Learn how to roast garlic two ways-whole heads or individual cloves-plus my chef’s method for making roasted garlic paste to keep on hand for easy, instant flavor.
Roasted garlic is one of those little kitchen miracles-sharp, pungent garlic transforms into something sweet, nutty, caramelized, and buttery-soft. Spread it onto warm toast, mash it into sauces and dressings, stir it into soups or mashed potatoes, or use it anywhere you want rich garlic flavor without the sharp bite.
As a chef, I used to roast garlic in huge batches at both the restaurant and in my catering business. At the end of farmers market season, we’d roast the last of the garlic whole in big hotel pans, using some right away and freezing the rest for later. On those days, the kitchen smelled heavenly!
Here, I’ll show you how to roast garlic two ways: as whole heads or individual peeled cloves. I’ll also show you one of my favorite chef tricks-turning roasted garlic into a silky garlic paste that you can keep on hand for adding instant flavor to all kinds of dishes.
Why you’ll love This Roasted Garlic recipe!
Sweet, mellow, and buttery. Roasting transforms sharp raw garlic into soft, caramelized cloves with a rich, nutty sweetness and none of the harsh bite.
Two easy methods. Roast whole heads for beautifully soft, squeezable cloves, or roast peeled cloves when you want a larger batch for cooking or making roasted garlic paste.
A flavor booster for almost anything. Spread it on toast, whisk it into dressings, blend it into sauces and soups, mash it into potatoes, or add it to vegetables, pasta, and more. Make extra and freeze it for later!
How to Roast a Whole Head of Garlic
1. Prep the garlic. Preheat oven to 375 F. With a sharp knife, cut half an inch off the tips of the garlic bulb, exposing the inner cloves.
2. Season the garlic. Place in a well-oiled skillet, braiser pan, or baking dish and drizzle with oil and optional salt and pepper. Feel free to add fresh herbs. We skip the foil packet to minimize aluminum exposure.
3. Cover and bake. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 35-45 minutes.
4. Finish roasting uncovered. Uncover and continue roasting until caramelized and golden, about 10-20 additional minutes. You’ll know they are done when the garlic is golden brown and it easily squeezes out of the skin like a paste.
5. Cool and remove cloves. When they come out, they will be golden, tender, and creamy. Let them cool, then squeeze the cloves out.
How to Roast Peeled Garlic Cloves
Now, if you happen to buy big bags of peeled garlic, roasting garlic is even easier! You can roast big batches, blend the paste, and freeze the resulting paste in little jars, pulling them out as needed.
1. Add garlic to a baking dish. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place 1 cup peeled garlic cloves in a well-oiled glass baking dish.
TIP: A glass baking dish lets you see the level of color as it develops. Again, we skip using a “foil packet” to minimize aluminum exposure.
2. Season the garlic. Toss whole garlic cloves generously with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil (and optional pinch of salt and pepper).
3. Bake. Cover the dish with a piece of aluminum foil. Bake until tender and golden, about 20-30 minutes. Look for visual cues: pale yellow → golden brown → caramelized.
4. Remove. When it’s done, the confit garlic will be golden brown, buttery, and delicious. caramelized.
How to Make A roasted Garlic Paste
Make a garlic “paste” by pureeing roasted garlic with a little olive oil in a food processor until sily smooth. Store in a jar in the fridge, covered with a layer of olive oil, and keep in the fridge for up to 10 days. You can also mash the whole cloves with a fork. Or freeze, and pull out as needed-ice cube trays work great here.
Chef’s Tips
- Start with fresh garlic. Look for firm, heavy heads with tight, papery skin. Avoid garlic with soft spots or lots of green sprouts.
- Don't overdo the olive oil. Drizzle just enough over the exposed cloves to lightly coat them. You want the garlic to roast and caramelize, not become greasy.
- Roast similar-sized heads together. If you’re making a big batch, choose garlic heads that are roughly the same size so they finish roasting at about the same time.
- Roast until deeply golden and buttery-soft. Don’t pull the garlic too early! The cloves should be caramelized, very soft, and easily squeezed from their skins. A little extra roasting time is often where the best flavor develops.
