What this calculator does
One clove of garlic is about half a teaspoon minced, a quarter teaspoon granulated, or an eighth of a teaspoon of powder. Each step down concentrates the garlic by a factor of two as water is removed and the particle size reduces.
The conversions are approximate for a reason that cannot be worked around: cloves vary enormously in size. A clove from the outside of a head can be three or four times the size of one from the centre, so any clove-based conversion is a rough figure. Weighing is the only precise approach, and few recipes justify it.
The formula
Each clove is taken as half a teaspoon of minced garlic, a quarter teaspoon of granulated garlic and an eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder, and the quantities scale directly with the clove count. The ratios reflect both the water removed in drying and the finer grind of powder against granules.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Minced | Fresh garlic chopped fine, or the jarred equivalent. |
| Granulated garlic | Dried garlic ground to a coarse grain, roughly twice as concentrated as minced by volume. |
| Garlic powder | Dried garlic ground fine, roughly twice as concentrated again as granulated. |
| Garlic salt | Garlic powder cut with salt, usually about three parts salt to one of garlic. Not interchangeable with powder. |
The inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Fresh garlic cloves | Number of garlic cloves. Medium cloves are assumed, and real cloves vary enough that this is always approximate. |
When to use it
Substituting powder for fresh
The common case when fresh garlic has run out, and the one where the factor of eight between cloves and powder matters most.
Converting a recipe for consistency
Commercial and large-batch cooking often specifies dried forms for consistency, since clove size variation is a real problem at scale.
Scaling a recipe up
Twenty cloves is a lot of peeling, and the granulated equivalent is both faster and more consistent for a large batch.
Worked examples
Every figure in the tables below is produced by this page’s own calculator at build time, so the numbers and the tool always agree. Select any row to load that scenario.
What does each clove count convert to?
A range of clove counts converted to each dried form.
| Cloves | Minced garlic | Granulated garlic | Garlic powder |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 clove | 0.50 tsp | 0.25 tsp | 0.125 tsp |
| 2 cloves | 1.00 tsp | 0.50 tsp | 0.250 tsp |
| 4 cloves | 2.00 tsp | 1.00 tsp | 0.500 tsp |
| 6 cloves | 3.00 tsp | 1.50 tsp | 0.750 tsp |
Questions
How much garlic powder equals one clove?
About an eighth of a teaspoon. Granulated garlic is a quarter teaspoon and minced garlic half a teaspoon. The powder is the most concentrated because it is both dried and finely ground, so the same volume holds far more garlic.
Is garlic salt the same as garlic powder?
No, and substituting one for the other will wreck a dish. Garlic salt is mostly salt, commonly about three parts salt to one of garlic powder, so using it in place of powder adds a large amount of unintended salt.
How much does a clove weigh?
Roughly 3 to 7 g depending on the variety and where in the head it sat, which is a more than twofold range. This is why clove counts are inherently approximate and why weighing is the only precise method.
Does dried garlic taste the same as fresh?
No. Fresh garlic contains allicin, formed when the cloves are cut or crushed, which gives the sharp pungency that drying largely destroys. Dried forms taste milder and sweeter, so they substitute for quantity more successfully than for character.
For herbs rather than garlic, see the fresh to dried herb converter. For teaspoon and gram conversions generally, see the teaspoon to grams converter.