Pickled garlic is here to brighten up your cooking with a mellow flavor that still has some bite. This easy, delicious, quick pickle recipe is simple to make and has many uses in the kitchen and medicinally. Throw these common ingredients together to enjoy all the benefits of pickled garlic!

A jar filled with pickled garlic cloves, on a wood cutting board with a gray background, top view.

Quick Pickles for All

If you are in an “I can pickle that!” phase, I’m right there with you! If I’m honest, it’s pretty much my permanent state. Pickles of all kinds have a delicious tangy crunch that can’t be replicated!

Pickles have always been a favorite food of mine. Don’t get me wrong, I love some good old-fashioned fermented pickles and making up a big batch of canned dill pickles.

But as a busy mom, I’ve been into quick pickling lately. The best part about making quick pickles is how fast and easy they are to throw together, making them achievable for most people.

Making quick pickles, or refrigerator pickles, is a super simple way to make a small batch of whatever you want to be pickled. All it takes is a little room in your fridge, a jar or two, and a little bit of time!

Pickled garlic is perfect on a charcuterie board, as a garnish, or anywhere you’d usually use garlic in cooking. It also has medicinal benefits and boosts immunity.

Want more refrigerator pickle recipes? Here are 16 Quick Pickle Recipes to try!

Benefits of Pickled Garlic

We’ve established that pickled garlic is easy to make and delicious. Now, let’s talk about the medicinal and health benefits of pickled garlic.

The good news is that pickled garlic is just as healthy as raw garlic, lacto fermented garlic, and fermented honey garlic. Even post-pickling, garlic has antiviral, antibacterial, and antibiotic properties that can help boost immunity.

Pickled garlic in a jar on a wood cutting board, with whole garlic heads surrounding.

Garlic is health-beneficial when you eat it in recipes, but it is more so if it’s not cooked. Quick pickled is the best way to calm the tang of fresh garlic and still get the health benefits.

When you eat these with happy hour on a cheese board, throw them in a salad dressing, or use them to flavor tuna or other sandwiches, you’re reaping the health benefits of this yummy pickled treat!

Important to Note

Garlic that is preserved by pickling or fermenting sometimes turns blue or greenish in color. If this happens, don’t worry! It’s normal and not harmful at all.

There tends to be worry about botulism when it comes to preserving garlic, but it’s really not a concern in this recipe. Botulism can’t grow in the acidic environment that the vinegar provides.

Let’s pickle!

Quick Pickled Garlic Recipe

This recipe is a great way to preserve garlic. The pickling process mellows the flavor just a little, but it still has that garlicky zing you want in your cooking.

Ingredients

Whole garlic cloves: Homegrown garlic works great, but store-bought is just as good.

Whole spices: Mustard seeds, dill seeds, peppercorns, bay leaf.

A wood cutting board with heads of garlic, cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, and a jar of pickling spices, top view.

White vinegar: I like this white vinegar for my pickling endeavors. For the breakdown of the best pickling vinegar and more, read Vinegar 101.

Sugar

Pickling salt or sea salt

How to Make Pickled Garlic

First, peel all of the garlic cloves you are going to pickle. It should be about two cups. If you need a shortcut for peeling two cups of garlic cloves, follow the instructions below!

One method for peeling the garlic to make it a little quicker is to slice off the ends of the cloves, then put them in a bowl or other container with a lid and shake it vigorously.

Shaking the garlic will loosen the skins and make them easier to remove.

A bowl of garlic cloves for peeling, on a wood cutting board with a gray background, top view.

Then, put the mustard seeds, dill seeds, peppercorns, and bay leaf into a pint jar.

A pint sized jar with pickling spices in it, on a wood cutting board, top view.

Then, put the peeled garlic cloves into the jar.

Peeled garlic cloves in a pint jar on a wood cutting board, top view.

Next, bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a low boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir it occasionally until the sugar and salt are dissolved.

Then pour the vinegar brine over the garlic cloves, making sure they are completely covered.

Brine pouring from a pot into a jar with garlic cloves in it on a wood cutting board.

Put a cap on the jar and let it cool to room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator.

A jar of garlic in pickling brine, with a black cap on it, on a wood cutting board, with a window in the background.

It’s best to wait two or three days before sampling the pickled garlic so that the flavors have time to develop. Get excited though: garlicky deliciousness is pickling away in the fridge. Your part is done!

A jar of pickled garlic with a spoon lifting some up, with a background of a blue cloth, a wood cutting board, and garlic heads. Top view.

Storing and Using Pickled Garlic

Store pickled garlic in the refrigerator; it will last for several months. Although, I seriously doubt it will go that long without being eaten!

The pickling process does change the taste of garlic a bit. It slightly tames the bite, but it still has some delicious garlicky spice. It’s the perfect midway between completely raw garlic and cooked garlic.

A jar and a bowl of pickled garlic with a spoon, surrounded by a blue cloth and several garlic heads.

Use pickled garlic in any cooking recipe to replace fresh garlic. Or, use whole cloves on a cheese or charcuterie board or any appetizer platter.

These garlic pickles are great as a garnish on a bloody Mary. Slice them and add them to a sandwich or on top of a loaded burger or hot dog. They also go great in tuna or chicken salad!

Quick Pickled Garlic