Roasting garlic turns a regular head of garlic into soft, sweet, savory cloves. Spread it on a slice of toast, or use it to add depth of flavor to so many different kinds of dishes.
I like to think that roasted garlic is a head of garlic living its best life. Roasting softens the bite of raw garlic, caramelizing into buttery sweetness. I roast garlic on the regular, as it is absolutely magical for elevating the flavor of soups, stews, risottos, salad dressings, and more.
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Why Make This Recipe
- So Easy: This recipe takes at least 45 minutes, but it’s almost all completely hands-off time, and you only need three ingredients!
- Great Flavor: A few cloves of roasted garlic make almost everything better. Don't believe us? Try this Roasted Garlic Hummus or this Garlic Horseradish Aioli.
- Make-Ahead: Perfect for making up to a few days in advance.
🥗 Ingredients
- Garlic: Look for garlic with a tightly packed head, without any sprouts growing out of top.
- Olive Oil: Any type will work here, or choose a different oil. Avocado oil or grapeseed oil would work as well.
- Salt: Kosher salt or some type of sea salt is best for this recipe. If you only have regular table salt, use a little less than what the recipe calls for.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut off top ¼ of the garlic head. (Reserve the cut off cloves for later use.)
Drizzle garlic head with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Place garlic head on a sheet of aluminum foil.
Wrap foil up tightly.
Roast garlic in oven for 45 minutes to an hour.
Check that garlic is done by unwrapping foil and piercing with skewer—it will go in with no resistance when the garlic is fully roasted.
Let cool slightly, then squeeze out garlic cloves as needed.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for How to Roast Garlic
In this recipe, I recommend 45 minutes to 1 hour at 400 degrees. Don’t be tempted to up the oven temperature to try to bake garlic faster—the higher temperature can burn the garlic rather than gently cooking it. Small heads of garlic may need only 45 minutes or less.
See above! Roasting garlic at too high of a temperature will burn it. In addition, you want to wrap the head of garlic tightly in foil. That will help steam the garlic so that it softens and bakes rather than burns. I wouldn’t recommend roasting garlic by itself (not wrapped in foil).
You can keep roasted garlic in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, wrapped in its foil or put into an airtight container. You can also squeeze out the roasted cloves and freeze for up to a month in a freezer-safe bag or container.
There is some evidence to suggest that raw garlic is better than cooked garlic in terms of nutritional content. Raw garlic contains B vitamins and vitamin C, along with an antioxidant called allicin. Unfortunately, the garlic enzyme that produces allicin can be destroyed when whole garlic cloves are heated. That said, garlic has other benefits that may not be affected by the roasting process.
👩🍳 Expert Tips for Roasting Garlic
Note that you might be tempted to overcook your garlic, thinking that it will just get softer and roastier. In fact, roasted garlic can actually overcook fairly easily, and you’ll find that those soft cloves start to harden up again. So take it out as soon as your skewer or fork goes in with little to no resistance.
Now that you’ve got roasted garlic cloves, what to do with them? If you want to dole them out sparingly, you will find that blending 2 or 3 roasted garlic cloves into a vinaigrette or salad dressing is completely delicious. You can also keep them on hand to smear onto a slice of good crusty bread. I like a layer of salted butter underneath the roasted garlic, but you can also just use the roasted garlic itself.
Want to use the entire head? How about blending into mayonnaise for a Roasted Garlic Aioli?
Here are some other great ideas for using your roasted garlic:
- Stir into mashed or double-baked potatoes
- Add to risotto
- Chop and stir into a pasta dish like this Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pasta or even just your basic Mac n Cheese
- Use it to make a dip for these Roasted Artichokes with Garlic Mayo
- Chop and sprinkle over roasted or steamed vegetables
- Stir into a soup like this Chicken Soup with Rice or this Potato Leek Soup
- Smear baked garlic over pizza or flatbread dough before topping and baking
- Replace regular garlic cloves in pesto, as in these Lemon Basil Pesto and Ramp Pesto recipes
- Make roasted garlic bread!
- Stir into olive oil to make a dip for crusty bread
- Spread onto sandwich bread to take your sandwiches up a notch
Another method that gives you great results is to confit garlic instead. Just try this How to Roast Garlic in Olive Oil recipe.
Our Favorite Garlic Recipes
Garlic in all forms is delicious. Here are some of our favorite recipes featuring all types of garlic, from raw garlic to black garlic!
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📖 Recipe
Roasted Garlic
Roasting garlic turns a regular head of garlic into soft, sweet, savory cloves. Spread it on a slice of toast, or use it to add depth of flavor to so many different kinds of dishes.
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut off top ¼ of the garlic head. (Reserve the cut off cloves for later use).
- Place garlic head on a sheet of aluminum foil.
- Drizzle garlic head with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Wrap up foil tightly.
- Roast for 45 minutes to an hour. Check that garlic is done by unwrapping foil and piercing with skewer—it will go in with no resistance when the garlic is fully roasted.
- Let cool slightly, then squeeze out garlic cloves as needed.
Notes
Expert Tips:
You might be tempted to overcook your garlic, thinking that it will just get softer and roastier. In fact, roasted garlic can actually overcook fairly easily, and you’ll find that those soft cloves start to harden up again. So take it out as soon as your skewer or fork goes in with little to no resistance.
Storage:
You can keep roasted garlic in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, wrapped in its foil or put into an airtight container. You can also squeeze out the roasted cloves and freeze for up to a month in a freezer-safe bag or container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 31Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 39mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
Nutrition information is provided as a general reference for users courtesy of the online nutrition calculator Nutritionix.
Instagram Users: Now that you've learned how to make roasted garlic, tag us @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because we’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
These clever tips you've shared for roasting garlic guarantee success. Mmm... I can almost taste the garlic toast now!
Chef Molly says
Thanks! Isn't roasted garlic the best??