Garlic is a popular ingredient used in many savory dishes. It provides a pungent, spicy flavor that enhances the taste of soups, sauces, meat, vegetables, and more. Garlic contains beneficial compounds like allicin that have health-promoting properties. This makes garlic a staple in many kitchens.
Garlic is very versatile – it can be used minced, chopped, pressed, roasted, or blended. Blending garlic is a quick and easy way to incorporate it into recipes like dressings, dips, marinades, and more. But can you blend raw garlic? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of blending raw garlic.
Pros of Blending Raw Garlic
There are a few advantages to blending raw garlic cloves rather than mincing, pressing or chopping:
- Saves time – Throwing garlic cloves into a blender or food processor is much faster than meticulously mincing or chopping garlic by hand.
- Consistency – Blending provides a smooth, consistent texture to garlic, whereas minced garlic can have uneven pieces.
- Ease of use – Blended garlic mixes into liquids and spreads easier than minced garlic.
- Maximizes flavor – Blending crushes the garlic more than mincing, causing more allicin to be released and providing stronger garlic flavor.
- Storage – Blended garlic can be stored in the refrigerator longer than chopped garlic before losing potency.
If you want garlic incorporated into a sauce, dressing, dip or other mixture, blending is an easy way to distribute garlic evenly throughout while intensifying its flavor. The smooth texture from blending also makes garlic easier to mix into recipes compared to chopping.
Cons of Blending Raw Garlic
However, there are some downsides to blending garlic as well:
- Bitterness – Blending raw garlic can make it taste bitter. The bitterness comes from acompound called alliin being converted to allicin when the garlic cells are ruptured from blending. Allowing blended garlic to sit for 5-10 minutes can help reduce bitterness.
- No texture – While blended garlic is smooth, some people prefer the texture that minced or finely chopped garlic provides.
- Cooks faster – The increased surface area of blended garlic means it cooks more quickly. This can result in garlic that is overpowering or burnt tasting if not cooked carefully.
- Doesn’t store as long – Blended garlic doesn’t keep as long in the fridge compared to whole cloves. It loses potency and flavor faster.
- Easy to over-blend – It only takes a few pulses to finely blend garlic, so it can quickly turn to mush or paste if over-blended.
If you want a textured garlic bite in a final dish, need garlic to cook slowly, or want the flexibility to store it for several days, blending may not be the best choice.
Best Uses for Blended Raw Garlic
Taking the pros and cons into account, here are some of the best uses for blended raw garlic:
- Dressings and vinaigrettes – Blending garlic into oil and vinegar dressing gives great flavor and emulsion.
- Marinades – Blended garlic flavors and tenderizes meats well in marinades.
- Dips – Whether making aioli, tzatziki or a ranch dip, blended garlic is an ideal way to evenly distribute garlic flavor.
- Sauces – Tomato sauce, pasta sauce, pizza sauce and other sauces turn out great with blended garlic.
- Rubs and pastes – To make spice rubs, herb pastes or pestos, blended garlic provides a smooth consistency.
- Soups – For soups like potato leek or tomato that will be pureed, blend garlic before adding it.
Any recipes where garlic needs to be very finely minced or quickly incorporated with other liquids or soft foods are perfect candidates for using blended raw garlic.
How to Blend Raw Garlic
If you want to try blending raw garlic, here are some tips:
- Peel cloves first – Peeling makes it easier to clean the blender after use.
- Watch your quantities – Start with 1 or 2 cloves until you see how potent it tastes when blended.
- Cut in half or quarters – Smaller pieces blend more easily than whole large cloves.
- Add a little oil – Splash in a bit of olive or avocado oil so the garlic blends smoothly.
- Start on low – Begin on low speed to prevent garlic from flying around the blender.
- Scrape down – Stop the blender to scrape down the sides as needed.
- Don’t overdo it – Blend only until smooth; overprocessing makes garlic bitter.
- Let sit – If blended garlic tastes very bitter, let it rest for 5-10 minutes before using.
Start slow when blending garlic until you get a feel for how much it needs. And keep in mind that blended garlic has a much stronger flavor than chopped or minced garlic, so adjust recipe quantities accordingly.
