This roasted garlic recipe is easy to make and results in tender, sweet, caramelized, creamy, golden garlic cloves that are perfect for spreading on bruschetta, adding to mashed potatoes, bread, soups, and more!
Roasted garlic is truly magical. ✨ I am always in awe of how the oven can transform something so pungent, sharp, and edgy into something so buttery, nutty, and sweet. Roasting garlic takes away all its bite, making it easier to digest, without losing any of its tremendous health benefits. As a chef, both at the restaurant and in my catering business, we would take the last of the farmers’ market garlic and roast it whole in large hotel pans, freezing some for future use. On those days, the kitchen smelled heavenly!
Why You’ll Love this Whole Roasted Garlic
Roasting garlic transforms it into a caramelized, spreadable, buttery texture with sweet, deep, nutty, earthy, complex flavors. And you can do so many things with it! My favorite is simply spreading on bruschetta or toast.
Here, I’ll show you how to roast garlic in two different ways: whole garlic heads or peeled individual garlic cloves.
I’ll also share a few chef’s tricks for storing and preserving roasted garlic and, my favorite, making a roasted garlic paste (below) to use at home or in your restaurant. You’ll find a million uses for roasted garlic! I love the flavorful depth the roasting process imparts, giving food a beautiful complexity.
WATCH: How to Make Roasted Garlic (Bulb or Peeled)
What You Need to Roast Garlic in Oven
- Garlic Varieties: Use fresh garlic, soft-neck, hard-neck, elephant garlic, and either whole heads of raw garlic (garlic bulbs) or peeled garlic cloves.
- Olive oil: Use high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
Variations
- Salt and black pepper: Optional, but enhances the deep, savory aroma of the garlic.
- Fresh herbs: Feel free to add fresh herbs when seasoning the garlic before roasting it to add an aromatic, herby taste.
How to Make Roasted Garlic (Bulb)
1. Prep the garlic. Preheat oven to 400F. 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 35-40 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 Make Roasted Garlic (Peeled)
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 400F. 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. I let these go a little longer because my husband really enjoys the edges a little crispy and caramelized.
How to Make Garlic Paste!
Make a garlic “paste” by pureeing roasted garlic with a little olive oil, place in a jar, cover 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
- Choosing garlic: Freshness matters! Look for firm, heavy bulbs with a tight, unbroken peel. Avoid green sprouts or soft, brown spots.
- Oil amount: Use enough oil to lightly cover the garlic. Too much oil can make it excessively greasy.
- Batch consistency: If making a batch of roasted garlic bulbs, try to find heads of garlic that are roughly the same size so they have the same cooking time.
How to store roasted garlic
Roasted individual cloves of garlic, stored in olive oil, will keep in a jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Note that it must be refrigerated: do not let roasted garlic sit out at room temperature for more than 4 hours, as it can spoil easily, and there is a risk of botulism.
- Refrigerate: Roasted garlic cloves can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, submerged in olive oil, for one week.
- Freeze: Freeze cloves flat on a baking sheet, then transfer to a bag for up to 3 months. Or mash the garlic cloves into a paste and pour it into an ice cube tray, then pop out a cube of frozen garlic paste when needed for easy cooking!
- Store Roasted Garlic in Olive Oil
What to do with Roasted Garlic
Roasted garlic is lovely in mashed potatoes, sauces, pasta, pizza, stews, and soups.
Roasted Garlic as a Topping, Dip, or Side
- Spread on bread: Spread warm roasted garlic cloves on crusty bread or baguette slices for a tasty and simple appetizer-like garlic bread!
- Add to dips and spreads: Mix roasted garlic cloves into hummus, guacamole, or sour cream-based dips for a flavorful twist.
- Enhance mashed potatoes: Mash a few roasted garlic cloves into your favorite mashed potato recipe for a savory and aromatic side dish.
- Topping for pizza: Scatter roasted garlic cloves over your pizza toppings before baking to add a sweet and mellow flavor.
- Flavor butter and spreads: Mix chopped roasted garlic into softened butter, cream cheese, or mayo for a delicious spread for bread or crackers.
Roasted Garlic as an Add-in or Ingredient
- Add to pasta dishes: Stir into our miso pasta, gnocchi with mushrooms, vegan fettuccine alfredo, roasted cauliflower pasta, or spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce.
- In soups and stews: Puree roasted garlic cloves and add them to soups and stews to infuse them with a deep, rich flavor.
- Blend into sauces: Mix roasted garlic cloves into tomato sauces, pesto, or creamy pasta sauces for an extra layer of flavor.
- Add some to your next sourdough loaf!
- Salad dressings: Blend roasted garlic cloves with olive oil, vinegar, and herbs to create a flavorful dressing for salads.
FAQs
There are two methods for roasting garlic. You can either roast whole garlic bulbs or roast the individual peeled cloves. If roasting whole heads of garlic, you’ll remove the cloves once it has cooled. They slide easily out of the papery skins.
At 400F, whole garlic bulbs are roasted for 45 minutes to an hour. A baking dish of individual cloves can be roasted for 20-30 minutes.
Yes, olive oil helps the garlic cloves caramelize and get tender.
Use a sharp knife to cut half an inch off the tips of the garlic bulb. This keeps the bulb intact while exposing the inner cloves.
I’m so excited to hear all the ways you will use roasted garlic!
More Cooking 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
Oven Roasted Garlic Bulb Recipe
- 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
How to roast garlic in the oven (using whole heads of garlic or peeled garlic cloves). Roasting garlic transforms it! Spreadable, buttery, sweet, earthy, and complex it has a multitude of uses in the kitchen! With so many health benefits!
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 Garlic Heads
- preheat oven to 400F
- 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 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
- Preheat oven to 400F
- 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 minutes, check, continue roasting until golden and caramelied,
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
An outstanding share!
Thanks Evan!
I took my frozen garlic cloves out and left them out on my counter all day. Are they still good to use?
I should think they are probably fine. But use your best judgement. Don’t use if they look or smell off.
What do you do with the garlic paste? And the roasted garlic cloves?
Add to to pizza, soups, toss with pasta!
i threw a few raw halves into a tupperware container of black olives a few days ago…will it kill me to eat the olives?
Not at all!
bookmarked!!, I really like your website!
Fantastic garlic recipe. As for sautéed mushrooms! Delicious.
With garlic one is enjoying one of natures effective natural antibiotics – among several powerful healing elements.
Form the southern tip of Africa, “thank you”!
Thanks so much!