Storage & Freezing
Refrigerate: Store roasted garlic in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Keep refrigerated and don’t leave it sitting at room temperature.
Freeze: Freeze individual cloves on a baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Or mash the roasted garlic into a paste and freeze it in an ice cube tray-perfect for adding a cube to soups, sauces, pasta, and more!
Ways to Use Roasted Garlic
Once you have roasted garlic on hand, you’ll find endless ways to use it! Spread the soft cloves over warm sourdough bread or baguette slices, or mash them into butter, cream cheese, or mayo for an easy spread.
Stir roasted garlic into mashed potatoes, pasta, soups, stews, or pizza, or blend it into hummus, salad dressings, pesto, and tomato sauce for a mellow, savory depth.
It’s especially delicious in creamy pasta dishes like our Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo or Roasted Cauliflower Pasta. You can even fold a few cloves into your next sourdough loaf!
I’m so excited to hear all the ways you will use roasted garlic!
More Culinary Basics
After you try this oven-roasted garlic recipe, let us know how it turns out in the comments below. Your review will help other readers, too! Sign up here to join our community and receive our latest recipes and weekly newsletter! xoxo Sylvia
WATCH How to Make Roasted Garlic
Easy Roasted Garlic
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Condiment, cooking basics
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Learn how to make roasted garlic two ways-using whole heads or individual cloves. Roasting transforms sharp raw garlic into sweet, caramelized, buttery-soft cloves perfect for spreading, sauces, soups, pasta, and more.
Ingredients
- Garlic- either 6 whole heads, or 1 cup peeled cloves
- olive oil (1 teaspoon per head) or 2-3 tablespoons per cup of peeled cloves
- salt and pepper to taste – optional
- a few fresh sprigs of rosemary or thyme- optional
Instructions
Roasting Whole Heads of Garlic
- Preheat oven to 375 F
- Cut the tips of the heads, exposing the cloves inside, slicing off roughly 1/2 inch.
- Place in a well-oiled skillet or baking dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil roughly, 1 teaspoon per head. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if you like, and tuck in some sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Both optional.
- Cover tightly with foil.
- Roast 35-40 minutes, check for tenderness, by inserting the tip of a knife into an inner clove. If tender, uncover and roast until golden and caramelized, 10-20 more minutes. If not tender, recover with foil and check again in 5-10 minutes.
Roasting Peeled Garlic Cloves
- Preheat oven to 375 F
- Place 1 cup garlic cloves in a baking dish (glass allows you to see the depth of color).
- Drizzle generously with olive oil 2-4 tablespoons ( the flavorful oil can be used in dressings, and to preserve the garlic)
- Cover with foil.
- Place in the hot oven for 20-25 minutes, check, continue roasting until golden and caramelized and the cloves are very tender.
Notes
To preserve and store: Refrigerate whole heads in ziplock bags for up to 5 days (or freeze for 6 months).
To preserve roasted (peeled) cloves, simple cover with a layer of olive oil in a jar. Add herbs, lemon zest and chili flakes if you like. This will keep 10 days in the refrigerator with the garlic submerged in oil. Use the flavorful garlic-infused oil in your cooking or dressings etc, but always top off the jar with more oil, so the garlic is completely covered. Take care to always refrigerate, and not leave too long at room temperature.
Or freeze in little jars. You can also freeze cloves in little ziplock bags.
Make Roasted Garlic Paste: My favorite way is to blend the garlic cloves with the oil in a food processor and make a paste, covering with a tiny layer of olive oil. This will last 10 days in the fridge. For longer, store the garlic paste in little jars in the freezer, and pull out as needed. You could also free in ice cube trays.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tablespoon
- Calories: 28
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 1.4 mg
- Fat: 1.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 2.8 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 0.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
What if you’re working with hard-neck garlic? I can’t seem to cut the top off and bake in the bulb without breaking the whole thing apart. Any suggestions?
Shoot. I wonder if you tried cutting the top off after it was roasted?
Great recipe!
Hello friends, it’s a wonderful recipe.
First, I grilled the garlic along with a variety vegetables. Then I mushed several cloves and mixed with olive oil, zaatar, dill, salt and pepper.
