If you’re a big garlic fan, then you’re going to love cooking with garlic scapes. They’re the long, thin, loopy green stems of the plant that shoot up above the garlic bulb.
If left to grow, bulbils —which kind of look like flowers —will form, which can be planted to grow more garlic. The only problem is that the scapes will consume a lot of the plant’s energy to make those bulbils, which will result in smaller garlic bulbs. So farmers often chop the scapes off before the bulbils form, which is great news for us since garlic scapes are delicious. They taste like garlic, but are much milder. Scapes are tender sautéed in olive oil and eaten on their own, or they can be used in recipes such as dips, sauces, stir-frys, and soupsto add a garlic flavor and green color. Garlic scapes taste good, but are they good for you?
As you can see from the chart below, scapes contain a decent amount of protein, vitamin C, and calcium. Since they’re part of the garlic plant, they offer the same health benefits as the cloves, such as prevention of heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cancer. Scapes are also known to boost your immune system and reduce inflammation. This delicacy is usually only available for a short amount of time in the summer. Stock up and freeze what you don’t use for when they’re not available.
1/2 Cup Raw Garlic Scapes | |
|---|---|
| Calories | 101 |
| Total Fat (g) | .5 |
| Sodium | 11 |
| Carbs (g) | 22 |
| Fiber (g) | 1.5 |
| Sugar (g) | .5 |
| Protein (g) | 4.5 |
| Vitamin A (IU) | 0 |
| Vitamin C (mg) | 21 |
| Calcium (mg) | 125 |
| Iron (mg) | 1.2 |