Drizzle it on your salad. Dip your bread in it. Add it to a pasta dish. Who doesn’t like garlic infused olive oil? Well, there’s an easy way to create your own unique infused olive oil at home.

First of all, there are endless types of infused olive oils you can create. Just follow your taste buds. I decided to make a variety of infused oils and infused vinegar.  I’m using a lime, a lemon, and the rind of an orange to make a bottle of citrus-infused olive oil and a bottle of citrus- infused vinegar. I have some scotch bonnet peppers to make a bottle of very spicy infused olive oil.

I also have fresh thyme, garlic cloves, basil…

serrano peppers, sage, rosemary…

and black peppercorns. You want to make sure all of the herbs are completely dry and have no moisture on them. Moisture can cause harmful bacteria.

 

I bought this bottle at Meijer for $2.99. My goal is to make a garlic infused olive oil melded with the flavors of sage, rosemary, thyme, and peppercorns. I’m using a heap of herbs and garlic, but you can use as much or as little as you like.

I’m using two smaller bottles that I bought at Michael’s for around a dollar each to make my super hot oils that I plan to add to dishes like spaghetti and chili. The first bottle has serrano peppers, garlic, and various herbs. The second bottle is filled with super hot scotch bonnet peppers with herbs.

Lastly, I’m packing two more small bottles that were purchased at Michael’s with lemon, lime, some orange peel and herbs. One will be filled with olive oil and the other with vinegar.

 

I’m using the heated method to make my infused vinegar and infused olive oil. Heat the distilled white vinegar and extra virgin olive oil to around 200 F. The heat will speed up the infusion process, but more importantly, it kills any bacteria in the herbs and garlic.

***Warning…Garlic infused olive oil can cause botulism. If unheated olive oil is added to raw garlic it can become a breeding ground for the foodborne illness. Click here for more info on Botulism and infused garlic oil. You also want to make sure that your bottles are sterilized.

This is my method of making infused olive oil. It’s the quickest and safest way I know. Pour the heated extra virgin olive oil into a measuring glass. Use a funnel to pour the hot liquid into the each bottle.  Be careful. It will be very  hot.

The oil cooks the garlic and herbs and kills bacteria at once. Don’t fill the bottle to the top yet.

Add olive oil to the other bottles. You’ll see the herbs darken and the oil becomes cloudy.

Here is my citrus-infused vinegar. I plan to drizzle this on top of tilapia, cod,  and salmon.

This is the citrus-infused white olive oil which will be used on salads.

 

Once the bottles cool down, top them off with unheated olive oil and put the cap on. I let the mixtures sit for a couple of days. Notice how the oil is murky?

 

Don’t worry. The olive oil  will clear up by the next day.

 

See. Nice and clear. The flavors are amazing. Bold. Spicy. And unique. My original plan was to remove some of the herbs from the bottles to make them more aesthetically pleasing and leave them out for decoration, but I read so many negative reports about doing this that I decided to refrigerate the infused olive oil instead. Apparently, commercially produced infused olive oil uses vinegar to prevent bacteria growth. The citrus-infused vinegar is perfectly safe to leave out but it’s best to refrigerate homemade infused olive oil.

It was super easy to make my own unique concoction of infused olive oils and vinegar. The spicy oils are catered to my taste and much cheaper to make than purchasing hot sauce at the store. The citrus-infused olive oil and vinegar add a touch of luxury to my meals, and the garlic and herb infused olive oil is delicious drizzled over lettuce, pizza or pasta.

I’d love to hear your feedback on this. If you make your own infused oils, let me know what combination of garlic and herbs you chose.

Stay Blessed,

Barbie