How to Cut a Garlic Clove

Each head of garlic has several cloves.

Garlic can add its distinctive dash of flavor to a wide range of dishes. You can sauté it with butter to make garlic bread, add it to pasta or pizza sauce for extra complexity, or add it to a stir fry. Its flavor also works well with some meats, especially lamb and strongly flavored fish such as salmon. Garlic can be somewhat difficult to work with, as each individual clove is coated with several layers of papery skin.

Things You'll Need

• Cutting board
• Knife

Instructions

1. Place a clove of garlic on a cutting board and carefully cut off both ends. This will allow you to remove the skin more easily.

2. Peel the skin off of the garlic and discard. Depending on the clove of garlic, you may need to peel off only a single layer, or you may need to deal with several.

3. Hold the peeled clove of garlic against the cutting board. Tuck your fingers inward slightly so that the tips of your fingernails are pressed against the garlic. This will make it harder for you to injure yourself with the knife.

4. Cut the garlic clove into slices of your desired thickness, scooting your fingers backward to reveal more of the clove when necessary. Depending on your recipe and how you wish to use the garlic, you may either use these slices or you may cut the slices in halves, quarters or even smaller pieces.

Tips & Warnings

• If the appearance of the final garlic pieces is not important, you can peel and cut the clove more easily by crushing it. Cut off both ends of the clove as described, then place the blade of the knife parallel to the to the cutting board with the garlic clove in between. Press straight down on the knife to crush the garlic clove. The peel should now be loose; remove it from the clove and discard. Chop the crushed garlic clove into pieces of your desired size.

Resources

• Garlic Recipes: Home