How to Fix Pesto That Tastes Too Strongly of Garlic

Adding a little acidity (lemon juice or vinegar) and balancing that with a little sweetness (sugar or honey) is the best way to take the edge off a pesto that tastes overwhelmingly of garlic.

Too much garlic can instantly ruin a meal

Almost every cuisine on earth makes use of garlic, and it's a vital component in pesto. We know from experience that being too heavy-handed with it can risk ruining a meal, so here we're outlining what you can do to ensure you don't accidentally make a homemade pesto that's too garlicky. We'll also look at what you can do to fix a pesto that has had too much garlic already added.

Preventing too much garlic is better than trying to fix it later

If you're making pesto at home, you have the advantage of being able to add garlic incrementally. That simply means adding a little at a time and tasting regularly until you reach the perfect balance of ingredients, which is, after all, what great pesto is all about.

How you treat garlic makes a huge difference

There's an important nuance that should be part of your culinary repertoire, namely the way you process your garlic cloves. Garlic's distinctive spicy kick comes from allicin, a sulfur compound released when garlic cells are damaged. Finely grating garlic causes so much cell damage that you'll end up with a puree so pungent that even the biggest garlic lovers will turn their noses up at it. Using a much less abrasive technique, like chopping the cloves with a knife, puts far less stress on the cells. The outcome is still fully flavourful but without the excessive, spicy pungency.

Roasting garlic mellows its pungency

If you love garlicky pesto but don't appreciate the aggressive spiciness of raw cloves, cooking your garlic before adding it to your pesto is the perfect solution. It doesn't make a huge difference whether you boil, microwave, or fry your garlic cloves; all methods end up with the same outcome.

If you have the time, though, we highly recommend taking a whole garlic bulb, chopping off the top to reveal the cloves, and drizzling with olive oil. Wrap the bulb in tinfoil and roast in a 180°C oven until a garlicky aroma fills your kitchen. Check after about 15 minutes; by then, the cloves should have become slightly jammy and will pop out of their skins when gently squeezed. Take care not to leave your garlic in the oven for too long because, if overcooked, it can turn unpleasantly bitter.

How to fix too much garlic in pesto

If you're the unfortunate owner of a shop-bought pesto that contains too much garlic, your options are limited but not catastrophic. Let's start by looking at some of the suggestions you’ll find online.

A common recommendation is to add more base ingredients (basil, cheese, oil, etc.), effectively diluting the percentage of garlic in the sauce. The trouble is that it rather negates the point of buying pre-made pesto in the first place.

If you've got a pesto that's quite chunky, then the simplest solution is to identify any little pieces of garlic and remove them. However, many store-bought pesto sauces are pureed into a smooth, homogeneous paste, making this usually impossible.

If we were working with a tomato sauce, we'd recommend simmering it to deactivate the enzymes responsible for garlic's sharpness, but because pesto is a proudly raw sauce, we can't condone doing that.

Another thing we don't recommend is trying to mask the garlic with a stronger flavor, like chili, onion, or extra herbs. It’s a pity to have to counterbalance a flavor you don’t like with another assertive one just to cover it up.

Some people swear by adding a creamy ingredient like crème fraîche, yogurt, or butter. This method undoubtedly works well to mellow the garlic flavour, but we find that these kinds of ingredients turn the pesto into a sauce that doesn't really resemble pesto at all.

The solution: fix too much garlic with a little acidity and sweetness

What we do recommend is our go-to method for mellowing the overly garlicky taste of pesto: adding a touch of acidity and sweetness.

Acid (normally in the form of lemon juice or vinegar) denatures allicin, the source of garlic's spiciness. Make sure you add it sparingly, or you'll switch from complaining about your sauce being too garlicky to it being too sour. Adding a little sweetness (normally sugar or honey) takes the edge off garlic's pungency and balances the acidity at the same time.