Guide To Adding Garlic To Pasta Sauces (When, How Much)

When it comes to making pasta sauce, one of the most important questions to ask yourself is “should I add garlic?“. The answer is a resounding yes from me – I simply love the depths of flavor it gives pasta sauces.

But if you’re not careful, it can overpower the other ingredients in the sauce. So, how should we do it?

Start with a finely minced clove of garlic from a knife or a garlic press. Warm up some oil in a pan, add your minced garlic, and heat it over low to medium heat. This will help mellow its flavor and aroma without burning. Once it’s lightly cooked, you can make your sauce. 

Depending on how much sauce you’re making, one to two cloves should be enough. If you want a stronger flavor, you can add more or add the garlic after your tomatoes.

There are a few ways to add garlic to your sauce and all can affect how it ends up tasting. To help you out, I’ve written this guide on adding garlic to pasta sauces and answered a few common questions.

Should I Add Garlic To Pasta Sauce?

Many cooks outside of Italy agree that garlic is often a must-have ingredient for making the perfect pasta sauce. In fact, some would argue that a tomato-based sauce would be incomplete without adding at least a small quantity of chopped garlic.

However, in Italy itself, always including garlic as an ingredient in your pasta sauce is not necessarily the case, depending on the region. I go into depth on this later.

Garlic has characteristics that can really elevate your sauce from good to great. It can add nuances such as sweetness, savoriness, and even a touch of bitterness which are all important when it comes to balancing the flavors in your sauce.

But apart from the taste, you just can’t deny how wonderfully appetizing fresh garlic makes any dish smell.

Of course, there is growing evidence that it’s also incredibly good for you. The bulbous herb is full of vitamins and minerals, which can help boost your immune system and ward off infections which is another good reason to add it to your pasta sauce.

How Much Garlic To Add

When cooking with garlic you can be fairly generous as it mellows out a lot, but treat raw garlic with caution.

A clove of minced garlic for every one or two people is a good starting point when cooking garlic in sauces.

You can add as much garlic to your dish as you like, as it depends very much on personal tastes. This may take a little experimentation but you will soon find what works best for you.

Make sure that you always prepare the garlic in the same way as this can have a big difference in how strong a flavor kick it gives the dish. For example, when it’s finely chopped or minced, the garlic releases a lot more of a pungent flavor as opposed to cutting the clove into bigger chunks.

You can even leave the clove whole to infuse a much milder flavor into the sauce and then remove it before serving. This is a great method for people who like a subtle taste of garlic in their pasta dish but don’t actually want to eat any.

Also, be careful to note when you add it to your sauce each time as this can impact the final taste of the sauce as well.

When Should I Add Garlic To Pasta Sauce?

The classic way to add garlic to any dish is to saute it with onions or other aromatics right at the start of cooking, which is the method you will find in the majority of sauce recipes.

By gently sauteing your prepared garlic in hot oil first, it takes on a sweeter, more complex flavor as it softens. It’s vitally important to only cook it until fragrant though as if it starts to scorch then it will turn bitter.

You can then build the rest of your sauce on top of the garlicky taste so that it imbues the rest of the dish and continues to mellow the longer you cook it.

However, there are many cooks that prefer to add the garlic much later in the process once there are some other ingredients already in the pan. This significantly reduces the risk of it burning and ruining the dish, but will result in a stronger taste as it will not have had as much time to mellow out.

The choice is yours and the best idea is to try adding garlic at a different point each time you make a sauce to discover what yields your ideal balance of flavors.

Can You Add Raw Garlic To Pasta Sauce?

Adding raw garlic right at the end of cooking is another option and some people may actually prefer this as it retains the naturally pungent aroma and taste of the fresh cloves.

It will also mean that you don’t lose any of the health benefits which are significantly reduced the longer you cook it. In fact, studies have shown that certain medicinal properties completely disappear when garlic is heated.

So if you are mostly concerned with consuming the herb for its therapeutic nature, then adding it raw just before serving is the way to go.

The best way to do this is not to chop it too finely and definitely don’t crush it into a paste as this will release more of the allicin making it very strong tasting as I mentioned earlier.

• Related article: 12 Tasty Ways To Eat Garlic Without Cooking It

Do Italians Add Garlic To Their Spaghetti Sauce?

Thanks to the influences of Italian-American cuisine, many of us believe that all Italians add garlic to most of their dishes, including spaghetti sauce.

However, the truth is that in Italy, garlic is only used to give the meal a light flavor and is added in much smaller quantities than many celebrity cooks would have us believe. 

There are authentic Italian recipes that do use this tasty clove in larger quantities but interestingly, the classic bolognese sauce is not one of them. 

According to the Accademia Italiana Della Cucina (the Italian Academy of Cuisine based in Milan), the most authentic bolognese recipe does not include garlic at all, and they should know!

There are also regional differences within Italy itself with northern areas tending to use little or no garlic in their recipes, and southern regions using more, but still a lot less than Italian dishes made in the rest of Europe or the U.S.

See which cuisines use the most garlic, and which ones avoid it.

Conclusion

So that’s it, you’ve reached the end of my guide to adding garlic to pasta sauce. I hope you found it useful and are ready to try your hand at including this wonderful herb in your sauces with more confidence.

In my opinion, you should add garlic to pasta sauce. Just remember that if you are unsure how much to add, it’s always best to use a smaller quantity to begin with as a more subtle taste is preferable for most people.

Take note of the different ways to prepare it as this can give varied results and experiment with adding it at alternate times to see which method you like best.

And for a more authentic Italian taste, try using a very small quantity (e.g. just a quarter of a clove) or even none at all!