An easy oven-roasted garlic recipe using a parchment paper baggie to keep your garlic moist. Roasting garlic transforms it from sharp and spicy to sweet caramelized goodness in less than one hour. If only all makeovers were this easy!
Roasted garlic is the perfect addition to vegetables, soups, braises, or stews. Or my personal favorite our garlic aioli that we use for our Jicama Bravas. Or mix into butter to make a compound butter and slather on bread, steak, or potatoes. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention our Garlic Cashew Cream Cheese which makes use of our favorite garlic recipe.
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We have been on a roasting tear at the Peel house lately. You can check our most recent recipe, slow-roasted tomatoes here. If you find raw garlic too harsh or simply don't like chopping garlic then roasted garlic is for you. Roasting the garlic removes the spiciness allowing the sweetness to shine. And the softened cloves are spreadable so no chopping needed.
📋Ingredients and Tools
Good news, no special ingredients needed! Just a a few heads of garlic and few basic kitchen tools including:
- 2 heads of garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- kosher salt
- parchment paper
- butchers twine
We prefer parchment paper because a very juicy garlic head may stick to foil due to the sugars. We find it comes off cleaner from parchment paper. You can absolutely use foil, a clay garlic roaster, or even a small saucepan with a lid. But parchment is by far the easiest to clean up.
⏲️How to Roast Whole Garlic
Roasted garlic heads is a very easy hands-off recipe. The key to soft garlic cloves is trimming off the tops to allow the steam to escape but keeping them wrapped to create the heat bubble necessary to keep them moist. Here are the basic instructions:
- Remove any loose outer skins from garlic heads. Slice off just the top of each head of garlic to expose the tops of the cloves inside.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Wrap in the parchment paper, securing with kitchen twine.
- Roast until at 400 F degrees until they are lightly browned and tender. Typically this takes about 40 minutes but you will want to begin checking the garlic at 30 minutes. The time to finish will depend on the size of the bulb and cloves, the variety of garlic used and the age of the garlic.
- Allow the garlic to cool slightly then gently squeeze out the cloves from the skins.
🌡️How to Store Roasted Garlic
Whole roasted garlic can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Individual cloves can be removed from the paper head and stored in a small glass container and covered with a good quality olive oil for longer storage.
Roasted garlic, the full head or individual cloves can be kept in the freezer for several months. To make removing individual frozen cloves easier we recommend freezing them on a sheet pan separately before transferring them to an airtight container.
Alternatively, you can puree the roasted garlic cloves and freeze small amounts in an ice cube tray before transferring to an airtight container. This is my favorite!
Do not keep roasted garlic out on the counter for long periods of time.
💭Can You Roast Individual Cloves of Garlic?
The short answer is yes. BUT... we don't recommend it. Most recipes for individual roasted cloves of garlic have you peel them first. The direct heat on the cloves will make them more likely to burn. You definitely have to keep a closer eye on them.
For that reason I find it easier to roast the whole head (or even half a head, if that is what we have left). More hands off and less prone to burning.
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Let us know in the comments your favorite way to roast garlic and be sure to check out some of our other favorite garlic forward recipes!
📖 Recipe
Easy Oven Roasted Garlic
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 heads of garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- kosher salt
- parchment paper*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
- Remove any loose outer skins from garlic heads. Slice ¼ to 1.3 inch off the top of the garlic head to expose the cloves inside.
- Drizzle the tops of the bulbs with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Wrap in the foil or parchment paper secured with kitchen twine.
- Roast until the garlic cloves are lightly browned and tender, about 40 minutes. Begin checking the garlic at 30 minutes, the time to finish varies based on the size, age and variety of garlic used.
- Let the garlic cool slightly, and then serve. Press on the bottom of a clove to push it out of its paper. Roasted garlic can also be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
- *Garlic can be roasted without foil or parchment in a clay garlic roaster or by using a small ovenproof saucepan and lid.
Uma Srinivas says
I love roasted garlic. When we are kids we use to roast the garlic on the fire where my elders makes that for boiling water. this recipe reminded my olden days. Maybe I want to try this soon... Looks so yummy!
Ramona says
Roasted garlic is such a great flavourful addition to so many dishes and I like it on toasted bread too - yummy!
Jen says
Absolutely- shmeared on bread!
Courtney says
Yum! Roasted garlic is the best, isn't it? I have never thought of using parchment paper. Great tip!
Jen says
Also love it spread on toast!