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Home » Foraging & Sustainable Living

Easy Way To Pickle Wild Garlic Flower Buds

Published: Apr 29, 2022 by Chef Tripti · This post may contain affiliate links

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Wild garlic season is short, and if you would like to enjoy the incredible flavour later in the year, these pickled wild garlic buds are something you need to make. Before the wild garlic bursts into flowers, the buds can be picked and preserved in a pickling liquor. These pickled wild garlic buds are easy to make and packed with flavour, the perfect addition to your salads, pasta or even toast.

Two small jars containing pickled wild garlic flower buds

Wild garlic is an ingredient that you can forage. It grows in wet woodland areas.

Here are some identification features for wild garlic:

  • Smells of garlic
  • Elongated, spear-shaped leaves, 5 to 15cm long
  • Small, 6-petaled white flowers grow on a single stem extending from the centre of connecting leaves when flowering.

As with all wild food foraging, you must be very confident with your identification. Do not ingest anything that you are not 100% confident with identifying. Better to be safe than sorry!

Here are more of my wild garlic recipes to try:

  • No-knead wild garlic focaccia
  • Salsa verde with wild greens
  • Laccha paratha with wild garlic
  • Wild garlic chilli sauce
A patch of wild garlic with flower buds
Jump to:
  • Ingredients
  • Instructions
  • How-To Video
  • Substitutions
  • Equipment
  • Storage
  • 📖 Recipe
  • Food Safety

Ingredients

Ingredients for pickled wild garlic flower buds in shallow dishes. Annotated
  • Wild garlic flower buds
  • Apple cider vinegar (why not make your own?)
  • Salt
  • Castor sugar

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Before pickling the wild garlic buds, sterilise the jar in which you will be storing the buds. Please do this by washing the jar in warm soapy water and then placing it in an oven at 100ºC for thirty minutes.

Prepare the wild garlic buds by washing them and patting them dry. You can leave them on the stem to pickle or pickle the bud heads only.

Add the apple cider vinegar, salt, and castor sugar in a saucepan and bring to simmer. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Set this aside to cool.

Fill your sterilised jar with the wild garlic flower buds and pour over the cooled apple cider vinegar. Place the jar in the refrigerator for a week to let the flower buds pickle.

Pouring apple cider vinegar into a jar containing wild garlic flower buds

How-To Video

Here is a video guide to making picked wild garlic buds.

Substitutions

Instead of apple cider vinegar, you can use any white vinegar, like white wine vinegar or white synthetic vinegar, or even rice vinegar.

Equipment

Use a jam jar or any 300 ml glass bottle with a non-metallic lid

Storage

If you sterilise the jars properly, the pickled wild garlic flower buds should last for over a year. Be sure to use a clean, dry spoon to not contaminate the pickled buds.

📖 Recipe

A jar containing pickled wild garlic flower buds.

Pickled Wild Garlic Flower Buds

Chef Tripti
Wild garlic flower buds/capers pickled in apple cider vinegar
No ratings yet
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 10 minutes mins
Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish, Snack, Soup
Cuisine Modern European

Equipment

  • 300ml Jam Jar with lid

Ingredients
  

  • 70 Wild garlic flower buds
  • 300 ml Apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Castor sugar

Instructions
 

  • Wash the jar and lid in hot soapy water and sterilise in the oven for 30 minutes at 100ºC.
  • Wash and pat dry the wild garlic flower buds. You can keep the stems or remove them.
  • Heat the apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt. Mix until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Set aside to cool.
  • Fill the jam jar with the garlic flower buds. Pour over the cooled vinegar and seal shut.
  • Refrigerate for a week before using.
Keyword Capers, Edible gifts, Foragedfood, homemade, preserves, Wild garlic
Tried this recipe?Please leave a review & rating
Mention @kitchenandotherstories or tag #kitchenandotherstories!

Food Safety

In a professional kitchen, food hygiene and safety are top priorities, and from the beginning of my training, I practised good habits and routines. Here are some fundamental practices to adopt in the kitchen at home.

  • Wash your hands regularly while preparing, handling and cooking food.
  • Wipe down countertops and high-contact points regularly.
  • If you cook meat and fish, do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat. Use separate chopping boards for meat and fish. Wash your chopping boards immediately after use.
  • Thoroughly cook food to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C).
  • Don't leave food at room temperature for extended periods (more than 2 hours).
  • Store food correctly.

For more details regarding food hygiene and safety in the home, visit the UK Government's Food Standards Agency webpage.

More Foraging and Sustainable Living

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    Easy No-Bake Elderflower and Strawberry Cake.
  • 11 Wild Garlic and Other Foraged Wild Greens Recipes
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    How To Make Wild Garlic Capers
  • A shallow dish containing dried quince slices and a bottle of quince syrup.
    Dried Quince & Quince Syrup. A Delicious Sweet Treat From a Forgotten Fruit.

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  1. J says

    March 25, 2024 at 11:08 am

    Thanks! How long will they last for unopened? Do they go soft and funny after a while like some pickles do?

    Reply
    • Chef Tripti says

      May 20, 2024 at 7:48 pm

      Even after opening they last a year, they don't really go soft, in fact the flowers retain their shape and its still delicious. So do the garlic capers, if you have tried them.

      Reply
Blog author behind lavender plant
Chef Tripti

Hi! Tripti here. I am a Michelin-trained chef with over 20 years of experience in the industry. My mission is to help you cook fresh, nutritious food with simple recipes that deliver creativity and taste—food with heart and soul.

More about me →

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