The taste of garlic can bring a meal from bland to grand. Seriously, if you're frying up meat that's been thawed for a couple of days, and you aren't even sure what you're preparing for dinner, just pull out some garlic cloves, garlic powder, and garlic salt.
Fresh garlic cloves are unmatched, but I don't necessarily feel like I'm settling for the bottom of the barrel spices when I use garlic powder or garlic salt. Although, I find myself using both when I don't have garlic cloves. If you'd like to use both, or pick between the two, what's the difference between garlic powder and garlic salt?
Garlic Powder vs. Garlic Salt
The major difference is that garlic salt is a mixture of garlic powder and salt. That's right, if you've been shaking table salt into your food items after using garlic salt, you were just diluting the garlic flavor with more salt. In fact, most commercial garlic salt mixes are 1 part garlic powder to 3 parts salt. If you're watching your blood pressure, stay away from the garlic salt.
I love the garlic and saltiness with my veggies. I truly have to watch out for my salt intake because I can really throw down in the kitchen as long as I have garlic salt in the pantry. For one of the best garlic salts available, check out Amazon or Walmart for Lawry's garlic salt.
What Is Garlic Powder?
Powdered garlic is dehydrated garlic. The cloves of garlic are minced until it's teeny tiny, and is then placed in a dehydrator to make it powdered. If a recipe calls for garlic salt, you now know that you can skip the kosher salt (if desired).
What is Granulated Garlic?
What about good ol' granulated garlic? Granulated garlic has a different texture than garlic powder. Granulated garlic isn't as minced as powder, so it's rougher.
Why Is Minced Garlic in Oil?
Many people like to buy "jarred garlic." Jarred garlic is often packed with an oil like olive oil (or water) to remain freshness. You can easily make your own jarred garlic at home with a food processor and flavored oil.
Which one do you prefer? Since I know that garlic powder is a big part of salad dressings, I have to go with that one. I love ranch dressing, and yes, I firmly believe it goes with pizza.