I served it with turmeric rice and the grilled veggies.
Oh my! So amazing!
I ate some of the garlic on bagel chips while cooking. 😇
Yum TJ!!!
How do you measure for recipes ….. 1 clove would equal how much roasted paste?
One clove would be about a teaspoon. 🙂
I use roasted garlic (usually a whole head for a large pot) and add it to homemade chicken soup. Gives it such a great flavor!!
Great to hear!
I am a vampire and I am offended. 😀
😉
Great info !
I love garlic and add it to everything but never roasted it. Will definitely give it a try. My question is how do you add the roasted garlic to sourdough bread? While mixing the starter with water? Thank you.
There is a recipe for Rosemary Olive Bread with Roasted Garlic- I fold it in after it rises. Maybe refer to those photos?
Amazing! For the whole cloves storing in a jar with olive oil, I saw you put lemon, rosemary and red peppers in it, it looks amazing, wondering if they also need to be roasted to be put with garlic together?
Thank you!
Hi Julian, I didnt roast them -but feel free to. I think I used a dry chili here.
I roast the elephant garlic for an hour, then mash it up with olive oil, parm, grated pepper and a little balsamic vinegar. Use it as a spread for bread, atop grilled steaks or pork chops on grill. Keeps in jar for about a week.
Yum!
i peel about 15 heads
and put it all in an electric put
POUR in one cup of oil
boil them for 30 minuets
cool it well and put it in to the jar
and keep the jar in fridge
until it is all gone
about 2-3 weeks
i like to eat it right FROM THE JAR TOO
BUT YOU CAN USE THEM AN YWAY YOU LIK
Roasted garlic is staple in our family. Your article is the most complete guide! Thank you!
How often do you eat the 6 cloves for the health benefits, once a week, month?
We eat it often- but huge garlic fans…
I made it! It really is delicious! I ate it with toasted bread. I can’t wait to start using it in my soups! Thanks!
I just roasted garlic for the first time. Yes it smells awesome. I have looked up several references to guide me. Yours was the best and clearest. I was especially needing to learn how to store it and what to use it in.
Thank you. I will check your blog more often now.
Easy to follow recipe and it really adds flavor to our daily menu. Thank you so much.
Is it safe if I left the full head with skins on roasted in the fridge in a baggie for 2 days? i didn’t have time and threw it in there, but went to use it for a salad dressing two days later.
Yes, it is fine! It keeps up to five days in the fridge 🙂
Its delicious I actually did this and ate it before i came to your page…. just to read more but i ate the whole garlic 😍
Perfect!
Love this so great for your body. Tyvm for this information much appreciated!
I’ve been roasting garlic for years (hubby and I just polished off almost four heads worth), but never looked up the health benefits until now. While I had heard of most, a few surprised me (pleasingly), so thanks much.
There aren’t many savory dishes that aren’t improved with some form of garlic. If you going for chopped raw, remember that if you wait about 20 minutes before using more helpful compounds form.
Thanks so much Carrie!
I go through about 5 bulbs of garlic per month by myself. I wrap individual cloves in foil with a little oil, parsley, & italian seasoning. I use my toaster oven @ 275 for 30 minutes and use it in everything or sometimes just eat it right out of the foil…Soooo good!!
Sounds perfect!
Hi,
Your website is marvellous !!!
I wish you could put the fahrenheit also in your recipes ( i live in Belgium)…
Im working on that!
Thank you Sylvia for this recipe! I love garlic alone or in most savory dishes. Roasted and mashed on crackers is one of my favorites but your recipes above is a great variety to try, expanding my horizons!
Thanks Sherry!!!
Hello Sylvia, I have been roasting garlic for years..
I love love love all your ideas. I did not know I could roast individual cloves .yay
I love all the ideas you gave us about how to preserve it etc!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes.
We’re on vacation and I look forward to going home and roasting a bunch of garlic!
I love your blog and I look forward to your recipes each month!
I know if I make any of your recipes it’s going to turn out delicious for both my husband and I whom eat differently.
🙏 thank you,Ally
Awwww… thanks Allison- appreciate this so much!
mam give your email addres send some garlic photo
sylvia@feastingathome.com