Bring on the garlic breath!
Most people have heard of roasted garlic, and they love the sound of it when they hear it in the description for a dish. But not everyone knows how to make it themselves, nor do they realize how ridiculously easy it is to make!
If you are someone who likes garlic, you are going to love learning how to make roasted garlic in this recipe! Its sweet and mellow flavor is a perfect addition to dips, sauces, dressings, etc. It's also incredibly tasty on its own when spread on toast or paired with grilled meat or fish.
No point wasting any more time. Here are all the steps (complete with photos!) to get you on your way!
First of all, preheat your oven to 400 deg F (200C).
And then you start with -- you guessed it -- whole bulbs of garlic!
Use your fingers to rub off the dry papery outer layers.
Remove as much of the papery skin as possible until you get down to the exposed cloves, but keep the bulb intact.
Using a sharp knife, cut off just enough of the top of the bulb to expose the garlic.
Place the garlic bulb on a sheet of foil and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over top, about 1-2 tablespoons worth for 1 bulb.
This step is optional, but I like to sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the garlic, just for some added flavor.
By the way, if you want to make more than one bulb's worth of roasted garlic at once, feel free to combine them all on a sheet of foil large enough to wrap around all of them.
Wrap the foil securely around the bulb(s) of garlic.
Place the foiled-wrapped garlic directly on the rack in the oven or on a baking pan. The baking pan is a good option in case the foil happens to have any holes in it...you don't want oil leaking onto the oven floor!
About halfway through roasting time, your home is going to start smelling amazing! 🙂
Roast for 1 hour. Remove the garlic from the oven and leave it to rest in the foil for 15 minutes.
After the resting time has elapsed, you can unwrap the foil and voila!
You have beautiful flavorful garlic that has been slow-roasted to perfection!
You can either pry the cloves off the bulb and squeeze them with your fingers to get the softened garlic out, or you can use a butter knife to dig the cloves out from their shells.
Make sure not to miss any bits!
Now that you've got all this glorious roasted garlic, what are some things you can do with it?
- Add it to mashed potatoes
- Stir it into pasta sauces or soups
- Whip it into some mayonnaise for a flavorful sandwich spread
- Top your homemade pizza
- Serve a whole bulb with a grilled steak
- Blend it into a homemade salad dressing
- Spread it on crisp toast or crackers
- Mix it with butter, spread on a French loaf and broil for homemade garlic bread
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Do you think that applies to garlic? 😉
There are so many possibilities with roasted garlic! And as you can see from above, it's so easy to make. How are you going to use it?
~ Lisa.
How To Make Roasted Garlic
Ingredients
- Whole garlic bulbs
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400 deg F (200C).
- Gently rub the papery skins off the garlic bulbs with your fingers until you get down to the exposed cloves. Keep bulb intact.
- With a sharp knife, cut off the top of the bulb to expose the garlic cloves.
- Place the garlic bulb on a sheet of foil and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
- Sprinkle lightly with sea salt (optional).
- Wrap foil completely around the garlic bulb.
- Place foil-wrapped bulb(s) either directly on oven rack or on a baking sheet.
- Roast for 1 hour.
- Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes without removing the foil.
- Squeeze garlic from the individual cloves with your fingers or scoop out using a butter knife or small spoon.
- Store any unsused roasted garlic in a sealed container in the fridge for 1 week.
Chef Markus Mueller
Absolutely LOVE roasted garlic. I grow my own garlic every year and usually plant a few different varieties. The rocombole that I plant is perfect for roasting, it turns out so sweet and creamy! I love making a roasted garlic dressing for my salads with it.! Thanks for sharing this detailed guide to roasting garlic! I'm sure it will inspire quite a few people to roast their own!
Corinna | Friendly Pantry
Roasted garlic is definitely a great addition to so many dishes. Thanks for sharing!
Fouzia
I love the smell of garlic when it is being roasted and it tastes so yummy whether you eat it with roast chicken, roast vegetables or bread. I just add mine to the pot roast. But I like your method of roasting them wrapped in tin foil. I want to try your method now. Thanks for sharing.
I love the smell of roasting garlic, too! Thanks for the comment!