Roasted Garlic

Roasted garlic is sweet and caramelized, and makes your kitchen smell irresistible! Here’s an easy method for how to roast garlic.

Here’s a kitchen trick to try for the smell alone: Roasted Garlic! While the flavor of roasted garlic is incredible, the aroma of it baking in the oven is unparalleled. It’s immediately irresistible to anyone, including self-avowed garlic haters (like some in my family. Yes, that’s possible!). Roasting garlic until it’s soft and golden mellows the flavor into a sweet, caramelized version of its former self. There’s nothing spicy or garlic-breathy about it. Spread it onto a piece of crusty bread, add it to dips or sauces, or stir it into mashed potatoes. This stuff is truly pure gold.

How to roast garlic

Roasting garlic is a great task for an evening or a weekend: not right before you’re trying to make a meal! The process takes about 1 hour. It’s easy to make an advance, because you can store it refrigerated for a week or so. Of course, it is really spectacular warm from the oven: so it is worth trying this project when you can eat it right away, too! Here are a few tips on how to roast garlic:

• Best temperature to roast garlic: 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The high heat caramelizes it until it’s golden, but it’s not so high that it burns it.
• How long does it take? 45 minutes to 1 hour. It will be a little different every time, depending on the age and size of your garlic cloves. There’s some room for slop in the process, so you can go a little longer if you’re worried it’s not done yet.
• Cut off the tops and wrap the garlic in foil. You’ll want all the tops of the cloves to have a cut edge so you can easily pop them out after roasting. Then season with olive oil and salt, and wrap it in aluminum foil! This is the easiest way to get perfectly roasted garlic.

When is it done?

The roasted garlic is done when you can poke a center clove with a knife and the clove is tender. You can go a little longer if you want really roasty garlic, but in our experience it’s just as good once it’s golden and tender. Ours typically takes just 45 minutes, but you may need longer depending on the garlic head.

Roast 2 to 3 heads per foil packet!

Our roasted garlic recipe below says 2 to 3 garlic heads. But you can roast many more heads at once! Just use 2 to 3 garlic heads per foil packet. You can roast several packets at once: 3 to 4, or whatever fits your oven. Roasting many packets at once can affect the bake time since there’s more in the oven, so adjust as necessary (you may need to bake longer).

Store roasted garlic up to 1 week

Once you’ve mastered the method for how to roast garlic, it’s easy to do: you won’t even need a recipe! Memorize it and roast to your heart’s content. You can eat the roasted garlic warm from the oven, or pop it right into the refrigerator to store for later. Bring it to room temperature before working with it: or even warm it in the oven a bit depending on how you plan to use it (see below).

How much does 1 head roasted garlic make?

It’s not often that you’ll have a roasted garlic recipe that calls for it in tablespoons. Most often if you’re using it in a recipe, it will call for it as 1 head or more. But if you need to calculate quantities, 1 garlic head equals about 1 tablespoon roasted garlic.

Roasted garlic recipes (ways to use it!)

There are so may ways to use roasted garlic once you’ve mastered how to roast it! Here are our top 10 ways to use it:

• Spread it on crusty bread. Take it warm from the oven, then spread it onto a baguette.
• Mix with olive oil as a bread dip. Similar concept, but mash the garlic into a paste with olive oil and a little salt. Instant bread dip!
• Stir into mashed potatoes. Roasted garlic mashed potatoes are the perfect way to capitalize on the sweet, aromatic flavor.
• Add to hummus. Mix up a batch of hummus but use roasted garlic instead! Use the ratio of 1 teaspoon roasted garlic for 1 clove fresh garlic.
• Stir into roasted veggies. Mash it up then add to roasted vegetables of all kinds: broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, carrots, and so forth.
• Make roasted garlic cream sauce. Add it to this Easy Cream Sauce or Vegan Alfredo Sauce and serve with pasta.
• Add to salad dressings. Mash and add to Creamy Caesar Dressing.

This roasted garlic recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

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