Garlic Powder vs Garlic Salt

What is the difference between garlic powder and garlic salt?

Garlic Powder:

This is simply dried and ground garlic, offering a concentrated, more intense garlic flavor. It’s useful for adding garlic flavor to dishes without the texture of fresh garlic. A small amount of garlic powder (about 1/8 teaspoon) can equal the flavor of one clove of fresh garlic. 

Garlic Salt:

This is a blend of garlic powder and salt, typically in a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio (garlic to salt). It provides a milder garlic flavor than garlic powder, along with saltiness. This makes it a good choice for dishes where you want a subtle garlic flavor and need to add salt.

One key difference? Salt content!

Garlic salt contains salt, while garlic powder does not.

Garlic salt is a convenient shortcut, but it typically contains a high amount of sodium. Here are a few examples of sodium content in a few common brands. The serving size provided for all brands is ¼ TSP (times 4 = 1 full TSP, and that’s the number you see in parentheses):

Lawry’s Garlic Salt:
350 mg sodium (1,400 mg)

McCormick Garlic Salt:
540 mg (2,160 mg)

Morton’s Garlic Sea Salt:
350 mg (1,400 mg)

Simply Organic Garlic Salt:
440 mg (1,760 mg)

Spice Island Garlic Salt:
300 mg (1,200 mg)

Trader Joe’s Garlic Salt:
190 mg (760 mg)

As you can see, just 1 TSP of garlic salt can contain a whopping 2,160 mg. of sodium! 😲 . . . when the maximum recommended daily intake of sodium, according to the American Heart Association, is 2,300 mg! So, basically, they contain more salt than garlic.

Also, many of the garlic salt brands have added ingredients such as modified corn starch, sugar, and extractives of carrot (color). Garlic powder bottles basically contain pure garlic.

In my house, we only have garlic powder: It can be used in place of fresh garlic, and you can control the amount of salt added separately when necessary.