Are you a garlic fan? If so, you’re in a for a very delicious Thai fried garlic recipe! The crispy and aromatic fried garlic makes this simple dish a perfect garnish over many Thai dishes. The best part is this recipe is easy, quick to make and it keeps for a few days in your pantry!

Thai Fried Garlic Oil Recipe

Name: Thai Fried Garlic Oil Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 2 cups oil, (vegetable or grape or canola oil); 1 cup garlic, roughly chopped; A tiny dash of salt (optional)

Thai fried garlic is not talked about so much in Thai cooking, but it has a huge flavor impact on many dishes. You can use the fried garlic as a garnish for soups, salads and stir fry dishes in Thai cooking. Without it, you’ll know something is missing, and a certain dish or recipe is just not the same without it.

How to Use Crispy Thai Fried Garlic?

You can use the fried garlic as a garnish for many soups, salads and stir fry dishes in Thai cooking. Here are some of my recipes that you can use fried garlic in.

Thai Chicken and Rice Soup, (Kao Tom).
Fresh Mint & Tuna Salad.

Also, check out a few recipes from my e-book that you can use fried garlic in. It's FREE!

Benefits of Garlic

Not only does garlic season food with the most aromatic fragrance, but it also has several health benefits that are good for our bodies. Studies have shown that garlic helps with fighting inflammation, improving skin and hair, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, and helps boost our immune system to keep us healthy. So, with all those amazing benefits, we should use garlic in our diet as much as we can, shouldn’t we?

How Long does Fried Garlic Last?

This Thai fried garlic recipe keeps well in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks. The infused oil is amazing for cooking other recipes as well. The oil will keep up to two weeks at room temperature in a sealed glass container.

Ingredients for Thai Fried Garlic:

2 cups oil, (vegetable, avocado, grape or canola oil)
1 cup garlic, roughly chopped
A tiny dash of salt (optional)

Be sure to use cooking oil that is considered to have a high smoking point, meaning, oils that can handle high heat without changing its properties while cooking. I suggest using vegetable, grapeseed, avocado, corn or canola oil. Olive oil is not recommended, especially the extra virgin oil.

How to Cook Thai Fried Garlic

Step by step pictures below:

Peel and crush the garlic cloves with a heavy knife by pressing down on the knife with the palm of your hand. This little tip will help with the ease of peeling your garlic cloves. AND this method also helps release oil from the garlic creating an even more fragrant aroma for your fry garlic. Roughly chopped the garlic and set aside until the oil is ready.

2. Add oil to a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Please make sure the pot is large enough to hold the oil and garlic. A wok is good for this recipe too. Wait until the oil is hot. Test the oil with a chopstick, the oil should bubble, if so, then add garlic to the pan. Another way to test the oil is to drop a couple of pieces of garlic in the oil and see how it responds. If it's ready, the oil will bubble over the pieces, if not, it will just float there in the oil and should, therefore, wait just a bit longer.

3. Fry the garlic until it's light golden brown (anywhere from 4-6minutes, depending on your stovetop). Stir the garlic around a couple of times to make sure the pieces are evenly cooked. The best thing to do is to keep a close watch on the garlic. Once it starts to turn golden brown, you'll need to move fast as the garlic will burn very quickly.

4. Remove the pot from the stove and immediately strain out the fried garlic into a plate lined with a paper towel. Spread the pieces out thinly on the paper towel. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight or glass container. This is important or your fried garlic will turn soggy if stored while still warm. You can add a dash of salt here, but this is purely optional.

5. For the oil, wait until it's cooled before storing it in a glass container. Store the oil separately and keep both at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. You now have a garlic defused oil that you can use for cooking. It adds an amazing aroma to any dish you cook with. Enjoy!