Garlic is a popular food that’s used in many recipes and it’s also been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. Not to mention its vital historical use in the fighting of vampires, of course!
Among the suggested health benefits of garlic are that it can improve blood circulation, lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels.
And as it’s so tasty, it’s no surprise it appears in so many recipes. Most of these recipes will only require a clove of garlic or two. But just how much is a clove of garlic?
How much is a clove of garlic?
The image at the top of this article shows a full head (or bulb) of garlic which is how you normally buy it from stores. When cooking, you won’t often need this much, rather you’re likely to need just a few cloves.
As you can see in the above image, a bulb is made up of a number of different segments, in much the same way that an orange is. Each one of these segments is called a clove and is broken off and peeled before being used in recipes.
Usually, the heads of garlic you buy in the stores will have somewhere between ten to fifteen cloves. That said, some varieties of garlic can have many fewer cloves (as little as four or five) per head, while others can have many more – up to about thirty cloves per head.
When using garlic in cooking, don’t be fooled by the apparent small size of a clove. Despite its lack of size, just one clove of garlic can pack a powerful punch. So if you’re tempted to use more than your recipe suggests, you can easily end up with your food being overpowered by the taste of garlic.
How much minced garlic equals one clove?
If a recipe asks you to use minced garlic, one half a teaspoon of minced garlic is equivalent to one clove. This is an equivalent measure to one full teaspoon of chopped garlic.
Half a teaspoon of minced garlic equals one clove.
And if you’re using garlic powder, one eighth of a teaspoon is the equivalent of one clove of garlic.
