Garlic infused olive oil is a flavoring ingredient that can be easily made, and will keep for several months in the refrigerator. This oil can be used for sautéing, grilling, or salads. It needs to be made a day or two ahead so that the garlic flavors can concentrate. The flavored oil takes only a minute or two of hands-on time.

Of course, it is tempting to add fresh garlic to the olive oil; fresh is always better, right? Not in this case. Fresh garlic contains water, which encourages bacterial growth such as botulism. The same thing applies when adding anything with water content such as citrus peel, fresh herbs, or chili peppers to oil. When flavoring oil, the add-ins must be dried to be safe.

Once your garlic infused olive oil has had a chance to sit, why not try it out on Grilled Chicken and Zucchini Linguini. Or, brush it on vegetables such as eggplant, yellow squash, corn on the cob, mushrooms, potato chunks (partially cooked), or even tomatoes; place the veggies directly on the grill or thread them on skewers. If the veggies you’ve chosen are small, the skewer method works best since the skewer keeps the pieces from falling through the grill rack.

Garlic Infused Olive Oil

2 tablespoons dried garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Measure the garlic in a jar with a tight-fitting screw-type lid.


2. Add the olive oil.


3. Screw on the lid, let the mixture sit for at least 24 hours, then use as needed.

Note: this olive oil can be kept on the cupboard shelf for up to 2 weeks. For longer storage it can be refrigerated; when refrigerated, however, it will solidify and go cloudy. It will go back to normal after being out of the refrigerator for a while, or you can speed up the process by setting the jar in a bowl of hot tap water.