A Garlic Press Is a Must-Have in Every Kitchen — These Are the Best Ones
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A Garlic Press Is a Must-Have in Every Kitchen — These Are the Best Ones
A good chef's knife will get you far when it comes to garlic, but sometimes even a pro chef doesn't want to haul out their cutting board, so in comes the garlic press: A lever tool designed to "mince" or finely chop garlic for recipes like Shakshuka without having to peel it.
Yes, you read that correctly: You don't need to peel garlic before using placing it in a garlic press. The flesh will separate from the peel in the basket and even allow you to continue pressing without constantly cleaning it out. Results are usually soft and a little wet, similar to a loose paste, ideal for cooking the garlic into oil in the beginning of a recipe or using in a marinade. It's very potent so you'll likely want to avoid using it raw!
In the Good Housekeeping Institute we have put 42 garlic presses to the test since 2014. In total, we pressed more than 252 cloves of garlic cloves (peeled and unpeeled) to determine how much yield each press produced. We also checked how sturdy each garlic press was and how easy it was to clean by hand and in the dishwasher. The best garlic presses produced the most yield, didn't bend under pressure, and were relatively easy to clean. Here are the best garlic presses you can buy in 2021:
- Best Overall Garlic Press: Tomorrow's Kitchen Die Cast Garlic Press
- Best Value Garlic Press: Orblue Garlic Press
- Easiest-to-Use Garlic Press: Oxo Soft-Handled Garlic Press
- Easiest-to-Clean Garlic Press: Zyliss Susi 3 Garlic Press
- Best Garlic Press and Slicer: Amco Garlic Press and Slicer
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Die Cast Garlic Press
Tomorrow's Kitchen
amazon.com
$19.99
In our test, the Tomorrow's Kitchen Die Cast came out on top for both performance and ease of use. It produced a 72% yield for peeled garlic and 66% for unpeeled, which earned it a 5 out of 5 and a 4 out of 5 respectively. It offers a strong design made out of die-cast metal, which is known for being durable and long lasting. It barely had any give no matter how hard we pressed, although that much pressure wasn't needed to press the garlic. The green lever on the head works as a scraper that's actually useful. We liked that the lever had to be used manually versus automatically like a couple of other models we tested because who knows how often you'd remember to release the garlic over the correct bowl. The basket was also able to hold multiple cloves at once.
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Garlic Press [Premium]
Orblue
amazon.com
$13.97
This garlic press stands out on Amazing for having almost 8,000 five-star reviews.
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- 4/7
Good Grips Soft-Handled Garlic Press
Oxo
amazon.com
$16.95
This Oxo garlic press is heavy duty, something we appreciate when it comes to garlic presses. It has large handles that are wrapped in silicone, which offer a slip proof grip. It also fits very comfortable in the hand, which makes it easy to use. Its large head fits multiple cloves at once and is easy to reach into to remove the peels. It also offers a cleaning tool on the opposite side to help release any buildup. Its holes are square unlike most of the garlic presses we tested which were round. As a result, the pressed garlic was a little bigger and more minced looking than others. At 75%, it yielded the most amount of unpeeled garlic than any others we tested.
- 5/7
Susi 3 Garlic Press
Zyliss
amazon.com
$22.99
The Zyliss 3 Garlic is lightweight and among the slimmest of the bunch. Despite its profile, it's as sturdy as the other top-rated garlic presses on our list. While it couldn't handle multiple cloves at once, it produced a good yield, particularly when garlic was pre-peeled. Its cleaning tool that stores in the
- 6/7
Garlic Press and Slicer
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- 7/7
What to consider when shopping for a garlic press
- Construction: A garlic press should be sturdy and not bend or deform when you squeeze the handles together. Look for words like cast or die cast on the packaging, which means its parts are made out of solid, molded pieces of metal.
- Style: Most garlic presses work by squeezing the handles together to press. One that we tested had a two-handed design that we found a little tricky to align and use.
- Hole size and shape: Almost all of the garlic presses we tested had round holes versus square. The larger the holes, the more "minced" the results instead of pasty.
- Basket styles: Garlic presses can be designed with baskets or holders that remain in place or swing out for easier cleaning. We do not prefer one style to the other as long as the ones that remain in place are large enough to easily reach inside and pick out peels.
Our pros put over 40 garlic presses to the test to find the best.
