Chef shares amazing hack that saves on time and food costs: 'This is genius'

TikToker Joanne L. Molinaro (@thekoreanvegan) posted a video explaining her hack for preserving and preparing garlic.

"This is genius," one person said.

The scoop

The video shows how Joanne freezes whole, peeled, fresh garlic cloves in bulk. 

@thekoreanvegan What do they say? "Necessity is the mother of all invention?" Well, I REALLY needed some garlic. I typically do not grate my garlic because I feel like I'm wasting all that precious garlic juice, but with frozen garlic, all that garlic juice remains intact and available to make your sauces all the more garlicky! Try this out and let me know what you think! #garlichack #kitchenhack #cookingtip ♬ Bungeo-ppang - Oneul

When she is ready to use them, she grates them rather than minces them because it is easier, preserves all the juices, and you can use "every little bit." 

She explains that the frozen texture is creamy, "like garlic sorbet." She shows how easy the grated garlic is to use and how it goes great in all her favorite recipes.

How it's helping

While this helpful tip is a useful one that her followers were very excited to try, it is also a great example of how food hacks that help keep foods fresh longer in natural ways can help reduce food waste.

About 40% of the food we buy ends up in landfills. Learning about how and where to store different foods can help them last longer and eliminate a lot of the waste.

Keeping food fresh longer and for later use can also result in huge cost savings, keeping money in your pocket and out of the trash.

Freezing food that you aren't planning to eat right away is a great way to prevent it from spoiling. Many foods and even completed dishes can be easily frozen and defrosted for later use.

Repurposing leftovers is also a great way to reduce your food waste. Have extra veggies from last night's dinner? Throw them into a breakfast scramble the next morning. Extra sauce from pasta night? Incorporate it into a soup recipe later in the week.

What's the most common reason you end up throwing away food? Bought more than I could eat 🛒 Went bad sooner than I expected 👎 Forgot it was in the fridge 😞 Didn't want leftovers 🥡 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Shopping smarter at the grocery store by making a list and meal-planning before you go can help you save money and reduce food waste, too.

What everyone's saying

Viewers of the garlic hack video were super excited to try the simple method.

"Oh ok ok ok this is a game changer," one commenter wrote.

Another person added, "Omg doing this immediately."

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