Too Much Garlic Powder? Here’s How To Fix It

Too Much Garlic Powder
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Garlic powder comes with a lot of upsides: it has a long shelf life and keeps you from having to peel or smash cloves. It also has some downsides, including how easy it is to add too much of it to a dish by accident. The lid of the bottle might fall off or you might underestimate its pungency. If you use too much garlic powder, try one of our fixes. 

Table of Contents

Dilute

The easiest way around too much of any spice is simply to dilute it. Most online solutions will have some version of this. Add water or stock to a soup to reduce the concentration of garlic powder. In a stew or similar dish, add more of the other ingredients. While dilution increases the volume of the dish and the risk of waste, it is the most effective way to make a dish palatable without having to start over. 

Wash it off

Dilution might not help you if the garlic powder is on the surface of a pork roast or turkey or similar dish that you have not immersed in liquid. The best option in these cases is to remove the garlic powder from the surface and re-season without as much of it. Sometimes the most efficient way to accomplish this is to take it to the sink and run some water over it. This option will also work for some roasted vegetables. 

Add something creamy

Creamy ingredients can have the effect of muting excessively pungent flavors, including garlic. Keep in mind that creamy does not always mean a dairy product, which may not work in some garlicky dishes. For example, a dairy product will probably not work in a Thai dish, but coconut milk might. 

Make it acidic

Strong acidic flavors can distract from high levels of some spices. The point of an acidic flavor is not that it will hide the garlic, but it might cut through it to make it not seem as overpowering. Depending on the dish, you can opt for vinegar or lemon juice. Lime juice may be more traditional in dishes from Mexico or Southeast Asia. 

Add onion powder

Onion is an Allium just like garlic and is equally savory, but brings a few distinct notes to the dish. Onion’s savory character is why you typically see both onion and garlic required in the same recipes. Both onion and garlic notes together are important for a full umami flavor. Add onion powder to your dish to counteract the excessive garlic. Use onion powder specifically since the flavor concentration is about the same as garlic’s, so you can add amount the same amount to the dish to balance out the flavors. 

Sweeten it

If you like the flavor of garlic, too much of it may not be your key problem. An overdose of garlic powder may be more than just garlicky it is sometimes bitter as well. The best way to soften bitter notes in a dish is to add something sweet. This is not necessarily the best solution for all dishes, but will work in those that already have a little sweetness. Examples include barbecue sauces and the sauce for General Tso’s chicken. 

Add potato

The addition of potato is one of those tricks that your grandma may have taught you for dealing with too much salt in a dish. Well, potatoes can do more than just balance salt. You can use it to deal with any excessive flavor, including that of garlic powder. Just add diced potatoes to the dish and remove them before serving it.