Garlic is full of strong, transformative flavor, and a little goes a long way. Still, some of us can never get enough of the stuff—and if you’re all-in on alliums, there are plenty of dishes that cater to your craving. At The Takeout, garlic is gospel, and we incorporate it into our recipes at every available opportunity. What follows are some of our best, most garlicky recipes for all the diehard fans out there.
If you order Papa Johns pizza with any frequency, it’s probably because each pizza is served with Garlic Sauce, a velvety, buttery condiment that turns average pizza into the stuff of legend. But you don’t have to order from the Papa every time you’re craving these garlic notes; the sauce is easy to replicate at home with our pitch-perfect copycat recipe. (Note that if you want to get the closest copycat possible, you’ll need a kitchen scale.) Get the recipe for copycat Papa Johns Garlic Sauce here.
A bold condiment like Lemon Pickled Garlic turns a hunk of cheese and a loaf of bread into a meal, so it’s perfect for when you don’t feel like cooking. It takes five minutes to make, doesn’t require turning on the stove, dirties few dishes, can be made spicy or mild, and stays good in the fridge for up to four months. The hardest part is waiting three days for all the flavors to meld in the fridge; after that, go to town. Get the recipe for Lemon Pickled Garlic here.
You can’t beat the classics, and garlic bread proves it. Every fan of this stuff has their go-to method: cutting the bread longways, or spreading on mayonnaise and parmesan cheese, or cutting to the chase and going straight for the frozen Texas Toast. This version involves slicing a baguette like Hasselback potatoes, spooning the garlic mixture into the crevices between each slice. It’s a retro, nostalgic preparation, right down to the parsley on top. Get the recipe for Classic Garlic Bread here.
You might be wondering how you’d use Honey-Fermented Garlic in your own kitchen. Glad you asked! Pair it with toasted bread, grilled meats, charred vegetables, charcuterie spreads, barbecue sauce, pizzas—in fact, there’s nothing we wouldn’t encourage you to try with a spoonful of this condiment on top. It’s sweet, pungent, and spicy, a combination that just about any meal could use more of. Get the recipe for Honey-Fermented Garlic here.
To say that ajo blanco is garlic-forward is an understatement. The garlic practically invades your bloodstream. What’s deceptive is that this soup is delicious on first bite—then a garlic aftertaste rises up and wallops you. If you love garlic, there’s nothing better. This is a great cold spring soup, featuring the brightness of cucumbers, the sweetness of melon, and the invigorating kick of garlic. (If you want to ease into it, start out by using only one clove; we used four or five.) Get the recipe for Ajo Blanco here.
Instead of a base of mayo or Miracle Whip, this recipe for pasta salad starts with a rich, garlicky aioli. The garlic and lemon play well with vinegar, which is tossed with the pasta as soon as it’s out of the pot. Curly parsley rounds out the salad with a pleasing crunch. Best of all, since salads don’t have to be precise, you can dial up the garlic flavors as much as you like and it won’t disrupt the overall dish. Get the recipe for Garlicky Lemon Herb Macaroni Salad here.
These heart-shaped roasted potatoes are designed to be a Valentine’s Day side dish, but you can ditch the seasonal cookie cutters and serve these up year-round (or keep them heart-shaped and eat ’em whenever you please). Simply throw the russet potatoes on a sheet tray, toss in oil and chopped fresh herbs, and roast until delightfully golden brown. In the last few minutes of baking, you’ll add grated garlic, grated Parmesan, and butter to make them extra rich and cheesy. Beautiful enough for your Valentine, delicious enough for anytime. Get the recipe for Garlic-Parmesan Roasted Potato Hearts here.
Toum is a Lebanese spread/dip/sauce with the power to bathe each succulent morsel of meat—or in this case, roasted vegetables and pita—in a furious, pungent bite. To mellow the flavors just slightly, this recipe cooks most of the garlic in olive oil and leaves only a small portion of it raw. (If you want a stronger batch, simply cook less of the garlic.) You can use toum in place of mayonnaise on sandwiches, and you can smear it under the skin of a chicken before roasting. It’s a versatile condiment that everyone should try making at least once. Get the recipe for Golden Garlic Toum here.
Combining honey, garlic, and black pepper results in a flavor sensation greater than the sum of its parts. In Hong Kong, this mixture is used to glaze crispy strips of beef tenderloin, a meal so delicious that you shouldn’t have to travel to Hong Kong just to enjoy it. If you make this dish at home, you can dial the garlic up or down depending on how much you wanna party. Four cloves ought to satisfy any garlic lover, but no one will say anything if you use five cloves or more. Get the recipe for Honey Garlic Crispy Beef here.
Warm, smooshy carbohydrates slathered in garlic butter. What’s not to love? Some people make garlic knots at home with sourdough starter, but not all of us have managed to keep a starter alive in our kitchens, thank you very much. For the latter group of home cooks, we suggest starting with a tube of Pillsbury’s rolled pizza dough, which you simply cut into 1" strips, roll into knots, douse in a garlic butter mixture, and bake according to package directions. They come out of the oven looking (and tasting) downright impressive. Get the recipe for “Homemade” Garlic Knots here.
This recipe is two snacks in one: first it contains instructions for homemade focaccia, a garlicky no-knead bread that bakes up beautifully. Second, there are instructions for Garlic Bread Fries, which involve taking that lovely focaccia, slicing it into spears, adding more garlic and cheese, and sending it through the air fryer to create rich, dippable sticks that are crunchy on the outside and still a tiny bit soft on the inside. Get the recipe for Garlic Bread Fries here.
Fall is peak season for kabocha squash, a sweet, fluffy, and nutty variety that can be layered in thick slabs on a sandwich to create a satisfying vegetarian alternative to more carnivorous deli creations. This Roasted Squash Hoagie with Onion & Garlic Mayo enriches the squash with plenty of fat and deep garlic flavor, and chipotle seasoning adds a kick for the sweet squash to play against. Fall just got a lot more delicious. Get the recipe here.
The Greek potato-garlic spread skordalia offers a creamy yet aggressive garlic assault that is especially delicious when slathered on crusty bread. With only five ingredients, this is a memorable dish that can be put together in a few minutes; the most labor-intensive part is just boiling potatoes. Pro tip: make sure your dinner guests don’t think these are mashed potatoes and heap a big pile of it on their plates! Get the recipe for skordalia here.
You’ve probably heard of 40-Clove Garlic Chicken, a recipe whose virtues are all right there in the name. Our version borrows techniques from some of the greats (James Beard, Ina Garten, and Mark Bittman are all represented here), and the result is one big, warm, comforting hibernation meal, the kind of thing you eat before an incredibly satisfying doze, and/or the kind of meal you need a break from before you have dessert. It’s absurdly cozy, no matter what the weather is outside. Get the recipe for 40-Clove Garlic Chicken here.