January 11, 2023
How To Roast Garlic
Roasted garlic. This simple ingredient will add a ton of flavor to all of your dishes and will fill your home with the most irresistible, and mouth-watering aromas imaginable!
There’s just something about garlic. Obviously, it’s delicious, but its adaptability is really something to behold. The ability it has to take dishes to new heights in both its raw and cooked form never fails to impress.
Perfectly Roasted Head of Garlic
If you’ve never learned how to roast garlic, then you are in for a real treat. While raw garlic is known for its pungent, spicy and boisterous flavor, once roasted, this aromatic ingredient mellows out into a buttery, creamy, caramelized, spreadable joy!
When roasted, garlic becomes a whole new ingredient. Its wild and bold notes tame to earthier, nuttier, more luscious flavors that seem to melt into whatever you happen to be cooking, adding beautiful flavor and complexity along the way. You can mash it into butter and spread on toast or add to soups and sauces. Mashing some into mashed potatoes is also an absolute must.
This little bulb is extremely versatile in any number of ways, but roasted is by far our favorite. Even the scent of roasting garlic wafting and dancing through your house is enough reason to buy this papery little bulb in bulk and start roasting!
How to use Roasted Garlic:
In most recipes you can replace roasted garlic if the raw garlic is too pungent for your palate. It’s wonderful in pestos, salad dressings, guacamole, mashed potatoes, on pizzas, and of course — mixed with butter for garlic bread.
HOW TO ROAST INDIVIDUAL CLOVES OF GARLIC
If you don’t want to roast an entire head of garlic, no worries! You can absolutely roast individual cloves of garlic. You can do it by following the same method as a whole head, but it will be roasted sooner. Check the cloves after 30 minutes to see if they are roasted to your liking.
Time Saver Tip: purchase already peeled garlic cloves from the market. You can find them in small individually wrapped packages, (which equates to about one head per pack) or available in large containers.
HOW TO ROAST GARLIC WITHOUT FOIL
Making perfectly roasted garlic doesn’t require aluminum foil. In fact, you can get the same quality of roasted garlic by using a small ramekin or baking dish. The only difference for roasting garlic without foil is that every clove needs to be peeled. Once they are peeled, you can roast them in a very short period of time. Plus, it leaves behind a delicious garlic infused oil that can be used in salad dressings or sautéing.
CHEF’S NOTES:
Garlic Cloves – You have a recipe that calls for garlic cloves but all you have is a jar of pre-chopped garlic. The general consensus: 1 clove of garlic is equal to approximately 1 teaspoon of minced garlic.
Garlic powder – is significantly more potent than fresh garlic. It’s best to start with less and add more as needed: approximately 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder is equal to 1 garlic clove.
How To Roast Garlic
Ingredients
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- Few sprigs or chopped rosemary, thyme, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°. Position middle rack in place. Prepare a small sheet pan or baking dish and line with a sheet of parchment paper or tin foil.
- Unwrap as much of the excess flaky papery skin from the garlic head as possible. On a cutting board. Using a sharp knife cut the top 1/4-inch from the top of the cloves so the individual cloves of garlic are exposed.Then place the head of garlic, cut-side-up, on top of foil.
- Drizzle the raw garlic with olive oil and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
- Pull the sides of the foil or parchment paper up and around the garlic so that you create a little parcel / pouch. If using parchment, secure with kitchen twine and trim excess paper from the tops of the packets.Place the pouch on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the cloves inside the parcels are light brown and soft. Check on the garlic every so often starting at the 35 minute mark.
- Remove from the oven, unwrap, and let cool for 10 minutes until cool to touch.To extract roasted garlic cloves, squeeze from the bottom of the cloves up and out (this process can be a bit messy due to the oil. You can use disposable gloves). The soft clove should come right out.
- Use immediately in sauces, dressings, as a spread, and more!
Roasted Garlic Cloves
- When roasting individual cloves, I use a similar method as roasting whole garlic heads:
- Separate the garlic cloves from the bulb.
- Wrap in foil and place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with a little oil
- Roast at 400 degrees F. for 15-25 minutes, until tender.
- This will take less time than roasting the whole garlic head. I recommend checking for doneness at the 15-minute mark. Return to the oven if needed, and check every few minutes until soft.
- To Store: Once roasted and cool to the touch, I recommend removing the cloves from the bulb and storing them tightly wrapped and sealed or in an airtight container otherwise, they will become dry). Store for 3-5 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the roasted cloves as larger pieces or mash the roasted garlic first. Then transfer to a freezer-safe plastic zip bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. When freezing the mashed garlic, spread it in a thin layer in either teaspoon or tablespoon portions on a sheet of plastic wrap in several sections. I normally place 6 dollops of garlic. Fold plastic wrap and place in zip bag and freeze flat. That way, you can simply snap off pieces as needed. Alternatively, freeze into a small ice-cube tray in teaspoon or tablespoon dollops (this is a great method as well). When ready to use, simply peel off a layer or remove a cube of garlic and allow it to come to room temperature. For the larger clove pieces, you can allow them 10-15 minutes at room temperature to thaw.
Notes
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Tag @reginadmitchell on Instagram and hashtag it #reginadmitchell
If you love this recipe, please consider giving it a star rating when you post a comment. Star ratings help people discover my recipes online. Your support means a great deal to me.
Regina xo
