Pickled Garlic

This is how to make pickled garlic at home, either plain or spicy pickled garlic – with a quick and simple process!

Course Appetizer, Preserves

Cuisine European Cuisine, Mediterranean

Diet Gluten Free, Low Calorie, Low Fat, Vegan

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 5

Pickling time 7

Total Time 7 15

Servings servings

Calories 36kcal

Author Ramona Sebastian

Cost £7

Equipment

3 jars
1 pan
1 knife

Ingredients

500 grams garlic cloves peeled
350 ml cider vinegar
50 grams cane sugar optional
½ teaspoon celtic salt
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon black peppercorn
6 small bay leaves
1 pinch red chili flakes dried

Instructions

Sterilise 3 x 225g ( 8 oz) jars or 1 x 720g (24 oz) jar (see notes for more details on how to correctly sterilise jars).
Peel the garlic cloves and add them to the sterilized jars. Sprinkle a pinch of dried chili into the jars. Set aside.
Pour the vinegar into a pan and add the sugar, peppercorns, and mustard seeds, and bay leaves. Stir well, then set the pan on high heat and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, turn the heat down a little and boil for 2 minutes. This will be your pickling liquid.
Gently and carefully, pour the pickling liquid over the garlic, submerging the garlic cloves completely.
Seal the jars with vinegar-proof lids and store them somewhere dry and dark for at least 2 weeks. I put them in the cellar. Just check to make sure the garlic stays covered by the brine. It shoould be ready to serve after two weeks or so.

Notes

How to correctly sterilize jars

The oven method.
- Firstly, wash them in hot soapy water, rinse them well, and then dry them in the oven at 110°C/Fan 90°C/ 230°F/Fan 195°F.
The dishwasher method
- Simply put through a short dishwasher cycle to sterilize the jars.

Some of my garlic turned blue

Sometimes if the garlic is not properly submerged in the pickling liquid will turn blue. That is okay to eat. Blue garlic may look a little off-putting, but it is safe to eat and it tastes fine too. The color change is due to a reaction between enzymes and sulfur-containing amino acids in the garlic (these are the same enzymes that are responsible for its flavor).

Nutrition