Learn how to make roasted garlic with this easy ‘recipe’ – if you can even call it that! Roasted garlic cloves bring a mellow flavor to savory recipes and keep for weeks in the fridge. Delicious spread on crostini!
One of the areas of this site that is on my shortlist for 2018 is the How-To section. Because while I love sharing start-to-finish recipes with you all, shining a little spotlight on foundational techniques that you can use to change up parts of your favorite dishes is important to me, too. For instance, curious how to make tortilla strips? Or how to make leftover risotto cakes? Or how to make cornbread croutons? I’ve got you covered.
This post on how to make roasted garlic is only the fourth entry, but look for this category to expand as the year (and years!) go on.
Today we’re talking about one of my FA-VOR-ITE ingredients – garlic. When I’m following a recipe that, let’s say, calls for two cloves of garlic, I’m the type that will immediately grab five or six. Love garlic.
While garlic is definitely known as having a bold flavor, roasting it gives it a ton of depth and mellows out the flavor significantly. You probably wouldn’t think of pressing a clove of garlic and eating it raw atop a nice crusty piece of bread, but a clove of roasted garlic? Yes, please. It becomes creamy and easily spreadable, and certainly is a new take on garlic bread.
The technique on how to make roasted garlic is simple. Remove all but the outer “skin” from the garlic bulb, slice off the very top so that the cloves themselves are exposed, and then drizzle olive oil in all the nooks and crannies. Wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil and roast right on the oven rack for about forty minutes. And done! The cloves will have turned a deep golden brown, will be easily mashable, and are ready to be used in whatever type of recipe you’d like.
Roasted garlic has become my new favorite addition to a traditional side dish in this recipe for roasted garlic creamed corn. The flavor of roasted garlic is way more subtle than fresh garlic, so don’t be afraid of roasted garlic recipes that call for a lot more cloves of garlic than you’re used to using. Have you ever made 40 cloves of garlic chicken? It sounds wild, but all those whole cloves essentially roast to help produce a milder (and absolutely delicious) flavored sauce.
Recipe Notes:
- Store the head of roasted garlic in the fridge and pull out a few cloves at a time as needed. It should stay for awhile, about a few weeks.
How to Make Roasted Garlic
Ingredients
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°F. Remove the outer layers of the garlic skin, leaving just the innermost layer on.
- Slice off the top 1/4" of the garlic bulb and place bulb on a sheet of aluminum foil, cut-side up.
- Slowly drizzle olive oil over top of the bulb, ensuring the oil drips down in the nooks and crannies in between the cloves.
- Wrap up the garlic in the foil, wrapping it in a second layer, if needed, to make sure the oil won't drip out. Place wrapped garlic directly on an oven rack situated near the center of the oven.
- Roast for 40 minutes, or until the cloves are a deep golden-brown and a tester inserted into the middle of the centermost clove can be easily inserted and removed. Roasted garlic can be stored in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Vicki says
I hate wasting the top that is cut off, can I just cut in half & roast both halves?
Alyssa says
Hi Vicki, I think that would work just fine!
Ann Reece says
So easy please! Thank you for posting as I’m making hummus for a book study evening!
Alyssa says
You’re very welcome! Love this in hummus. 🙂 Hope you enjoy.