Roasted garlic is wonderful to have on hand for recipes because it adds a depth of flavor. I made the most delicious and buttery roasted garlic this week, and we’ve already enjoyed it on bread and pasta. You’ll love this roasted garlic recipe because it is caramelized, easy to make, and enhances any snack or recipe!
About Garlic
Garlic is an ingredient in many dishes, and it is related to onions, chives, and shallots. Additionally, different varieties of garlic produce larger or smaller bulbs. Larger garlic bulbs, or heads of garlic make sense for this recipe with particular attention paid to the size of the cloves.
Using Roasted Garlic
Roasted Garlic can be used to enhance the flavor of mashed potatoes, compound butter, pesto, vegetables, bread, spreads, pasta, soup, aioli, hummus, and more!
How to Roast Garlic
I used two methods to make this recipe and both worked great with no discernible difference between either method:
- Wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in an oven-safe glass baking dish (pie plate)
- Glass oven-safe bakeware with a lid (no aluminum foil)
I wanted to be sure my recipe works with both methods because some may want to omit aluminum foil in their food preparation. Both methods worked great for me. In fact, putting the garlic in a dish and covering it with a lid was pretty easy!
I started checking the garlic at 40 minutes and then continued to check every 15 minutes until the cloves were roasted the way I wanted. I look for a softness and a nice caramelized color to the cloves.
Recipe Notes
I like to make roasted garlic in larger quantities for use in multiple recipes. Roasting a larger number of garlic bulbs is particularly important if you plan to use this as a spread for guests.
Coating the cloves in olive oil and baking the garlic at a lower temperature produces an ideal caramelization for perfect flavor. Additionally, I like to use sea salt and pepper for seasoning, and fresh herbs can be added to customize the flavor. Finally, a longer roast time helps to produce the caramelization. I roasted all of my garlic, using each method, for longer than an hour.
Roasted Garlic
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 40 to 75 minutes (or longer)
Total time: 1 hour (approximately)
Makes 7 to 8 heads or bulbs of roasted garlic
Equipment
- knife
- cutting board
- oven-safe baking dish with a lid or oven-safe baking dish with aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 7 to 8 heads or bulbs of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil for each garlic bulb
- 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt for each garlic bulb
- 1/8 of fresh ground pepper for every 2 to 3 garlic bulbs
Directions
- Heat oven to 350 F.
- Peel the outside layer of skin from the bulb of garlic while leaving some to hold the garlic cloves together.
- Cut 1/4 inch of the top of each bulb to open the cloves. Place the bulbs in a baking dish.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the exposed garlic cloves and season with salt and pepper accordingly. If using foil, wrap the foil so that everything is contained within, or place the lid on the baking dish.
- Bake 50 to 75 minutes (or longer)* until the garlic is tender and caramelized. Start checking the garlic at 40 minutes and then every 15 minutes until the garlic is caramelized, soft, and easily pierced with a toothpick.
- Cool the roasted garlic until easily handled. Gently squeeze the caramelized garlic out of the cloves. Enjoy!
*Roast time may vary depending on the number of garlic bulbs roasted. A longer roast time may be required for larger quantities of garlic.