How to Mince Garlic Cloves

Learn the step-by-step process of How to Mince Garlic Cloves. This process shows you how to peel the garlic cloves and breaking them in the perfect consistency for all of your favorite recipes.

How to make Minced Garlic:

We love adding minced garlic to our recipes. It instantly adds the depth of garlic flavor that we all love when making our home cooked favorite dishes.

Most of the time you will find these white bulbs on our counter waiting to be minced into spaghetti dinner or our favorite taco recipe. But there is a certain process that we go through to make sure these cloves are ready to be minced.

The timing on when to cut them are very important. You will notice that these cloves have no aroma until you cut them.

This step by step guide should show you the process so that you can add minced garlic to your next recipe.

How to Mince Garlic with a knife:

If you do not have a garlic press you can still mince your cloves with a chef’s knife. Check out these Best Kitchen Tools that I love.

• Start by peeling the clove and put on a cutting board. Check out How to Peel Garlic Easily for a fast trick.

• With the flat side of the knife, smash the garlic clove down into the cutting board.

• With your free hand, start moving the knife from the tip and rocking back and forth. This allows the garlic clove to be minced into small pieces.

How many teaspoons does a garlic clove make?

On average you can get about one teaspoon per one medium garlic clove. Also check out our The Best Garlic Substitutes if you do not have garlic.

Tips on prepping and cooking garlic:

• The finer the mince, the stronger the garlic is.
• When cooking with garlic, I like to add after my vegetables have softened so the garlic doesn’t burn.
• Don’t cook garlic over high heat. It is best to cook on low heat and stir occasionally so it naturally releases the flavor.
• We tend to not mince our garlic in advance. We find that if you mince the garlic ahead of time and it sits then the flavor is harsher.

Ingredients:

• Fresh Garlic Cloves

Equipment Needed:

• Knife or Garlic Press

How to Mince Garlic Cloves:

• Carefully peel the skin off the garlic cloves and separate the cloves and then mince the garlic.
• There are 2 options to mince the garlic.
• USE A KNIFE: Press a large knife down onto the gloves to crush the sliced garlic cloves into smaller pieces.
• USE A GARLIC PRESS: Put the peeled cut garlic cloves into a garlic press. Press the garlic through the holes and then repeat until all the garlic has been minced.

How to mince garlic with a garlic press?

Using a garlic press, if you have one, is the easiest and simplest way to mince your garlic.

• You will place one garlic clove into the chamber.
• You will then squeeze the handles firmly together over a bowl or meal that you are preparing.

Your minced garlic will appear through the little holes. It is really that easy.

How to store?

You can mince the garlic right before cooking or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. We try to mince the garlic for the meals that we are cooking on that day.

But if you have any leftover we just place in an air tight container and placed in the refrigerator.

We do recommend to use what you have minced fairly quickly so that the flavor remains.

Is garlic powder the same?

No, garlic powder is not the same. Garlic powder is fresh bulbs that have been dried then ground into powder.

We do use garlic powder at times in our recipes, but we do prefer fresh over the powder.

Is chopped garlic and minced garlic the same?

Not necessarily. Chopped garlic is more coarser. We like to use chopped garlic for stews, soups or for flavoring the olive oil that we are cooking meat in.

Minced or crushed garlic is finer pieces. Minced is better for sauces, or dressing. We tend to cook more with minced so that it cooks down and you don’t have lingering pieces.

Print steps here on How to Mince Garlic:

Try one of these garlic recipes:

• Instant Pot Honey Garlic Pork Chops Recipe
• Garlic Cheese Bread Recipe
• The best Garlic Mashed Potatoes