Everything You Need to Know About Garlic Scapes: Harvesting, Storing, and Delicious Recipes
Garlic scapes are one of the hidden gems of the garden. These curly green shoots are the flower stalks of the garlic plant, and they pop up in late spring to early summer. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with these tasty shoots, you’re in the right place! In this post, I’ll walk you through how to identify and harvest garlic scapes, how to store them, and share some easy, delicious ways to cook with them — including my favorite garlic scape pesto recipe.
What Are Garlic Scapes?
Garlic scapes are the tender, green flowering stems that garlic plants produce before the bulb matures. They have a milder garlic flavor compared to garlic cloves and a fantastic crunchy texture. Harvesting scapes is beneficial to your garlic plant because it redirects energy to bulb growth underground.
How to Identify and Harvest Garlic Scapes
Look for long, curly, bright green shoots growing from the center stalk of your garlic plants. Harvest them when they’re still young and curly — before they straighten out or flower. Use a sharp pair of scissors or pruning shears and cut about two inches from where the scape emerges.
How to Store Garlic Scapes
Garlic scapes keep well in the fridge for up to two weeks. Wrap them loosely in a damp paper towel and place them in a plastic bag or container. For longer storage, chop and freeze them or use them to make garlic scape pesto, which freezes beautifully.
Cooking Ideas for Garlic Scapes
Garlic Scape Pesto: Blend garlic scapes with nuts (like walnuts or pine nuts), nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt & pepper. Use it as a pasta sauce, sandwich spread, or dip.
Stir-fries: Chop and toss into stir-fries to add a gentle garlic flavor.
Grilled or Roasted: Toss whole or chopped scapes with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then grill or roast until tender.
Soups and Salads: Add raw or sautéed scapes to soups and salads for a fresh garlic punch.
Nutritional Benefits
Garlic scapes are rich in vitamins A and C, packed with antioxidants, and have anti-inflammatory properties. Because they have less sulfur than garlic cloves, they’re a great option if you want a milder garlic flavor that’s easy on the stomach.
Garlic Scape Pesto Recipe (Simple & Delicious)
Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes, chopped into 1” pieces
1/4 cup nuts (walnuts or pine nuts)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup other greens like basil, arugula, spinach (optional)
Instructions:
Add chopped garlic scapes, nuts, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt & pepper to a food processor. Pulse until fairly uniformly chopped. You can decide if you like your pesto chunky or more pureed.
Add olive oil slowly while running food processor, until smooth and creamy.
Taste and adjust salt or lemon juice as needed.
Use immediately or store in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to a week — or freeze for later! You’ll thank yourself later when you pull out a jar of frozen garlic scape pesto!
Final Thoughts
Garlic scapes are a wonderful seasonal treat that’s easy to harvest, store, and cook with. Give them a try in your garden or at your local farmer’s market this season — you won’t be disappointed! If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out my YouTube video for a quick guide on harvesting and cooking garlic scapes.
Happy cooking and gardening!
Ready to take your plant-based lifestyle to the next level? Discover personalized coaching, workshops, and more on my Work With Me page.