Roasting garlic gives it a sweeter, but still garlicky, flavor with less bite. It’s a great way to add a whole new depth of flavor to dishes. Follow this simple tutorial on how to roast garlic plus check out 10 delicious ways to use it!
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I love garlic, but not until recently did I ever think to roast my own.  I usually just cook it in a little olive oil with other vegetables, or toss it into a recipe with the other ingredients. It turns out that it’s actually not hard at all to roast your own garlic. It makes your house smell amazing (if you like the smell of roasted garlic), and it changes the flavor of your recipes, oh so slightly, but oh so wonderfully!
How to Roast Garlic
- You want to start off by cutting the top 1/4-inch off of a whole bulb of garlic to expose the top of each of the cloves. Â When I was first learning how to do this, I could not for the life of me tell which side was considered the top! Â If you’re not sure either, I’ll make this easier on you – the top of the garlic is the widest end. Â The pointed bottom should remain intact.
- Place the head of garlic onto a piece of aluminum foil. Make sure the aluminum foil is large enough to wrap around the entire head of garlic.
- Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil onto the garlic. Rub the oil all over the garlic so it’s fully coated.
- Wrap the garlic tightly in the aluminum foil.
- Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes, until the exposed cloves are golden brown and fork tender.
- Pop the cloves out easily with a fork to use in recipes or as a spread.
- Store unused garlic in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Use within a few days.
What Do You Eat with Roasted Garlic?
Now that you have all of this delicious, freshly roasted garlic, the next question is what are you going to do with it? Â If you’re here to learn how to roast garlic, I imagine you already have at least one recipe that you plan to use it in, enjoy it on it’s own, or find it tasty to spread onto toast. But, if you have roasted cloves leftover that you want to use up in new ways, then these next 10 recipes are a great place to start.
10 Recipes That Use Roasted Garlic
An easy-to-make mayonnaise-based sauce that you can use on sandwiches, wraps, shrimp cakes, chicken, potatoes and more!
2. Spinach Ricotta Pizza with Roasted Garlic – Delicious Little Bites
Spinach Ricotta Pizza with Roasted Garlic makes a great vegetarian meal! Â Use a cauliflower pizza crust to make it gluten free and much lower in carbs than traditional pizza!
3. Creamy Roasted Garlic Mushroom Risotto – House of Nash Eats
Creamy Roasted Garlic & Mushroom Risotto is a restaurant quality dish that is perfect for a special occasion dinner and can be served as either a meatless main dish, side dish, or appetizer depending on how you portion each serving.
4. Lemon Piccata Potato Salad – Spabettie
Lemon Piccata Potato Salad is a bright and briny take on the summertime classic. The best potluck recipe just got a new flavor!
5. Roasted Garlic Hummus – Beyond the Chicken Coop
Here’s a recipe you’ve really got to try!  Roasted Garlic Hummus: it’s easy, it’s inexpensive, and it’s delicious!
6. Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Soup – Living Well Kitchen
This immune-boosting, inflammation-fighting soup filled with veggies will be your new staple even when you’re not trying to fight that annoying cold.
7. Sun-dried Tomato Walnut Linguine – Three Olives Branch
Roasted garlic and sun-dried tomatoes are the stars of this pasta dish topped with Parmesan cream sauce.
8. Roasted Garlic Parmesan Ranch Dressing – Mom Foodie
Roasted Garlic Parmesan Ranch Dressing is a rich buttermilk garlic ranch dressing recipe with Parmesan cheese. The recipe is sort of the best of two worlds, between a ranch salad dressing and Caesar. It’s fantastic on salads, as a dip or even a marinade.
9. Roasted Garlic Vegan Mashed Potatoes – Loving it Vegan
Deliciously fluffy vegan mashed potatoes with roasted garlic. Creamy, buttery, garlicky and everything mashed potatoes should be.
10. Whipped Roasted Garlic Butter – Who Needs a Cape
Whipped Roasted Garlic Butter is so simple to make and adds a wonderful depth of flavor to so many recipes. Try it on bread, you’ll love it.
Other Recipes to Try
 Love this Roasted Garlic recipe?  Follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for more!
How To Roast Garlic
Ingredients
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cut the top 1/4-inch off of a whole bulb of garlic so that the top of each clove of garlic is exposed.
- Drizzle the olive oil onto the garlic and rub it all over so it's all coated.
- Wrap the garlic in a piece of aluminum foil.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the exposed cloves are golden brown and fork tender.
