Over the course of a week or two, the brine takes away the garlic’s raw, pungent bite and leaves behind sweet, tangy cloves that are as at home on a cheese plate as they are in sauces and salsas.
Pickled garlic is a true quick pickle with no need for canning. In fact, we don’t recommend it, since home canning techniques don’t bring the temperature up high enough to eliminate the risk of botulism when stored at room temperature. Luckily, pickled garlic will keep for about 3 months in the fridge.
Enjoy pickled garlic as a snack, add it to sandwich spreads, dips, salad dressings, and sauces, or include it on your next cheese plate. I like to mix them with fancy olives for a tasty appetizer. You can also use the brine in dressings, Bloody Marys, or dirty martinis.
Using Pre-Peeled Garlic
While you may be tempted to use pre-peeled garlic for this recipe—it certainly saves time and effort—I don’t recommend it. Fresh garlic will give you by far the best flavor and is less likely to turn green or blue (more on that later!).
That being said, you certainly can use pre-peeled garlic in this recipe, the results just don’t be as flavorful.
What’s the Best Way To Peel Garlic?
There are plenty of hacks online for the best way to peel garlic fast and, frankly, most of them don’t work. The only method I’ve found to be effective is smashing cloves with a knife, but that isn’t a good fit for this particular recipe since we want the cloves intact.
Here’s my method: Give each head of garlic a good whack on the table using the heel of your hand or the side of a knife to separate the cloves. Trim the very ends of each clove. Oftentimes, the peel will easily pull away as you do this.
I don’t mind the meditative practice of peeling the garlic and tend to do it while listening to a podcast. It’s a satisfying chore once you see the pile of clean, peeled cloves on the counter.
For any stubborn cloves (or for those of you less patient than I), stick them all in a large jar and screw on the lid. Shake hard to loosen the peel.