Is Sprouted Garlic Safe to Eat?

The night before last, when I was teaching one of my Paleoista classes at The Gourmandise in Santa Monica, we were doing our mise en place when one of the students asked me a question I thought would be worthy of writing a post about.

Whilst chopping our garlic, she noticed one of her cloves had begun to sprout.  She said that she’d heard that eating sprouted garlic might indicate that particular clove, or even the whole head should be discarded and wanted to know what the real deal was.

If you see a little bit of green in the center of garlic cloves, it simply means the garlic has begun to age and is about to sprout. It’s harmless, but it does have a bitter flavor, so you’re probably better off cutting out that little bit and using the rest. 

What’s Cooking America has a great site devoted completely to all things garlic and offers great tips on selecting, storing and cooking with garlic.

Most importantly, buy it fresh, local and organic.   Not only is it the most cost effective, it will also last far longer than the type you can purchase which is already peeled and ‘ready to use’.  

With its many health benefits and wonderful taste, garlic is a must-eat part of  True Paleo living!