| Servings | Prep Time |
| 2 cups | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 20 minutes | 2 hours |
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Having garlic infused olive oil on hand makes adding garlic flavor to anything ridiculously easy (because mincing or grating garlic can just be too demanding sometimes).
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- Having garlic infused olive oil on hand makes adding garlic flavor to anything ridiculously easy (because mincing or grating garlic can just be too demanding sometimes).
- Stir the garlic, however you’ve prepared it, into the oil in a saucepan that fits it all comfortably (about 1-quart) and let it sit for 1 hour.
- After the hour, put it over a medium-low flame and let it sit until it starts to become warm and fragrant and just begins to sizzle oh-so-gently—about 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to the lowest flame you can get from your oven and let it simmer for 15 minutes more, stirring it occasionally.
- Shut the heat off and let the garlic steep in the oil until it is completely cooled at the very least or up to 6 hours.
- After it’s done steeping, strain the oil through a fine-mesh sieve to catch all of the garlic. If any stray bits of garlic strain through the sieve then strain it again—it’s important that no bits of garlic, or anything else, are left in the oil.
- Transfer it to a bottle or container.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: Let’s take some time to talk about something really sexy… Botulism. If you do a quick search for “garlic oil” online you will read about botulism. Botulism is a bacteria that’s found in soil and thrives in environments of low oxygen. Since garlic grows in the soil and oil is a no-oxygen environment, garlic-infused oils are a pretty good place for these bacteria to breed. By heating the oil and the garlic you’re killing off the toxin and spores. The CDC says temperatures above 85° kill the toxins and spores die above boiling point (approx. 212°), which the oil should reach. They also mention that infused oils should be stored in the refrigerator. Commercial infused oils use additives and preservatives that make them safe to stay in your cupboard but obviously we don’t have that here. So I’ll say that, per the CDC, you should store this in the fridge. I will also say that I have never stored my oil in the fridge and years ago, before I learned about botulism, I use to keep a bottle of oil with chunks of garlic, and maybe a sprig or two or rosemary or thyme, right on the counter. I won’t tell you what to do—just be aware of the facts.