas. But there’s no reason why you can’t use other pulses such as dried beans instead. You can vary the end result by using different pulses and complimentary ingredients you add. But garlic, especially roasted, is often a key ingredient.
Caramelized Onion and Roast Garlic Hummus @ pumpkinandpeanutbutter.com.
13. Vegan Aioli
An aioli or sort of garlic-mayonnaise is a condiment with a wide range of uses. Try it on a salad, with bread, in a sandwich or as a topping or dip. The recipe below is a vegan alternative and another interesting way to use up some of your garlic crop.
Best Vegan Aioli @ laurencariscooks.com.
14. Fried Olives Stuffed With Garlic
If you love olives and you love garlic, then you will be in 7th Heaven with this next recipe, which combines both of these ingredients to make some bite-sized treats that are perfect as appetizers or amuse bouche for your next special occasion or get-together.
Fried Olives Stuffed with Garlic @ onegreenplanet.com.
Preserving Garlic
The recipes above all involve using up garlic in recipes to be eaten more or less right away. Of course, these are just a small fraction of all the recipes out there that you could consider that use an entire bulb of garlic – or more.
But it is also worthwhile thinking about how you can preserve garlic and use it for longer. The rest of the recipes on this list involve thinking about how you can preserve garlic in different ways and pickle, ferment or dry it for use over the coming months:
15. Garlic-Cider Vinaigrette
Making a garlic-cider vinaigrette is a great way to make sure you have zingy, garlicky flavors in hand. You can drizzle this over salads to make them a bit more interesting and to liven things up as we head into the winter months. It works very well, as described below, with a simple salad of spinach or other similar greens. But this is a versatile condiment that can be used in a wide range of different ways.
Spinach Salad with Garlic-Cider Vinaigrette @ foodandwine.com.
16. Garlic Chutney
If you love spice and strong flavors, taking inspiration from the Indian sub-continent could be a good way to go. Of course, you can use garlic in a wide range of curries and other such dishes. But one preserve that you should definitely consider is garlic chutney. The red chili and garlic chutney recipe below is one example and is a great way to kick up the heat and add some real flavor to your foods.
Red chili Garlic Chutney @ hebbarskitchen.com.
17. Black Garlic
Black garlic is a type of aged garlic that is common in Asian cuisine. It has become a popular and sought-after ingredient around the globe. Black garlic is made by aging it under specialized conditions of heat and humidity. It takes on its dark color because of the Maillard reaction.
Black Garlic @ thespruceeats.com.
18. Lacto-Fermented Garlic
Fermenting food is a way to introduce healthy bacteria to our foods, and eating it is good for our digestive systems and overall health. Lacto-fermentation is one way to use up the garlic that you grow. To find out more, check out Rural Sprout’s article on this topic below:
How to Make Lacto-Fermented Garlic and 5 Ways to Use It
19. Honey Fermented Garlic
Another easy and healthy way to ferment garlic is in honey. Again, we have an article telling you how to do so and what to do with it. You can read more from Rural Sprout’s own, Tracey, on this topic here:
Honey-Fermented Garlic – The Easiest Fermented Food Ever!
20. Quick Pickled Garlic
If you’re a lover of pickles and garlic, then you’ll want a jar of pickled garlic cloves on hand at all times. Pickling mellows the spiciness of raw garlic and gives it that traditional tang that comes from soaking in vinegar-based brine.
No canning is required to make these refrigerator pickles, and you can enjoy them as soon as two weeks after you start them. They’re infinitely snack-worthy and make an impressive addition to any charcuterie board. Tracey show’s you how in her article:
Easy 5-Ingredient Quick Pickled Garlic
21. Homemade Garlic Powder
To make sure you have garlic flavor on hand throughout the year, however, my favorite way to keep garlic around is to dry it and grind my own garlic powder. Ground garlic is a hugely useful ingredient that, of course, you can use in a wide range of ways. And if you’re short on storage space, as so many of us are, it is a way to make sure you can store a large garlic harvest in far less space. Again, Tracey show’s you how to make your own garlic powder in the article linked below:
How to Make Your Own Garlic Powder
These 21 suggestions are just meant to serve as some inspiration. I hope they have sparked off some ideas and helped you work out how to use up your own garlic glut.
Don’t have your own garlic harvest to enjoy? Make sure you do next year. Remember, you can plant garlic in the fall to harvest next summer. Or grow garlic in pots. And you could also consider planting perennial elephant garlic to harvest for several years to come.
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