Learn all the tips and tricks for Freezing Garlic to save yourself time and money. A stash of frozen garlic in your freezer can easily be added to main dishes, soups, and sauces for quick meals.
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Imagine what your meal prep is going to look like if you don’t have to peel and chop garlic anytime you need it. Consider me your kitchen fairy godmother, because I’m about to make that dream a reality.
A bag or container of frozen minced/chopped or whole cloves of garlic ready to go makes your meal prep a breeze. Tons of prepped frozen produce are a staple in our Freezer Essentials. Add in the knowledge of how to freeze onions, and weeknight dinners are about to get awesome.
We actually go through this kitchen staple so quickly that I plant a 4×6 garden bed each year to grow my own! Interested in adding some to your garden? Check out this post on How to Plant Garlic Step by Step.
And if you need a pureed version, check out our tutorial on making garlic paste.
Can You Freeze Garlic?
Yes! Freezing garlic preserves that fantastic flavor we all know and love. And because it can help you whip up speedy meals, you’re going to love it even more.
Is Frozen Garlic as Good as Fresh?
If you’re planning to use it in dishes like Garlic Butter Rice or roasting it for Fried Gnocchi and Veggies, you won’t even be able to tell the difference! For recipes like Baked Brie in Puff Pastry, I would stick with fresh.
TOOLS FOR FREEZING Garlic
- Rimmed baking sheet and parchment for freezing whole cloves
- Silicone muffin tin or mini muffin tin with parchment liners -or- SouperCubes
- Cutting board
- Sharp knife
- Food processor to make it easier to chop a bunch at once
- Freezer-safe storage
How Do You Store Garlic Cloves in the Freezer?
For full cloves, I flash free them on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment. Transfer frozen cloves to small canning jars or freezer-safe storage.
For minced garlic, I store individually frozen “pucks” in freezer-safe storage bags.
How Long Can You Keep Garlic in the Freezer?
Frozen garlic keeps incredibly well. It is the MVP of freezer prep.
It will last in a conventional freezer for six months. If you have a deep freeze/stand-alone freezer, you’re safe to keep it in there for up to a year.
How Do You Thaw Frozen Garlic?
For thawing frozen minced garlic, I just stick a frozen “pucks” in my recipe while cooking. No thawing is required! For whole cloves, you can allow them to thaw at room temperature for an hour or microwave for 15 seconds.
If the whole cloves will be roasted, like being added to a Dry Brine Chicken, adding them to the recipe while still frozen is totally fine.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- If you don’t want to use mini muffin tins, place the minced garlic/olive oil mixture in a bowl. Freeze for 1 hour. When it is halfway frozen, dollop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Remove the dollops when fully frozen and store them in freezer-safe storage.
- Need shelf-stable options? Check out our tutorials on How to Make Garlic and Dehydrating Garlic.
- If you have leftover heads/cloves, try your hand at roasting them! My two favorite methods are Instant Pot Roasted Garlic and Air Fryer Roasted Garlic.
MORE Helpful Easy Preserving POSTS
Freezing Garlic
Ingredients
- 20 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil or water
Instructions
How to Freeze Minced Garlic
- Break apart a head of garlic, and cut off the root end from each clove.20 cloves garlic
- Remove the papery skin from the cloves.
- Using a sharp knife, mince the garlic to uniform pieces. If you have a food processor, you can "pulse" the garlic to quickly chop everything.
- Spoon minced garlic into mini muffin tins lined with muffin papers, filling them three-fourths full.
- Drizzle olive oil or water over the garlic, and then use the spoon to gently press the minced garlic down until it is mostly covered with the liquid.1/4 cup olive oil or water
- Freeze for 2-3 hours, and then remove the muffin liners from the pan and freeze each garlic "puck" in an air-tight container for up to 6 months.
How to Freeze Garlic Cloves
- Break apart a head of garlic, and cut off the root end from each clove.
- Remove the papery skin from the cloves.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and place the cloves on top, without allowing them to touch each other.
- Freeze for 3 hours and then transfer to freezer storage.
Notes
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Thank you so much for this post. I cook every single meal for my family of five, and listen, at this point in the pandemic…I’m over it. The thought of mincing garlic for dinner is a no. Enter the frozen garlic pucks in my freezer right now. Brilliant. I believe my freezer will never be without prepped garlic again!
Alicia, I feel your pain with being over the meal prep and production. I’m so glad these garlic pucks have helped make like a tiny bit easier for you.
I’m actually making another batch today!
Thank you! Now i can stop buying the overpriced plastic-encased frozen garlic cubes from the grocery store. They’re such a time saver but bad for my wallet and the earth. Definitely going to DIY from now on!
You’re so right – you’re going to be saving a boatload! You’re about to be a meal prep ninja. 🙂
Having this is on hand is so convenient I’ll probably buy the big bag of pre-peeled garlic from Costco again to do this when I run low. (I purchased it a couple months ago because it was the only fresh garlic available and then had to figure out how to use a whole bag before it got yucky – Sarah to the rescue!)Â
The only change I made was to use sunflower oil (I don’t always want the flavor of olive oil since I use garlic in all sorts of dishes). It made them a touch softer I think, but not problematically so. Also, I had so much that I froze some spread thinly on a parchment lined sheet pan that I then broke into thirds and stashed in a gallon ziptop bag. This has been helpful when I only need a clove or two worth rather than the larger amount in a mini-muffin cup; I just break off a bit from the sheet as needed.
At the beginning of the Pandemic, when food was scarce not he shelves, I overbought when I found something that I frequently use. Costco had a huge bag of garlic that I bought. It turns out that despite using some garlic daily, I still have tons to deal with that I fear will go bad even keeping it in a cool, dark, place. I will follow your tips for freezing it.. thanks so much!
We recently picked up a Costco-sized bag of garlic and I couldn’t stand the idea of it going bad before we got through all of it. As if in cue, Sarah posts this simple and easy method for freezing garlic. My hands will probably keep the vampires away for a while but it is so worth it to cut down on prep time in the future.
Haha, I always know when I have been chopping garlic because my showers are very garlic-scented the next day!!
Glad I could help keep Ivan in garlic for a few weeks.