There is no definitive answer to this question as the size of cloves can vary considerably. However, on average, there are approximately three cloves in a teaspoon. This means that if you were to use a teaspoon of garlic in a recipe, it would be the equivalent of using approximately nine individual cloves. Of course, this will also depend on how finely the garlic is chopped - if it is chopped very finely, then you may need to use less than three cloves to achieve the same level of flavor.