You’ll Want to Know This About Everything, and It’s Done in No Time: Crispy Garlic from the Microwave

Deep-frying is fantastic, but sometimes you simply don’t feel like heating up a pan of oil. Then you want to work a little more economically and ‘cleanly’ but still, just to take a little detour, have crispy fried garlic slices on your noodles, your hummus sandwich, or your plate of pasta with crispy breadcrumbs. Luckily, the microwave offers a solution.

Remember when we told you that it’s a great idea to toast nuts until crispy in the microwave? Well, you can also use that microwave perfectly well to fry garlic until crisp, and it’s incredibly simple.

How to make crispy fried garlic slices in the microwave

• Make sure you slice your peeled garlic cloves into thin, as evenly sized slices as possible.
• This is easiest with a mandoline, but you know what that means: you really need to be crazy careful with your fingers.
• Want to make a batch? Slice about six cloves right away.
• Put the slices in a microwave-safe bowl, pour enough oil over them to just cover the slices, and mix well.
• Have a small sieve ready over another heatproof bowl. Put the oil and garlic in the microwave and turn it on for 1 minute.
• Then check that everything is going well and, from now on, use the boost button for 30 seconds at a time.
• As soon as the garlic starts to turn golden, pay close attention and check it every few seconds.
• Burnt garlic is gross, so stop as soon as the garlic is the color of a perfect French baguette—or even a little earlier, if necessary.
• Now very carefully remove the bowl (careful, it’s hot!) from the microwave using an oven mitt and pour it into the sieve over the other bowl.
• Sprinkle salt over the garlic, toss, and let it cool for a moment.
• Done! Go wild and sprinkle the crispy slices over whatever you like. They’re hard to resist, so you’ll probably have eaten them as a snack before the evening is over.
• And the oil that’s left over? You can use it to fry eggs, roast chicken, or stir-fry shrimp.

Also read:

• 11 cheap ways to upgrade your instant noodles
• What not to do with garlic (and what you should do!)
• Once and for all: is microwave popcorn actually bad for you or not?