How to Roast Garlic: Roasted Garlic is sweet and delicious, it’s perfect to add to Mashed Potatoes and delicious spread over toasted baguette. Once roasted, garlic takes on a sweet mild flavor and adds great flavor to dips, dressings and of course creamy pasta dishes like Chicken Lasagna!
Perfectly Delicious Roasted Garlic
Garlic is part of the shallot, leek, chive, and Chinese onion family. It is a common seasoning worldwide with a history of several thousand years being in recipes that span all cuisines! No pasta sauce is complete without a generous dose of garlic and of course no steak dinner should be without Garlic Butter! Simple roasted garlic eliminates the harsh bite of raw garlic making is sweet and flavorful.
How Much is a Clove of Garlic? Garlic is most often sold in a bulb (also referred to as a head of garlic). The bulb is made up of several cloves. How Many Cloves in a Head of Garlic? The size and variety of a head of garlic can determine how many cloves are in it, (usually about 12-18 cloves per ‘head’ of garlic).
How to Choose Garlic for Roasting: Cooking garlic is easy when you get past the papery skin. Look for heads of garlic that are heavy and full and intact and be sure to avoid heads that are damp or shriveled!
How to Roast Garlic
Roasted garlic cloves can be used in so many amazing ways! Lots of garlic recipes call for roasted garlic because roasting garlic makes the cloves soft and the flavor mild and sweet.
- Remove most of the papery skin so the bulb with the cloves is still intact.
- Slice off the top of the entire bulb revealing the tops of the cloves.
- Place the whole bulb on a square of aluminum foil & drizzle the top with olive oil.
- Bake until soft and golden.
Pro Tip: Roasted garlic can even be made in the Air Fryer! Find the recipe here.
Cool to use or cook up several heads at once (it freezes well and can be added to recipes right from frozen). Once soft, squeeze out the cloves of garlic and mash to use in recipes.
Mix into a caesar dressing, Italian dressing, or simply spread on a crusty baguette! All the garlic flavor without the bitter garlic bite!
How to Roast Garlic
Ingredients
- 2 bulbs garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Rub the bulb of garlic to remove all of the loose papery skin.
- Cut off the top of the garlic so you can see the insides of each clove.
- Place garlic on a square of foil and drizzle generously with olive oil. Seal the foil well.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes or until cloves are very soft and golden brown.
- Cool and squeeze the cloves out. Use in recipes or spread on bread.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer
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Would you say one clove of garlic is how much? I would like to freeze them by the clove size. Ready to use!! Thank you so much!! I absolutely love your blog!!
Cloves vary by size but one clove of garlic is approximately 1 teaspoon.
I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes Stephanie!
Can I roast one bulb of garlic instead of 2?
You sure can. It will need the same amount of time.
Yum! I love having fresh roasted garlic on hand!
Witch end do you cut off? Or witch is the top
You’ll want to cut the end where the garlic cloves are pointed (not the end where the whole bulb sits flat).
Hello! I love the idea of freezing the roasted heads of garlic. Would you suggest squeezing the cloves out of their paper pods before freezing; separating each clove or freezing the entire roasted bulb and then breaking off the amount needed? Do they lose any flavour once frozen making it necessary to use more? Thanks
I squeeze them out before separating and place them in a freezer bag (in a flat layer). I don’t find they lose flavor.
Live this
Thanks Mark!
Is there any way to roast the garlic without wrapping in foil.My husband wont let me use foil anymore due to what he has read about the negative health benefits.Thanks Holly.
Yes, you can roast without foil. In all cases, prepare the head of garlic as directed.
There are a few options but you’ll want to ensure it’s covered so it doesn’t dry out. You can purchase a garlic roaster which is a covered small pot, most often terra cotta.
Other options include wrapping in parchment paper to make a packet and roasting on a pan or place it on a pan and cover it with an upside down bowl or ramekin while baking.