Cardamom and Tea

whole roasted garlic

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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.

whole roasted garlic
whole roasted garlic

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

hummus with whole roasted garlic
garlic bread with whole roasted garlic
spaghetti aglio e olio
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
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whole roasted garlic

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

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.

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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.

tahini cauliflower and carrots

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Cauliflower is often cast as the understudy. It steps in when rice, potatoes, or pasta can’t make it to the show. We are constantly asking it to be something it’s not. But it doesn’t have to be that way! This tahini cauliflower with carrots is what happens when you let cauliflower be the main character. It’s not a stand-in, it’s not a background artist—it’s the dish itself.

Roasted until golden with carrots, garlic, thyme, and coriander seeds, it’s savory, tender, and just a little bit sweet. Then, just when it’s already good, you bring in the tahini sauce to make something great. This isn’t just a drizzle for looks. It’s what ties everything together.

Jump to the recipe if you want to hit the ground running, or read on for some tips on making tahini sauce + a few substitution ideas.

Quick guide to tahini sauce

If you’ve never made tahini sauce before, there’s a bit of a funny trick to it. The secret is that tahini actually begins to thicken as you add a few drops of water or lemon juice. Counterintuitive—I know! But it’s totally normal.

The key is to push through and continue adding more liquid until it loosens into a glossy, pourable sauce. This recipe includes enough water and lemon juice, but if you’re ever winging it, don’t stress if it seizes up into a stodgy mess at first.

Also note that it sets up slightly as it sits for a few minutes after smoothing out. If it sets up a more than you’d like, you can always add a bit more water or lemon juice later. If you overdo it on the water, you can always add a bit more tahini. It’s pretty easy to balance out.

Notes on substitutions

Many of the ingredients in the tahini cauliflower recipe in this post are substitutable. Let’s start out with the most polarizing ingredient of all time…

  • Yes, those are raisins. But hear me out! First of all, you can totally just leave them out. But I swear, even raisin haters sometimes like caramelized raisins. It’s like taking milk duds and turning them into fleur de sel caramels. It completely transforms them. But you do you!
  • If you don’t have carrots on hand, you can always just substitute more cauliflower. Tahini cauliflower is just as tasty as tahini cauliflower with carrots!
  • Cilantro can be replaced with parsley.
  • If you don’t have parmesan, you can substitute almost any other hard cheese. I’ve used pecorino romano, cheddar, asiago, and even gotten away with a sprinkling of feta crumbles.
  • Pistachios can be replaced by pine nuts or sliced or slivered almonds.
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tahini cauliflower and carrots

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  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 6 side servings

Ingredients

For the lemon tahini sauce:

  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

For the roasted veggies:

  • 1 pound carrots, cut on the bias into thick slices
  • 1 pound cauliflower, cut into florets
  • 2 to 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan (optional)
  • 1/3 cup sultanas (or black or golden raisins), coated in 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
  • Lemon tahini sauce (above)
  • 3 tablespoons ground raw pistachios
  • 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Instructions

  1. Make the tahini sauce: Whisk everything together until it smooths out into a salad dressing. This makes twice as much sauce as you need for the following recipe, but you can easily cut it in half (or store the other half in the refrigerator for about 1 week).
  2. Roast the veggies: Preheat the oven to 425°F [220°C].
  3. Place the carrots, cauliflower, and garlic on a sheet pan. Combine the olive oil, ground coriander, thyme, and salt, and then pour it over the veggies. Use your hands to coat everything evenly, and spread the veggies into a single even layer. Sprinkle with parmesan. Set the raisins aside for later.
  4. Roast the veggies for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the cauliflower begins to char. Sprinkle the raisins on in the last 2 to 3 minutes of roasting. While everything’s roasting, throw together the tahini sauce (above).
  5. Move the veggies to a serving bowl, drizzle with tahini sauce, sprinkle with pistachios and cilantro, and enjoy.

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2025 update: This recipe was originally posted 30 May 2018, and while the recipe is the same as it ever was, I’ve updated it to include many more ingredient substitution ideas.