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Vegetables

Garlic

Allium sativum

Garlic is a vegetable bulb with a sulphurous aroma and moderate heat. It softens when cooked and can be used raw, roasted, pickled, blended into a paste, or to infuse and season dishes. It pairs with onion, tomato, and ginger.

  • Plant-based
  • Gluten-free
  • No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Category
Vegetables
Part used
Bulb
Family
Amaryllidaceae
Texture
Soft
Cooked most in
Asia, Europe, Africa
Top country
Indonesia
Garlic, whole

Photo: Ivar Leidus · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use garlic

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Infuse
  • Paste blend
  • Pickle
  • Raw
  • Roast
  • Season

Preparing it

Discard the papery skins for most uses. For roasting, cut off the bulb top and coat the cloves with oil.

Cooking with it

Cooking mellows garlic's heat and makes its flavor sweeter. Garlic can turn green or blue during cooking or pickling.

Goes well with

If you don’t have garlic

  • garlic powder · Works in a pinch, for flavour

    Its flavor differs somewhat from fresh garlic.

Flavour

Taste and texture

Heat

Allicin3 out of 5

Aroma

  • Sulphurous

Texture, cooked

  • Soft

Shopping

Choosing and storing garlic

Keeping it

  • Pantry · whole

Nutrition

What 100 g of garlic holds

Per 100 g, raw. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 19%Fat 1%Carbohydrate 80%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of garlic, raw
Energy143 kcal · 597 kJ
Protein6.6 g
Fat0.38 g
of which saturated0.09 g
Carbohydrate28 g
of which sugars1 g
Fibre2.7 g
Sodium17 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of garlic, raw: minerals and vitamins
Potassium401 mg
Calcium181 mg
Iron1.7 mg
Magnesium25 mg
Zinc1.2 mg
Vitamin C10 mg
Folate3 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (foods 1104647, 169230), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where garlic is cooked

235 dishes in the catalogue use garlic. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list garlic among their ingredients.

Origins

Native to
Central Asia, Iran

On the table

Dishes made with garlic

48 of the 235 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

  • Coto makassar

    Indonesia

  • Hallaca

    Venezuela

  • Goulash

  • Laksa

    Iran

  • Batiburrillo

    Paraguay

  • Thiebou Yapp

    Senegal

  • Niçard salad

    France

  • Arròs al forn

    Spain

  • Crawfish Monica

    United States

  • Zelekivka zlyvanka

    Ukraine

  • Gonré

    Burkina Faso

  • Malarrabia

    Peru

  • Zibdieh

  • Calulu and Funge

    Angola

  • Dagga

  • Djenkoume

    Togo

  • Fenkata

    Malta

  • Poqui poqui

    Philippines

  • Sardenaira

    Italy

  • Amiwô

    Benin

  • Babuko

    Türkiye

  • Migas alentejanas

    Portugal

  • Radhkha

    Tunisia

  • Refried beans

    Mexico

  • Balila

    Lebanon

  • Chashushuli

    Georgia

  • Csülök pékné módra

    Hungary

  • Mariscal

    Chile

  • Mititei

    Romania

  • Taktouka

    Morocco

  • Argentinian pizza

    Argentina

  • Efó

    Brazil

  • Matapa

    Mozambique

  • Snow White salad

    Bulgaria

  • Steamed prawns with garlic

    China

  • Garlic fingers

    Canada

  • Skordalia

    Greece

  • Vine leaf roll

    Türkiye

  • Caluk noodles

    Indonesia

  • Fideuà

    Spain

  • Bouillabaisse

    France

  • Vermicelle Poulet

    Senegal

  • Shrimp étouffée

    United States

  • Kashk e badamjan

    Iran

  • Açorda

    Portugal

  • Kissuto rombo

    Angola

  • Meftune

  • Shkmeruli

    Georgia

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include garlic.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: garlic in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.
Allergens
None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin
No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten
None
Alcohol
None
Caffeine
None
Pork
None

