Here's What You Can Substitute For Garlic

Look up almost any savory recipe — especially dishes like curries, pastas, and more — and you'll most likely see that garlic, or some form of garlic, is listed as an ingredient. Garlic has been a beloved ingredient for more than 5,000 years, and it certainly comes with some great powers like lowering blood pressure and its antimicrobial effect, and, of course, it's the ability to keep enemies at bay thanks to the bad breath that follows (via Live Science).

As an important component to flavor for many dishes and as an ingredient with a reasonably long shelf-life, it's entirely possible to look up one day and find you're completely out of garlic. Should that dark day come, think on your feet and use a garlic substitute. Items that probably sit on your spice shelves, like garlic powder and garlic salt, are one option. It's even possible to make your own garlic powder if you have old or leftover garlic. Otherwise, try pulling some minced garlic from the refrigerator or chopping up some shallots, which are much milder than onions (via Huffpost).

Be careful, though — not all garlic substitutes are created equal. Some are much stronger than fresh cloves of garlic. The closest substitute to finely chopped, fresh garlic is jarred minced garlic. To make this substitution, simply replace every clove of garlic the recipes call for with half a teaspoon of jarred minced garlic.

Garlic powder and garlic salt are more overpowering substitutes, so these are often used in smaller quantities. To replace a single clove of garlic from a recipe with garlic powder, use an eighth of a teaspoon of the spice powder. Half a teaspoon of garlic salt can be used for each garlic clove, too. In this case, however, half a teaspoon of salt needs to be eliminated from the recipe to account for the additional salt in the garlic salt mixture. This will keep the dish from becoming too salty.

Finally, half a teaspoon to a whole teaspoon of minced shallot can also be used in place of a single garlic clove. Depending on your personal taste and the strength of the shallot, it can often taste milder or sweeter than garlic, so don't worry about adding a bit more than a half teaspoon.