Can You Blend Garlic With Other Ingredients?
Yes, you can blend raw garlic together with many other ingredients. Some easy options include:
- Herbs – Garlic and herbs like parsley, basil, cilantro or chives make a nice blend.
- Nuts – Blend roasted garlic with toasted nuts like almonds, walnuts or pine nuts.
- Cheese – Raw garlic whizzed with Parmesan or Pecorino cheese makes a good spread.
- Oil – Blending garlic into olive oil, avocado oil or walnut oil gives you an easy aioli or infusion.
- Vinegar – Make a bold vinaigrette by blending garlic with vinegar(s) of choice.
Blending garlic with avocado or plain Greek yogurt also produces a creamy, pungent dip perfect for veggies or bread. And garlic can be combined with other aromatic veggies like onions, shallots or ginger before adding to stir fries or other recipes. Get creative with your own garlic blends!
Storage Tips for Blended Garlic
Since blended garlic loses potency quicker than fresh cloves or chopped garlic, follow these storage tips:
- Refrigerate promptly – For maximum freshness, get blended garlic into the fridge within 30 minutes.
- Use an airtight container – Store in an airtight glass jar or container, not just a plastic bag.
- Press plastic to surface – If storing blended garlic in a plastic bag or container, press the plastic to the surface to remove air pockets.
- Use within 2 days – For best flavor, try to use blended raw garlic within 2 days.
- Label the date – Mark the container with the date blended for easier tracking.
- Avoid freezing – Blended garlic doesn’t hold up well to freezing and thawing compared to garlic cloves.
With proper storage in the refrigerator, blended garlic stays fresh and potent for up to one week. But its flavor and aroma noticeably start to decline after a couple days.
Can Blended Garlic Be Frozen?
You can freeze blended garlic, but it’s best reserved for recipes where you won’t notice the diminished flavor and texture. Freezing raw garlic that’s been blended causes it to become even more bitter and pungent. It also significantly softens the texture once thawed.
If you do want to freeze blended garlic, try these tips:
- Freeze in ice cube trays – Pour blended garlic into ice cube trays so you can pop out a frozen cube as needed.
- Use in cooked dishes – Soups, stews, sauces or other cooked recipes are better for frozen garlic vs using raw.
- Omit frozen garlic if possible – Frozen blended garlic works best used in small quantities as a background flavoring.
- Label date and use within 4 months – Mark your frozen garlic container/bag with the date and aim to use within 4 months.
Unless you know you’ll use a large batch quickly, freeze garlic cloves rather than blended garlic. The cloves retain much more flavor and potency after thawing.
Does Blending Garlic Make It More Potent?
Blending does make garlic more potent compared to mincing or chopping it. When garlic cells are ruptured as occurs with blending, more allicin and beneficial compounds are released. Allicin provides much of garlic’s intense aroma and strong flavor.
More surface area is also exposed with blended garlic versus chopping or mincing. So the flavor and health compounds have more opportunity to immediately mix into a recipe when garlic is blended vs adding larger pieces of chopped garlic.
However, if garlic is over-processed and excessively blended, the bitter flavors and astringency become too pronounced. Finding the right blending technique is key to maximize garlic’s potency advantageously.
Conclusion
Blending raw garlic is a quick and convenient way to add pungent garlic flavor into various dishes and recipes. Benefits include saving prep time, easy incorporation into liquids, and maximizing garlic’s allicin content. However, the strong bitter notes and fast cooking of blended garlic can also be disadvantages in some recipes.
The smoothest garlic flavor is achieved by blending for only a short time and letting the garlic rest for 5-10 minutes before using. Then blended garlic makes an excellent addition to dressings, dips, sauces, soups and any recipe needing very finely distributed garlic. Store blended garlic in the refrigerator and aim to use within 2 days for best flavor.
While blended garlic can technically be frozen, the flavor and aroma compounds substantially degrade during freezing. For long term garage storage, whole garlic cloves are the best bet. But for ready-to-use garlic, blending fresh cloves just before use is an easy, optimized choice.