Notes
Tips and Techniques
- Store unused garlic in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Use within a few days
- You can freeze roasted garlic for up to 10 months.
Nutrition
This tutorial was originally published on May 16, 2016. It was updated with new images, more thorough instructions, and usage ideas in July 2019.
Caitlyn Erhardt says
Roasted garlic is the best! Great recipe and step-by-step!
rebecca says
roasted garlic is the best ever! love how easy this is! thanks for sharing
Heidy L. McCallum says
I love when bloggers bring back healthy, natural, tastier ways of the past. Kudos to you for teaching others just how simple it is to make your own roasted garlic instead of buying it with 100 chemicals added to it. I LOVE it!!!
Jill says
Roasted garlic is the best! I didn’t know I could store the leftover (although I usually don’t have any leftover, LOL). Thanks for that tip!
Marc @ NoRecipes says
I love roast garlic, and judging by the color of yours it looks perfectly roasted! I like spreading roasted garlic on crackers with honey and cheese.
Miri says
Mmmm, I love roasted garlic, and there’s nothing quite as satisfying as pushing out the cloves.
ourlittleeverything says
Haha isn’t that the truth – so funny!
Breharne says
OMG why I have I not been roasting my own garlic?! My homemade aioli is going to be out of this world.
ourlittleeverything says
It’s so easy! I wondered the same thing!
Travel Pockets says
I love garlic! I’m going to give this a try this weekend. Thank you!
ourlittleeverything says
Thanks for stopping by!
Neely Moldovan says
I love roasted garlic. So yummy!
ourlittleeverything says
yes!!
Becky @ Disney in your Day says
We had roasted garlic served to us with bread at a restaurant once and absolutely loved it! Would definitely like to do it at home too.
ourlittleeverything says
It’s a delicious way to use it!
Stephanie Cox says
My love of garlic runs deep so this is right up my alley. I never thought it would be so easy! Thanks for the how-to!
ourlittleeverything says
Thanks for stopping by!
alexandra @ my urban family says
Yum! Roasted garlic is one of my favorite treats when it starts to get cool out.
ourlittleeverything says
Ohhhh I like it all the time lol
Mackenzie says
Ahhh yum!!! This looks absolutely delicious. I’ve always wondered how to do this. I love garlic on everything, so I definitely need to try this. Have you ever had roasted garlic on a slice of baguette? I’ve been to restaurants before where they’ve served olive oil, hummus, and also roasted garlic. TO DIE FOR. Except your breath doesn’t go back to normal for a while haha. Thanks for sharing how to do this!
http://www.brunchonsunday.com
ourlittleeverything says
Yes. the breath effect is the only downside or I’d eat way too much! I have had it on bread but not with olive oil and hummus – gotta try that!
Trish says
I LOVE roasted garlic but have never done this at home. Thanks so much for posting this! I’m going to pin your recipe as a reminder to try it.
ourlittleeverything says
Thank you Trish!
Amber says
Love garlic. I haven’t roasted any in a long time though! I’m thinking about a chicken and feta salad with a roasted garlic sauce now. Yum! You are giving me ideas!
ourlittleeverything says
That does sound good – you’re giving me ideas too!
candy says
Showing people some basic wonderful techniques is so helpful. Everyone can roast garlic.
ourlittleeverything says
It’s so easy, but I only just recently discovered it myself! Figured I’d share because it’s sooooo good!
Tamara Goyette says
I’ve never actually roasted garlic before.
ourlittleeverything says
You should try! It’s super easy, smells amazing, and tastes even better 🙂
Holly says
Yummy!
Ashleigh says
I’ve never been good at roasting garlic but love how it tastes. I will have to give this recipe a try! Thank you for sharing!
ourlittleeverything says
It was easier than I thought – hope it works out for you too!
Heidi ~ morethan3wishes.com says
Mmmmmmmm! I do love the smell of roasted garlic! I will have to try this one very soon. I imagine that roasted garlic spread on toast would be absolutely delicious. 🙂
ourlittleeverything says
Yes! I love the way my house smells when I make it! It will go excellent spread on toast for sure 🙂
linda spiker says
I love roasted garlic especially served alongside roasted chicken:)
ourlittleeverything says
Sounds delicious! I’d eat it with so many different things 🙂
Aimee-Ellar Bye says
Oh gosh that looks lovely – I think I may add mine to some mayonnaise or homemade flatbreads!!
ourlittleeverything says
So much you can do with roasted garlic!