Alex Guarnaschelli Has a Hot Take on a Pantry Item That’s Probably in Your Fridge Right Now

For many of us, a meal isn’t complete if there isn’t a bit of garlic in the equation. But sometimes, crushing and dicing garlic can add an extra step we just don’t have time for. So if you keep jarred garlic (jarlic) in the fridge for such occasions, Chef Alex Guarnaschelli would like a word with you. Because, according to her, using that stuff is never okay.

“Fight me in the comments,” Guarnaschelli said in a recent Instagram video. “I know this is going to be a controversial opinion because this is a great shortcut…But this stuff just scares me. It’s shelf-stable without being refrigerated. Who knows how long it sits?”

She said that although it’s easy to reach for, fresh or dehydrated garlic is always going to be the better option. If it’s the paste texture you like, Guarnaschelli suggests taking a microplaner to fresh cloves of garlic, which will give a finer paste and better, fresher flavor.

“And if you really love the texture of this, honestly, dried granulated garlic sprinkled into stuff, when it’s hydrated in anything — vinaigrettes, sauces, soups, stews — it basically becomes like this,” she continued. “If you cook with this, I’m gonna come to your house and chop you. I don’t mean chop you up. I mean like, Chopped the TV show.”

Of course, as she predicted, the comments under this video are packing the heat. “ALEX, as a single mom who works two jobs who loves her kids and never stops, please let me live with my jarlic!!!” one person joked. “I’m broke, I’m Italian, I’m trying! I love you!!”

Another wrote, “I don’t care! I can’t stand chopping garlic, and I love the jarred stuff! Defiance!” And another commenter added, “I love you, Alex, but you lose me on this. I cook all the time. I am the only one who cooks in my household. I work full-time. I measure garlic with my heart. Soooo, jarlic it is…. And the Sam’s Club size to boot!!!”

But others stand with Guarnaschelli in her distrust for the jarred stuff. “I wish it were the same. I have tried to use the jar once for convenience… that smell though. It ain’t right,” one person wrote. And another said, “Switching to fresh changed my food (and a good pepper grinder) and parm cheese. It takes a minute longer, but it’s sooooooo worth using fresh!!!”

And some people in the comments suggested taking a less questionable shortcut. You can actually pick up pre-peeled garlic cloves at most supermarkets, which takes the worst step out of using fresh garlic. “Buy peeled garlic from your local Asian market, mince it in the food processor, plastic baggie it, flatten it, and freeze it,” another commenter wrote. “Fresh garlic all the time without using gross jarlic. I’ve been doing it for years!”

Are you a jarlic user? If so, prepare to be chopped by Alex Guarnaschelli.

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