Spicy Pickled Garlic
This easy spicy pickled garlic is the perfect way to add flavor to dishes and use up a big harvest of garlic cloves.
Servings 8 oz.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 large heads of garlic separated (about 40 small cloves)
- 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1.5 tsp pickling or kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp dried chili powder
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
Blanch the garlic (with peels on)
- Fill a bowl with equal parts ice and water and set aside. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan or Dutch oven.
- Add garlic cloves (unpeeled) and cook for 1 minute, then transfer garlic to ice bath and let cool for 2 minutes.
- Drain and peel garlic cloves. This process makes the garlic much easier to peel and also prevents it from turning blue while pickling.
Make the brine
- In the now-empty sauce pan, bring the vinegar, salt, sugar, chili powder, and red pepper flakes to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Once boiling, add the peeled garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. They will become slightly tender but not too soft.
- Using a slotted spoon, pack garlic into the clean jar. Then, pour the hot brine over the garlic to completely cover the cloves.
- Let the jars cool completely and refrigerate for 1 week before consuming.
Notes
- Don't skip the blanching process - it makes the garlic much easier to peel, and prevents it from turning greenish blue in the vinegar.
- Don't over-cook the garlic - 2 minutes is enough to slightly soften the garlic and get it ready to pickle in the vinegar.
- Allow the garlic to sit in the fridge for at least 1 week before enjoying. This time is important to allow the vinegar to penetrate the garlic cloves and infuse them with flavor!