The Best Way to Peel Garlic (with Photos!)

People have feelings about garlic. Some people can't stand the flavor and some people can't imagine a meal without it. As the former Test Kitchen Manager for EatingWell, I'm starkly in the middle. I think that garlic has its place in recipes but isn't necessary in all meals. However, since I'm a farmer as well as a chef, I'm quite familiar with the item. We even planted over 2,000 heads (!) last spring to make sure we would have enough for our farmstand as well as some in the kitchen all year round.

While peeling garlic can be a chore, certain tips and tricks can make it a lot easier. I scoured the internet and asked chef friends for the best way to peel garlic—whether just a few cloves or a lot—then tested them out. Here's what I found.

How to Choose Garlic

If you can find fresh or local garlic, grab it immediately. Fresh garlic isn't fully dried out and still has firm, plump cloves that have a milder garlic flavor versus their grocery store counterparts. (As garlic ages, its flavor gets sharper.) Store fresh garlic in a very dry corner of your kitchen or pantry.

If you're buying garlic at most grocery stores, look for heads that feel a bit heavy for their size, with firm cloves. Garlic that feels squishy, smells strongly or has green shoots coming from the top is likely old and can ruin your recipe.

The Best Way to Peel a Little Garlic

Most recipes only call for a clove or two of garlic, which converts to roughly 1 or 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic, respectively. When you only need a little garlic, the best way to peel a few cloves is with the Knife Method.

1. Separate cloves from the garlic head. To do this, place a head of garlic on your cutting board, root side up, and firmly smash the head on the cutting board with your palm. This will immediately separate the cloves from the garlic head.

2. Use a sharp knife to cut off the root end of one clove.

3. Place the clove on your cutting board and place the wide part of a chef's knife on top. Gently smash the clove with the side of the knife. The garlic clove should slip out from the skin, or the skin should be very easy to peel away.

This method works very well for cloves that will be minced or chopped, as the clove will be partially smashed already. For cloves that you want to keep whole, skip smashing with the side of the knife and simply peel it once you remove the root end. You're only peeling one or two cloves so it won't take long!

The Best Way to Peel a Lot of Garlic

When you need a lot of garlic, such as for Garlic Chicken, smashing the cloves a few at a time to peel them can be tedious. To find the best method for peeling a lot of garlic, I tested three methods: the Jar Method, the Microwave Method and the Hot Water Method.

Use a Jar

The Jar Method, also known as the Bowl Method, involves placing garlic cloves in a large mason jar or between two bowls and shaking vigorously until the skins fall off. While many cooks find this to be a good way to peel a lot of garlic, I found that even with forceful shaking, there were still quite a few cloves that had to be peeled by hand.

Use Your Microwave

Then I tried the Microwave Method, which involves placing garlic cloves on a plate and heating them in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, then peeling the cloves. I didn't find the cloves peeled very easily at all, and it felt like I was cooking the garlic so it was a no-go for me.

Use Hot Water

The favorite method I tested was the Hot Water Method. I'd honestly never even heard of this trick before trying it, but it involves soaking garlic cloves in hot water for a minute then peeling them. And it worked! I was shocked at how easy the skins slipped off.

How to Use Garlic

There are endless ways to use garlic in recipes. If you use it often, I highly suggest peeling a lot of cloves and pulsing them in a food processor until finely chopped. Keep a container of freshly chopped garlic in your fridge to use in recipes, or freeze it in ice-cube trays or silicone trays so it's already portioned. Freshly chopped garlic will keep for a week in the fridge and up to 6 months in the freezer. Then anytime you need that hit of garlic, it's ready to go! Some of my favorite dishes for garlic include this Roasted Garlic-Parmesan Cabbage, Garlic-Roasted Salmon & Brussels Sprouts and Lemon-Garlic Marinated Shrimp.