With the pickled garlic recipe by Ball rumored as unsafe, garlic preservation methods are somewhat limited. If you’re someone who only follows by-the-book, safe, and tested preservation methods (which I do), you need options! Preserving garlic in oil and honey have been popular, but those methods pose botulism poisoning risks. That’s why, this year, I took advantage of some extra freezer space to preserve garlic that is ready-to-sauté! It only took a few minutes of prep work and an overnight stay in the freezer. After breaking the cubes apart, I have garlic ready to go anytime I need to toss some minced garlic in a dish!
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How to Mince Garlic
If you’re planning on freezing a large batch of garlic, it is time-consuming to hand-mince it all with a knife. Using a food processing is faster, if you have one. However, I prefer to use my OXO Good Grips Garlic Press. Part of the reason I love this method is because I can save the leftover garlic “shell” for my stock bag, which I freeze to make stock with at a later time!
Preserve Garlic in the Freezer
After the garlic is minced, put it all in a sandwich bag or mince it directly into the bag like in the video below by purchasing these holders. I prefer to use reusable bags, like these, but I was worried about removing the garlic smell afterwards. You’ll seal the bag, flatten the garlic, and then use a chopstick or some other long, cylindrical kitchen tool to separate the garlic into squares. Freeze overnight, break apart, and store in the same sandwich bag!
Using Preserved, Frozen Garlic
Using your preserved garlic is as easy as pulling one or two cubes out as needed–no need to thaw! They taste great in soups, stir fries, and pasta sauces!