You definitely had the best intentions when you bought that beautiful head of garlic a while back. You were going to surprise the family with some Garlic Lover’s Chicken for Sunday dinner. Or maybe some Linguine with Garlic for your vampire movie marathon. But somehow, they never happened. Now that poor, neglected garlic has sprouted unsightly green shoots. Should you still use the sprouted garlic?
Do the sniff test
Rashanda Cobbins, food editor for Taste of Home, says spouted garlic is perfectly safe to consume. In fact, a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that garlic that’s been sprouted for five days has significantly higher antioxidant levels than fresher garlic.
“It’s a personal preference whether or not you utilize spouted garlic cloves in cooking,” Cobbins says.
So what’s a cook to do?
Just like you would sniff and smell other items that have been hanging out in your pantry or fridge, do the same with garlic. If it has an off odor or looks squishy or discolored, simply discard it. Don’t be afraid to give the sprouted garlic a taste, too. Here are 6 more handy tips for identifying spoiled food.
It might be bitter
Even if the cloves look and smell OK, you may have some bitterness issues with the green bits in the garlic.
“Some say sprouted garlic has a sharper, spicier or bitter flavor, although it likely can go undetected in most dishes,” Cobbins says. “If the sprouts are removed and the remainder of the clove used, I believe the bitterness will be undetectable.”
You’ll want to be careful when you’re using the garlic raw or where garlic is prominently flavoring the dish. If it does end up being too bitter for your taste, here are 13 other ways you can use garlic that don’t involve eating it.
Pick the right recipe
The bitterness is rarely going to be a plus, but there are recipes where it’ll be a non-issue.
“Most recipes will tolerate it and the flavor likely will not be noticeable. Think pasta sauce, pot roast…things that may simmer for a while for the flavor to mellow out or have other prominent flavors,” Cobbins says.
In Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, for instance, the garlic will be cooked in a slow cooker along with ground beef, onion, tomatoes, and seasonings until it’s tender.
For other recipes, where the garlic isn’t cooked for a long period of time (like a quick stir-fry), or a fresh salsa where the garlic will be used raw, you’ll definitely want to purchase a fresh bulb of garlic.
Just make sure you store it in an easy-to-reach place this time—maybe near the wine or the chocolate?
