Food is food, but food with flavour is way better. Using your own homemade garlic oil in your cooking and salads adds an abundance of flavour right at the start.
Homemade Garlic Oil
I use so much olive oil in my cooking and as garlic appears in a great many of my recipes as well it seems only fitting to make my own garlic oil.
Infused oils are available in lots of supermarkets but why buy it when you can make your own homemade garlic oil instead, it costs less and tastes great too.
Garlic
The flavour of garlic is unique and also strong. It can be overpowering. Raw garlic is far stronger in flavour than cooked garlic.
Once garlic and heat come together they dance and the strident heat that once was the main characteristic of the garlic mellows and becomes a creamy delicious flavour.
Like a grouchy guy meeting a sweet girl, her gentleness softens his edges and raises a smile where a frown once sat.
Garlic and botulism
There was a lot of talk about botulism with using garlic in oils. But please note we are removing the garlic here. We are also heating the oil with the garlic which kills the bacteria.
What type of oil
I am using olive oil. It’s my favourite oil and if living on the Greek island of Crete taught me anything it was always use the oil YOU love for cooking.
I love the flavour of olive oil as well as all it’s amazing health benefits. however, you can infuse any oil you like with garlic.
Why not try rapeseed oil or vegetable oil. Garlic infused oil is for you to use so choose your favourite oil as a base.
Ingredients for infused garlic oil
There are only 2 ingredients here. Olive oil and garlic. That’s it. Don’t you just love a simple recipe!
How to make garlic oil
Peel the garlic cloves. There is no need to do any chopping or mincing. Just peel the skins off the individual cloves of garlic.
I heat my oil with the peeled garlic and let it simmer for 20 minutes. I don’t boil the oil or have it on a high heat.
We don’t want the garlic to colour up as that would make the oil very strong. Here we are going for a simple infusion.
Remove the pan from the heat, pop on a lid and let it just sit there for an hour and cool completely.
Pour the garlic-infused oil through a sieve into a jug and then carefully pour into a sterilised glass bottle.
Pro tip
Don’t use a plastic bottle for this garlic oil. The plastic itself will leach the flavour from the garlic oil. You will end up with a weaker infused oil and a very smelly plastic bottle.
Adding herbs to infused oil
You can add other flavours to your garlic oil. Rosemary goes particularly well. In fact, rosemary and garlic oil is my winter stanby for booking.
It adds a great punch of flavour when I’m starting on a base for any soup or stew.
The more robust herbs make the best dancing partners for garlic. Think of the woody-stemmed herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme.
Rosemary goes particularly well. In fact, rosemary and garlic oil is my winter standby for cooking. It adds a great punch of flavour when I’m starting on a base for any soup or stew.
Adding spices to garlic oil
Why not go for garlic and chilli oil. Other spices like coriander, cumin and turmeric all work well with garlic. Have a bit of fun and come up with your own infused cooking oils and give your cooking that personal touch.
How long does garlic oil keep
Your homemade garlic oil will keep for up to a month. Keep it in a cool dark place.
If you have olive oil in the fridge it will solidify. No problem. just remove it from the fridge and let it come up to room temperature and it will run clear once more.
How to use homemade garlic oil
I love using this oil as a basis for almost any savoury dish. Instead of using plain oil use your garlic oil.
And I just love using it for simple fried eggs.
Use it as a salad dressing too of course.
For roasting a chicken, pork or veggies. Sprinkle first with your garlic oil to ramp up the flavours while the oven does the work.
And it’s just perfect for making a homemade garlicky mayonnaise, check out my Aioli recipe.
Kali Orexi!
This recipe makes a great foodie gift, so why not check out my post on how to make Christmas hampers.
Looking for more super easy cooking basics you can be making yourself? Then check these out before you go;
The easiest foolproof homemade mayonnaise
Homemade traditional style hummus
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Homemade Garlic Oil
Ingredients
- 500 ml olive oil
- 2 bulbs of garlic about 8 cloves
Instructions
- Peel the garlic cloves and heat in the oil to simmering (bubbles appearing round edges of pan) and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and cover and leave to cool completely for 1 hour
- Strain out the garlic using a sieve.
- Pour into a sterilised bottle and pop on the lid.
- Will keep for up to a month in the fridge but remove for 30 minutes before using as the oil will solidify.
Do you ever include the garlic cloves in the bottle with the oil?
Hi Peggy
I’m a bit confused by your question as I do say to sieve out the garlic once it has infused the oil. So no, you don’t put the garlic back into the oil it has done it’s job by putting flavour into the oil. Hope this helps
K
Can you use the cooked garlic bulbs for any thing else
Hi Elaine
You could mash them into a paste and use for flavouring stews and soups etc. Will keep in the fridge for a short while.
hope this helps
Karon
Can I use this garlic infused oil for my tick and flea collars for my pets
I can’t seem to find any garlic oil anywhere
Hi Ritha
I’m not a vet so I’m sorry I have no idea if this would work. It’s an infused oil for cooking.
K
How many garlic cloves to 2Cups of olive oil ?
Hi Gail
I’m a bit confused by your comment as I have exact measurements in the printable recipe card right above where you posted your comment – 500 ml olive oil
▢ 2 bulbs of garlic about 8 cloves’ there is also USA measurements there. We don’t use cups here, I have shared both ml and fl oz measurements.
K
Thank you have never use this before and am a older person I can now get recipes thank you again
Hi Rosemary
So glad you like the recipes so much hope you enjoy the garlic oil
K
What if the garlic burn’s??
Hi Colleen
If you burn your garlic you will have to start again I’m afraid.
K
If I add herbs like u suggested, do I put them in as the oil cooks and strain out with the garlic, or do I put the herbs in when I bottle it?
Hi Angie
You can do whatever you like; cook herbs with the garlic then strain them out. Or add them to the strained garlic oil but always make sure herbs are covered in the oil.
K
Hello can you use minced garlic by chance?
Hi Dani
I always use whole cloves of garlic, you could mince it first but I don’t see why really.
K
Can I leave piece of garlic in the bottle for aesthetic reasons? I’m making this for baby shower favors and I think the little bottles will look better with a few garlic cloves floating in each one. I’m just afraid they will mold after a while.
Hi Sam
The garlic cloves will go mouldy if exposed to air so must be covered by the oil at all times. You’have to tell people to remove the clove before the oil got very low in the bottle and no longer covered the garllic clove.
K
Just reading your garlic oil receipe. Try it over a pizza, works extremely well.
Pat
Dublin
Hi Pat
Yes, I too often sprinkle my garlicc oil on to of pizzas and lots of other dishes too, really adds flavour.
K
Hi, can the oil be left out of the fridge at all.
Hi Cindy
It tells you on the blog post how to store it – Your homemade garlic oil will keep for up to a month. Keep it in a cool dark place.
Not in the fridge at all.
K
I used corn oil and the result is great. That type of oil doesn’t solidify in the refrigerator. The used garlic I added in the rice cooker to give the rice a nice taste, used also parts of it on toast and in salads. Thank you for the recipe! It’s simple and good.
Hi Andreas
Glad you liked the recipe. Good idea adding to rice maker,
K
Quick, simple and a great result! So far I have only tried it with garlic and rosemary, but am looking forward to experimenting with other herbs and spices.
Hi David
so glad you liked the recipe so much and are going to experiment with other herbs and spices.
K
I love garlic oil on pizza. My go-to pizza is black olives (the gourmet scorned USA type) and pepperoni with, of course, olive oil. Yum yum.
Hi Larry
Glad you like the recipe and I like the sound of your favourite pizza
K