Make this easy fermented garlic and honey for flavorful meals and some immunity boosting in one jar. Ferments can sometimes be fussy bits of preservation. But not with this easy garlic and honey ferment.

This simple recipe goes by many other names, such as “honey fermented garlic”, “fermented honey and garlic”, “garlic infused honey”, or simply “garlic honey.” Don’t let the array of names confuse you, these are all made the same way.

Easy Ferment

This recipe is a perfectly easy and flavorful ferment for beginners. And yet the finished product is wonderfully versatile so that even experienced fermenters will want to keep it on hand.

It is really nothing more than garlic and honey, left to sit alone for a week. There’s no need to watch it, the most active bit of work is peeling the garlic cloves.

To more easily peel garlic cloves, put the side of a chef knife on top of one clove and give it a little wack. Not too hard, you want whole cloves, not crushed cloves.

When you put the honey and garlic in the glass jar, be sure to leave an inch or two of headspace (space between garlic honey and top of the jar). As the honey and garlic ferment, the honey will bubble and might overflow the jar if you don’t leave enough room. A pint jar works great and you can put the jar on a saucer or bowl, just in case.

There’s no need to use a fermentation lid, a regular lid that is put loosely on the jar is just fine. 

The tiny bubbles are a normal part of the fermentation process. Also you’ll notice that the honey gets runnier, which is also a normal part of fermenting honey garlic. Since the honey thins as it ferments with the honey, it’s a perfect opportunity to use that crystallized honey that’s sitting in the pantry.

You’ll need to stir or shake the jar occasionally to make sure the garlic stays coated in honey, so put it where you’ll remember to check on it occasionally. You can also use a fermentation weight to keep the garlic submerged, but I find that the garlic stays submerged without it. If you notice that the honey has settled, and some of the garlic cloves are exposed, you can add a bit more honey to the jar. 

What Honey To Use?

If you can find raw, local honey from a local beekeeper, that should be your first choice, especially if you’re going to use fermented garlic and honey for cold and flu season.

Raw honey is sometimes called unpasteurized honey and has beneficial enzymes and wild yeasts in it that are destroyed with heated. Here’s a good article on the effects of heat on honey.

If you can’t find a local beekeeper, then look for honey that says “raw or unfiltered honey” on the label at the grocery store.

Perfect for a Variety of Dishes

While combination of garlic and honey especially in such high concentration may seem a bit odd, it’s perfectly at home in a number of recipes.

Use it in any savory sauce that would benefit from a little sweetness too. Consider using it in stir-fry sauces for example. Mix it into homemade barbecue sauce.

Drizzle the fermented honey garlic over vegetables like sweet potatoes or turnips before roasting.

Use instead of plain honey in savory baked goods like breads or crackers or add it to your homemade salad dressings. 

Great for Cold & Flu Season

Garlic and honey are often touted for their natural antibacterial properties and immune system support. Here you get the best of both worlds in one jar. They are the dynamic duo of natural cold and flu remedies.

Stir a Tablespoon of the garlic-infused honey into hot lemon water for a sweet but potent hit of honey and garlic to soothe a sore throat and ease cold related symptoms.

For folks who are adventurous enough or simply need the extra hit of natural healing, eating the whole fermented garlic clove is easier than eating raw garlic because of the sweetening.

I like to smash a honey-soaked clove and spread it on toast. 

Safety Concerns

While garlic fermented honey has been used for thousands of years in various ancient cultures and so far and there has not been any cases of botulism linked to fermented garlic and honey, there can be some safety concerns. Both garlic and honey have the potential of having botulism spores (clostridium botulinum) in them. Fortunately, for healthy individuals over the age of 1, botulism spores aren’t a concern. Fermented garlic and honey should NEVER be given to infants under 1 year of age (some recommend 2 years) because their cut flora hasn’t developed enough to deal with these spores.

It’s only after the botulism spores activate and create a toxin that there is a problem. Botulism spores activate in a low-acid, anerobic, moist environment. When we ferment garlic in honey, we are creating an anerobic, moist environment, but not necessarily a low-acid environment. Botulism needs a pH of 4.6 or above to grow. 

Honey has an average pH of 3.9, however it can range from 3.2 to 6.1. Use a honey that has a lower pH to ferment garlic. You can use a pH meter to test the pH level. 

Garlic has a pH of 5.3 to 6.3 which is considered a low-acid food for food preservation. The garlic will increase the pH of the ferment temporarily, however, as the combination ferments, the pH level will naturally go down. How quickly this happens depends on the ratio of the garlic and honey.

If you’re concerned about the risk of botulism in your garlic honey ferment, it a good ideas to get a digital pH meter (a pH test strip is not as precise) and testing the ferment. If the pH raises above 4.6 and doesn’t lower within a couple of hours, you can add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to the ferment. Just know that there’s never been a documented case of botulism caused by fermented garlic honey. 

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