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (11)

Around the world

What garlic is called

Names in 85 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    ajo

  • French

    tête d'ail · ail

  • Italian

    aglio · agli · testa d'aglio · teste d'aglio

  • Portuguese

    alho

  • German

    Knoblauchzwiebel · Knoblauch

  • Dutch

    knoflook

  • Greek

    σκόρδο

  • Turkish

    sarımsak

  • Russian

    чеснок · головка чеснока

  • Polish

    czosnek

  • Arabic

    ثوم

  • Hebrew

    שום

Show all 85 languages

  • Albanian

    hudhër

  • Aragonese

    allo

  • Armenian

    սխտոր

  • Arpitan

    aille

  • Asturian

    ayu

  • Aymara

    ajusa

  • Azerbaijani

    sarımsaq

  • Bangla

    রসুন

  • Bashkir

    һарымһаҡ

  • Basque

    baratxuri · berakatz

  • Belarusian

    часнок

  • Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)

    часнык · галоўка часныку

  • Breton

    penn-kignen · kignen

  • Burmese

    ကြက်သွန်ဖြူ

  • Catalan

    all

  • Cebuano

    ahos · lësünë

  • Chinese

    大蒜 · 蒜

  • Czech

    česnek · hlavička česneku · stroužek česneku

  • Danish

    hvidløg

  • Egyptian Arabic

    توم

  • eml

    ai

  • Esperanto

    ajlo

  • Estonian

    küüslauk

  • Finnish

    valkosipuli · kynsilaukka

  • Frafra

    galiki

  • Galician

    allo

  • Georgian

    ნიორი

  • Goan Konkani

    लसूण

  • Haitian Creole

    lay

  • Hausa

    tafarnuwa

  • Hindi

    लहसुन

  • Hungarian

    fokhagyma

  • Inari Sami

    vielgissipuli

  • Indonesian

    bawang putih

  • Irish

    gairleog

  • Japanese

    ニンニク

  • Korean

    마늘

  • Kurdish

    sîr

  • Kurdish (Latin)

    sîr

  • Kyrgyz

    чеснок

  • Ladino

    ajo

  • Latin

    Allii sativi bulbus · Allium sativum L., bulbus

  • Latvian

    ķiploki

  • Lule Sami

    vielggisløhkka

  • Malay

    bawang putih

  • Malayalam

    വെളുത്തുള്ളി

  • Maltese

    tewm

  • Nepali

    लसुन

  • Northern Sami

    vilgeslávki

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    hvitløk

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    kvitlauk

  • Occitan

    alh

  • Odia

    ରସୁଣ · ରସୁଣ କୋଳ

  • Pali

    𑀮𑀲𑀼𑀡 · lasuṇa

  • Picard

    al

  • Piedmontese

    aj

  • Romanian

    usturoi · ai · cățel de usturoi

  • Sardinian

    azu

  • Serbian

    бели лук

  • Shan

    ၽၵ်းမီႇၽိူၵ်ႇ · ၽၵ်းမီႇ​​ႁေႃ

  • Sicilian

    agghia

  • Skolt Sami

    viõʹlǧǧesluukk

  • Slovenian

    česen

  • Southern Sami

    veelkes-lööke · veelkeslööke

  • Swedish

    vitlök

  • syl

    ꠞꠃꠘ

  • Tamil

    பூண்டு

  • Tatar

    сарымсак

  • tay

    niniku

  • Telugu

    వెల్లులి

  • Thai

    กระเทียม

  • Traditional Chinese

    大蒜 · 蒜

  • Tunisian Arabic (Arabic)

    راس ثوم

  • Ukrainian

    часник

  • Welsh

    garlleg · craf

  • Yiddish

    קנאָבל

Photos

More photos of garlic

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q21546392

Photos

Photo: Ivar Leidus · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Donovan Govan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Kuwanishbek · CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Photo: Kjokkenutstyr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons