Wild Garlic Vinegar

This delicious wild garlic vinegar recipe is super easy to make and perfect for adding to salad dressings and so much more.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Wild garlic vinegar isn’t something you can buy in the supermarket so it’s a wee bit special.
• So easy to make and you have the enjoyment of some foraging too.
• Wild garlic vinegar is super economical as the main ingredient – the wild garlic is foraged and free and who doesn’t love a cheap recipe!

I use wild garlic a lot as I just love the flavour of this seasonal plant. Here on Larder Love you’ll find my recipes for wild garlic soup, my creamy wild garlic dip, wild garlic salt, wild garlic butter, wild garlic pesto and wild garlic oil. So it seemed about time I threw my wild garlic vinegar into the mix.

What is wild garlic?

Wild garlic (Allium Ursinum) or ramsoms are a plant native to us in the UK and of course part of the garlic and onion family.

It grows in damp woody areas and hedgerows in the shade. You will recognise it from those beautiful starlike white flowers and large wide oval shaped leaves. It can be easily confused for other plants like the three cornered leek which has narrower leaves and is an invasive species. You can read lots of information about wild garlic on the Wild Food UK website.

The season for wild garlic is quite short really, from the end of March till early May or even June depending on where you are.

What does wild garlic taste like?

Wild garlic/ramsoms have a delicate garlic flavour. Softer than traditional garlic and without the sharpness you often taste in garlic

Wild garlic season is shor so it is well worth preserving as much of this delicacy as possible for later use.

Foraging for wild garlic

You will find wild garlic growing in woodland and often by steams. It likes shade too and grows in profusion. You can’t miss the masses of tiny white flowers and the heady aroma of the garlic.

Don’t pick plants that are beside a road due to traffic pollution. When you are picking wild garlic don’t strip whole plants. Take leaves or flowers from here and there so that plants can carry on growing.

How long does wild garlic last? Once you’ve brought your leaves and flowers home you can keep them in a bag in the salad drawer of the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze your wild garlic leaves for up to six months in a ziplock bag.

For more exciting foraging recipes check out the Foraging Section of Larder Love.

How to use this plant

You can use all parts of the wild garlic plant. From the flowers and stems to leaves, the bulb itself and the seeds too.

The leaves can be snipped into salads and even wilted like spinach. Wild garlic flowers look delightful on spring salads.

Ingredients for wild garlic vinegar

There are only 2 ingredients required to make this homemade wild garlic vinegar so it really couldn’t be easier or much cheaper really.

Wild garlic – Leaves and even the flowers and stalks are just fine here.

Vinegar – I have used white wine vinegar as it is milder than cider vinegar and also you don’t want to use red wine vinegar as it is stronger and also too dark in colour. DO NOT use malt vinegar or distilled white vinegar, save those for your chips for for cleaning the windows!

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to make wild garlic vinegar

This recipe for wild garlic vinegar couldn’t be simpler. All you need is a knife and a good sized jar to hold the ingredients while time does the work for you.

Simply chop up the wild garlic leaves and pop them into a nice clean jar.

Add the vinegar so that it completely covers the wild garlic leaves and press down with a wooden spoon to remove air bubbles.

Put a lid on the jar and set it aside for a week for the flavour to be drawn out of the leaves and into the vinegar itself.

Strain out the solids in a sieve and decant your wild garlic vinegar into a sterilised bottle

How long does this keep?

Your homemade wild garlic vinegar will keep for up to a year or more in a cool cupboard.

How to use wild garlic vinegar

You can sprinkle this gorgeous vinegar on salad leaves just as it is or whisk it up into a salad dressing.

I like to add some wild garlic vinegar to parsnips when I roast them and carrots too, it really brings out their flavour.

Looking for more recipes using foraged spring goodies? Then check these out before you go;

Wild garlic soup

Elderflower fritters

Cream of nettle soup

Dandelion liqueur

And if you want lots more foraging recipes just go to the Foraging Section of Larder Love for loads more recipes.

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.