whole roasted garlic

Raw garlic is loud. It’s spicy, sharp, and a little aggressive. I like the flavor of raw garlic, but I have to admit, I am not one of those cooks who ever adds more garlic than is called for in a recipe. I can’t stand when garlic overpowers other flavors and I tend to prefer it as a savory background note. But roast it slowly in the oven until it is soft, sweet, and spreadable? That’s a horse of a different color! With whole roasted garlic, you’ll often find me adding an entire head to a recipe.

2 quick tips for success

• Cloves vs heads: This recipe calls for 10 to 12 whole heads of garlic. That’s the entire bulb, not just little individual cloves. Follow the recipe and keep those heads together, and roasting will be a breeze. No peeling necessary—you just squeeze them right out of their shells once they’re done.
• Scaling up or down: You can make as much or as little at a time as you’d like. just make sure they are in a single layer on the sheet pan, and it’ll be fine. This recipe makes quite a lot because it freezes so well—you might as well make a big batch and use it whenever you need some whole roasted garlic.
• Use a little fresh garlic too: Even when using roasted garlic, I still like to toss in a raw clove or two just to keep things lively.

Ideas for using whole roasted garlic

• Slather on garlic bread with parsley and cheese
• Make some extra-garlicky hummus (just be sure to also add a clove of fresh garlic)
• Fold into spaghetti aglio e olio
• Mix into buttermilk mashed potatoes
• Serve bread with a plate of olive oil, sea salt, balsamic vinegar, and whole roasted garlic
• Spread fig jam and roasted garlic on toast with a little sprinkling of fresh thyme leaves

whole roasted garlic

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• Yield: 1½ cups [375 g] smashed

Ingredients

• 10 to 12 whole garlic heads
• 1½ Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp salt

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F [190°C].
2. Slice just the top off of each garlic head, exposing the cloves like honeycomb (save any large chunks sliced off). Peel away any loose outer skins from the garlic heads, being careful to leave the cloves intact. Peel away and discard any cloves that look rotten. Place the little bits and cut-side-up heads in a small baking dish. Drizzle evenly with the olive oil and use your hands to coat evenly, then sprinkle with the salt. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and tightly seal it on two sides.
3. Bake for about 75 minutes, until the cloves are golden brown and easily pierced with a fork. Let cool for at least 15 minutes, then squeeze the cloves out of their paper skins.

Notes

Whole roasted garlic lasts in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or tightly sealed in the freezer for at least 3 months with no loss of quality.

Psst… by the way, I love this recipe so much, I ended up including it in my cookbook, Piecemeal.

If you like this recipe as much as I do, you might like my book! It’s full of mix-and-match recipes and inspiration for fun and easy meals. There are recipes in it for spaghetti aglio e olio, garlic bread, and hummus that all use this roasted garlic recipe as their base.