Easy Ways To Eat More Garlic Gallery

First, let's talk about why you want to eat more garlic (other than the obvious facts that it tastes delicious and goes with literally everything). This herb — yes, garlic is technically an herb — has been used in medicine for centuries for its various medicinal properties.

Closely related to onions, garlic is a plant in the allium family. It contains the healthful compound allicin, which is responsible for most of garlic's health benefits and is the origin of its distinct and powerful smell.

Garlic staves off more than just vampires — numerous scientific studies have shown that garlic is an effective way to prevent sickness, including cold and flu. The vegetable can also reduce blood pressure, improve cholesterol, and lower risk of heart disease. Some evidence also suggests that garlic contains antioxidants that could help prevent cognitive decline that leads to Alzheimer's.

All these benefits aside, garlic contains an impressive amount of nutrients for being such a light food. A serving of garlic contains a little bit of just about every micronutrient the human body needs. To get started incorporating this miracle food into your daily diet, read our manual of the easiest ways to eat more garlic.

Add Garlic to Sauces and Stews

From hot sauce to aïoli, many of the classic sauces you enjoy contain a good dose of garlic. Soups and stews can also be elevated to a new level by adding the simple spice. Fire up your slow cooker, mince your garlic, and let it sit to cook; it's as easy as that.

Add Garlic to Your Pizza

If you're anything like us, you eat pizza more often than you'd like to admit. Late-night pizza? Leftover pizza? Pizza for breakfast? Sign you up. To get a little extra health boost from your saucy, cheesy slice, sprinkle some garlic powder on top before you chow down. Many chains will include garlic powder in your order if you ask, and it takes the taste of each bite to a whole new level of goodness.

Add Minced Garlic to Salad Dressings

Some store-bought salad dressings can be really unhealthy compared to the stuff you can make on your own at home — simply blend together a couple of pantry staples and oil and you've got yourself a classy, healthy vinaigrette. Garlic is a great additive to almost any combination of flavors in salad dressing. Whether it's balsamic vinaigrette or a creamy Caesar, garlic should be in your recipe.

Buy Garlic Supplements

Can't stand the taste of garlic? Not a problem — there's a pill for that. There's a pill for pretty much everything these days; but garlic supplements have actually been around for a while. Many doctors recommend these supplements for people with heart problems, blood pressure concerns, or risk of cancer.

Buy Garlic in Bulk

Garlic is often cheaper when bought in packs of a couple bulbs, so doing so could shave a lot off of your grocery bill. Having tons of garlic around the house will prevent you from having to purchase another pack every time you go shopping. Garlic bulbs don't need to be refrigerated; keep your garlic on the counter and you'll be less likely to forget about it!

Buy It Pre-Chopped

Chopping garlic can be a real chore. The cloves are tiny, your knife is always too large, and the pieces never turn out as small as you'd like. Some argue that pre-chopped garlic is a gigantic waste of money, but if it's the only way you'll get yourself to cook with it, why not splurge?

Eat Mediterranean Food

Of all the herbs and spices, garlic is perhaps the most versatile. It's used in most cuisines from around the world — but especially Mediterranean cuisine. Most Mediterranean food is pretty nutritious, too, so you can't go wrong. Go ahead: Order falafel, go ham on a tub of hummus, eat some shawarma. All of these classic Mediterranean dishes contain heaps of garlic.

Eat More Pesto

Reasons to eat more pesto: One, it's the best-o. Two, it has a ton of garlic. It uses raw garlic, too, meaning the benefits of eating it are at their peak. Make your own at home if you're feeling adventurous or just buy some pre-made. It goes great with a healthy pasta dish — the perfect way to switch it up from using boring old red sauce!

Get a Garlic Press

This is another option for people who fumble trying to mince their own garlic with a knife. A chef wouldn't be caught dead using one — but who are you kidding? You're no Gordon Ramsay. Mincing garlic is hard, and if it takes a garlic press to get you to cook with it, so be it.

Infuse Your Oils

Adding garlic not only adds a nutritional benefit to your already-healthy cooking oils, but it also adds tons of fresh flavors. Here's a simple tutorial to making your own garlic-infused oil at home; or you could just buy one already made. We don't judge.

Mash Garlic Into Potatoes

You've been making mashed potatoes wrong your whole life — and not just because you're going easy on the garlic. Garlic mashed potatoes are truly the ultimate side dish. They pair well with everything, are the perfect blend of classy and quick, and are as budget-friendly as a side dish could be.

Roast Garlic Cloves With Potatoes

Garlic takes a while to roast all the way through, but doing so will tone down the cloves' sharp, specific flavor. A clove of roasted garlic tastes rich and mild enough to actually eat on its own — something you'd never dare do with a raw clove. Potatoes take approximately the same amount of time to roast to a nice texture. So if you're roasting potatoes — regular or sweet — add a few cloves of garlic to the pan wrapped in tin foil and doused in oil. You can use these roasted cloves in other recipes or as easy ways to add flavor to another dish.

Sauté Vegetables

This is probably the simplest and most common way to consume more garlic on an everyday basis. Simply toss some garlic in a pan with whatever you're using to sauté — we recommend avoiding coconut oil for this purpose and opting for olive or avocado oil instead — and stir briefly. Then, add in your vegetables and cook them over the stove for a zing of flavor that's hard to miss. Once you add garlic, you'll never go back to just using salt and pepper.

Season Meat With It

There are all kinds of recipes involving meat that are only elevated with an addition of garlic. Almost anything cooked Italian-style is a safe bet — meatballs, for instance, or chicken sausage. Simply mash garlic or garlic powder into the mush of meat before cooking.

Sprinkle Garlic Powder as a Seasoning

Fresh garlic can be expensive and difficult to work with — not to mention, it really can smell. However, there's nothing wrong with buying garlic powder seasoning instead of using the fresh kind. Garlic powder allows for ease of use; you can really sprinkle that stuff on just about anything. If you did splurge for the cloves, but aren't sure how to use them, try one of these 11 recipes. They're the most popular garlic-based recipes on Pinterest!

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