Fermented Garlic Honey

Fermented garlic honey might sound unusual, but it’s a really simple way to amp up your next vinaigrette or marinade while reaping the health benefits of both the honey and the garlic. Five minutes of prep and a couple of weeks of patience is all it takes to make this recipe.

Please read the entire post for tips and tricks to ensure a perfect recipe every time. And don't forget to tag @peelwithzeal on Instagram so we can admire your creation!

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As we cook at home more often, I am always looking for ways to make the food interesting. I mean, how much plain steamed broccoli can one woman eat? No, seriously... how much? Am I there yet? Plus, when winter is approaching and anything to boost my immune system is a bonus.

Honey fermented garlic is a quintessential example of food as medicine. Garlic is an excellent immunity booster, and honey is a soothing sweetener for sore throats and can be as effective as cough medicine.  

Fermented garlic softens to texture and flavor somewhere between raw garlic and roasted, yet still firm enough to chop. The garlic's harsh flavor gives way to sweet, pungent aromas.

Now, some people may suggest that you eat a clove a day to boost that immunity. By all means, please give it a try if that’s your thing. I love fermented garlic, but a spoonful of pure garlic, fermented or not, does not help the medicine go down.

How to Use Fermented Garlic Honey

There is an endless amount of ways to honey fermented garlic. So there a list, just to get your creative juices flowing.

• Chop the garlic cloves up and add to a vinaigrette.
• Drizzled over spicy pepperoni pizza.
• Added to marinades in place of raw honey.
• Drizzled over grilled meats, especially anything with lemongrass or ginger in the marinade.
• As a natural cold remedy or cough suppressant.
• Spooned onto cornbread or biscuits.
• As a dip for fried chicken tenders.

Here are a few Peel with Zeal recipes that we recommend substituting this fermented garlic honey recipe for traditional raw honey:

Sweet Potato and Kale Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette
Acorn Squash & Pork Chops with Cranberries 
Rainbow Potato Salad with Cilantro- Olive Vinaigrette

How to Make Fermented Garlic Honey

So, let's get started... put everything in the jar... wait a month. Yep, that is about all it takes to make fermented garlic honey. I know – you were expecting something way more dramatic.

We can break it down into a little more detail. First, peel your garlic and place in a clean glass jar. I once threw the garlic into a vat honey. Bad idea, garlic floats. So you are best off add the garlic first.

You can use a regular jar and lid, but you must remember to burp the jar every few days to release the gases created by the fermentation process.

I highly recommend a Pickle Pipe from Masontops. Weights are purchased separately, we like these glass weights. This will help keep the garlic submerged.

You can purchase the pipe and weights as a package deal here.

After a few days, check to ensure the weight is holding down all the garlic and the honey is starting to bubble, this indicates that fermentation is starting. If you are not using a weight you will need to either flip the jar every other day or use a spoon to push the garlic back to the bottom of the jar.

It should take about a month to fully ferment but I typically start using the garlic and the honey after about 2 weeks.

After the month is up the garlic should not longer float the honey will darken in color. At that point, you can remove the pipe and weight and use a regular lid.

The fermented garlic honey can be store at room temperature for up to a year.

If you try this recipe, be sure to post a photo on Instagram with #peelwithzeal! Follow Peel with Zeal on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook for the latest posts.

Print Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Fermented Garlic Honey

Amp up the garlic in your next sauce or marinade with this no-work recipe.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time0 mins

Fermentation30 d

Total Time10 mins

Course: Canning, Snacks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Fermented Foods, Fermenting, Garlic, Honey

Ingredients

• garlic, peeled
• raw local honey

Special Equipment

• wide mouth mason jars
• Masontops weight and pickle pipe, optional

Instructions

• Place garlic in a clean, dry mason jar and leave a good amount of headspace – things are going to get frothy and the bubbles need room to expand.
• Cover your garlic with honey without infringing on that headspace.
•  Add weight to keep garlic submerged and install your pickle pipe.
• Set in a cool, dark place for four weeks, but do check on it to ensure the garlic stays submerged.

Notes

1. For the large jar in the photo, we used six bulbs of garlic and two cups of honey. Be sure your honey is raw and local is always best!
2. If you don't have a pickle pipe, you can use a regular lid. Just be sure to burp the jar every few days and push the garlic down. See blog posts for more details.