The #1 Anti-Inflammatory Frozen Food at Target, According to a Food Writer

It's my secret weapon for seasoning meals.

Reviewed by Dietitian Annie Nguyen, M.A., RDReviewed by Dietitian Annie Nguyen, M.A., RD

Shopping for groceries at Target is a great way to multitask. Sure, there are lots of fun clothing, makeup and housewares items to look at while on your Target run, but knocking some items off the weekly grocery list is an added perk for those lucky enough to live near a Target that carries a solid selection of grocery items, too.

Related: I'm a Chef & These Are the 15 Groceries I Always Buy at Target

I shop at Target for groceries often, and there’s one item from the frozen food aisle that always finds its way into my shopping cart: Good & Gather Frozen Crushed Garlic Cubes. Yes, it’s easy enough to mince your own garlic at home or pick up a shelf-stable jar of minced garlic. But these convenient cubes of garlic, found in Target’s freezer section, make it super-easy to toss the anti-inflammatory ingredient into recipes. Here are three reasons why I keep this Target-brand frozen food in my freezer at all times.

1. It’s Healthy

The health benefits of garlic are no secret. Garlic supports the immune system and may also help regulate blood sugar, lower blood pressure and improve gut health. Long praised for its anti-inflammatory benefits, garlic has been linked to improving arthritis pain. The vegetable can neutralize free radicals in the body and contains sulfur compounds that have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects.

Related: 15 Easy Garlicky Veggie Sides You'll Want to Make Forever

2. It’s Convenient

As a busy mom of two, I’m always looking for ways to add flavor to my weeknight dinners without spending extra time in the kitchen. And this product is one tool to do just that. The small package weighs just under 3 ounces and takes up hardly any room in my freezer. The ice cube-style tray inside the box contains 16 cubes of crushed garlic. So when a recipe calls for garlic, I can simply pop out a few cubes into the pan and skip steps like pushing garlic cloves through a garlic press or peeling and chopping it by hand.

Related: The Best Way to Peel Garlic (with Photos!)

I also love that the oval-shaped cubes have a simple ingredient list—garlic, water, sunflower oil and sea salt—so the flavor of the garlic can really shine in the dish. What’s more, the convenience isn’t a strain to my grocery budget. The 16-pack of crushed garlic cubes costs just over $3 and comes with enough garlic to add to a few different recipes.

3. It’s Versatile

Most recipes call for garlic, and Good & Gather crushed garlic cubes work perfectly in lots of different scenarios, whether I’m tossing garlic into the sauce for Pasta Aglio e Olio or making Chicken Garlic Soup when someone in my house isn’t feeling well. The flavor of this frozen garlic is fresh without being too overpowering, and because it’s a fine paste, it’s also easily incorporated into homemade salad dressing and blends seamlessly into taco meat for extra flavor. It’s also great to know I always have garlic ready to go in my freezer, rather than discovering an old and unusable clove in my pantry or finding my jarred minced garlic has long since expired in my refrigerator.

Next time you’re browsing the aisles of your own Target, I highly recommend you pick up a container of Good & Gather frozen crushed garlic cubes. When you’re saving time and money in the kitchen, you’ll thank me!

Read the original article on Eating Well.