SUBSTITUTE FOR GARLIC- AND ONION FLAKES/POWDER
If you have not one or the other…., you can usually substitute garlic powder for fresh garlic cloves, or vice versa, provided that you use the appropriate conversion ratio. HealWithFood.org recommends the following ratio for converting fresh garlic cloves to garlic powder:
1 clove equals 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder
If you have granulated garlic instead of garlic powder, the recommended ratio is 1/4 teaspoon of granules for every fresh clove. If you are using garlic flakes (dehydrated minced garlic) instead, substitute 1/2 teaspoon of flakes for every clove.
There are several other aromatic herbs that can be substituted for garlic.
When substituting powdered or granulated garlic for raw cloves in recipes, use the above conversion ratios only as a general rule. Your taste buds should be the ultimate judge of what the appropriate amount of dried garlic should be. And don’t forget, the longer dried garlic sits on the pantry shelf, the more flavor it will lose! Therefore, it is a good idea to purchase garlic powder or granules in the smallest amounts available in order to make sure you can use your spices before their flavors diminish.
What to Do When You Have No Garlic at All?
The above tips are helpful if you are in a situation where you don’t have any garlic bulbs or cloves at hand but have garlic flakes or garlic in a powdered or granulated form. But what if you have neither fresh nor dried garlic at home? In such a situation, you may be happy to learn that there are a few other aromatic plants that can be substituted for garlic cloves or powder in many recipes. The most common substitutes include onions, shallots and garlic chives.
Onions:
Step 1
Use onion powder in place of onion in any instance. If the flavor of whole, fresh onion complements a food, onion powder does as well.
Step 2
Substitute 1 tsp. of onion powder per every small onion or 1/3 cup of chopped onion a recipe calls for. Replace 1 tbsp. of dried onion flakes with 1 tsp. of onion powder.
Step 3
Add onion powder to food during the final 15 minutes of cooking, even when a recipe calls for onion to be included earlier on.
Garlic:
Equivalents
1 bulb = approximately 10 cloves
1 clove = 1 teaspoon peeled, chopped = 1/2 tsp minced = 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic flakes = 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
40 cloves garlic, roasted = 6 tbsp roasted garlic purée
4 bulbs = 1/2 cup whole fresh garlic
Storage hints for garlic:
You can store whole bulbs for up to two months in those specialty terra-cotta storage jars. If any garlic you have at home has started to sprout, discard the green sprouty bits, as they will taste bitter. If the garlic has gone dry and spongy inside, just give up on it entirely and bin it.
Purée Garlic with oil (1 part garlic to 2 parts oil) and freeze. The oil, in a fridge freezer at least, will stop the garlic mixture from freezing solid, so you can spoon off what you need as you need it.
Any homemade mixture of garlic in oil not frozen should be refrigerated and used within 1 week. To store chopped garlic indefinitely in a refrigerator, the garlic should be in a strong vinegar.
You can freeze garlic cloves (peeled or unpeeled) in a freezer bag in the freezer. They’re a bit quicker to use, obviously, if they’re peeled first. When thawed, they’ll be a bit soft, which is fine for use in cooking as opposed to in fresh items such as salsas or salad dressings.
Posted: Amanda Conradie
