Of all smells, bread; of all tastes, salt.
~George Herbert
Trust no one unless you have eaten much salt with him.
~Cicero
Salt is born of the purest of parents: the sun and the sea.
~Pythagoras
Where would we be without salt?
~James Beard
Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.
~Nelson Mandela
What other seasoning has the lore of salt? For thousands of years it has been used not just as a seasoning, but as a food preservative, as trading currency, as a mark of affluence, even as a funeral offering in ancient Egypt – whole books have been written about it.
If I was limited to one food seasoning, hands down, it would be salt. The more I experiment with different types of salt, the more I appreciate its versatility. And I don’t speak just of savory dishes; how better to top a creamy chocolate ganache or accentuate the rich buttery flavor of caramel than with salt?
I have several types of salt that I now consider staples, here are a few:
- Fresh Herb Salt (a P&S video post)
- Homemade Celery Salt
- Citrus Salt
- and something new, Homemade Garlic Salt!
It occurred to me when I saw green garlic, a favorite of mine, in our CSA share, that I love garlic and salt together. But the store bought version of garlic salt tends to have an odd, almost acrid taste. So I thought, why not make homemade garlic salt? And not just with the cloves of garlic, but the tender garlic greens as well? So. Delicious. The tender greens give the salt a bright, almost lime green color.
To allow the moisture from the green garlic to infuse the salt with flavor and dry to perfectly crunchy crystals, I dried the salt overnight on a baking sheet – a tip from this post.
How about you? What is your favorite seasoning? Do you have a type or flavor of salt that you love? How do you use it?
- 1 head of green garlic and its tender greens, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup coarse sea salt
- With the food processor running, add the chopped garlic and greens. Process until finely minced, 15 to 30 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add salt to garlic in processor; process until thoroughly combined, 10 to 15 seconds.
- Pour garlic salt over a rimmed baking sheet and spread into a thin, even layer.
- Allow garlic salt to dry overnight.
- Once dry, use a stainless steel or plastic spatula to loosen salt from baking sheet. Press the salt with the back of the spatula to break any large chunks of salt apart.
- If you prefer a finer salt, process garlic salt again to your desired consistency.
- Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place.
Welcome! I'm Marissa, and I write this blog. I write about the recipes that propel me (and hopefully you) into the kitchen. 
Would this work with a regular head of garlic?
Hi Nikki. Sure, that will work…
Hello! I tried making it myself but the end product is taking an awfully long time to dry. Is this normal?
Hi there – perhaps too thick a layer? I spread mine in a thin layer on a cookie sheet and it dried overnight. If you want to speed things up, maybe a low oven (150 degrees F) stirring once in a while until dry?
How long does it keep?
That’s a great question. I imagine that I’ll use mine up before I have time to worry about it. 🙂 Looking around the web it seems that commercially prepared garlic salt has at least a 2-year shelf life when properly stored. The fact that this is dried before you store it should help with the shelf life too. Here’s one source I found with some spice storage guidelines and I note that they use nothing but salt and garlic in their version, i.e. no preservatives – http://www.frontiercoop.com/learn/ss_seasoningstorage.php
I really want to make my own garlic salt now! It sounds so easy but delicious 😀
You’ll love it! And yes, so easy and SO good.
The color looks deceiving. 🙂
In a photo, you’re right. But in person that great garlic scent leaves no doubt about what it is. 🙂
The color is amazing and I can just imagine the flavor! Pretty amazing salt Marissa. It`s one thing I`ve yet to make in my kitchen, but I think I will need some more space… And I love the second quote!
I love that quote too…there were so many great salt sayings to choose from that it was hard to narrow it down!
That looks so yummy! I’m not keen on store-bought garlic salt either, for the same reasons. I’ll be waiting a little while to be able to get garlic with the stems on at the market but I’ll keep an eye out.
If you have a farmer’s market in town, check that out too. I’ve had good luck finding it at ours.