How to Roast Garlic

Learn how to Roast Garlic with just foil and a drizzle of olive oil (or make it in on the stove). Stir mellow roasted garlic into soups, mash it into potatoes, or mix it into soft butter to slather on bread.

The simple oven method for roasting garlic works for individually peeled cloves or whole bulbs. In fact, if you’re blessed with a bumper crop of garlic, you can roast the bulbs in bulk and freeze it to enjoy year round.

You can also toast individual cloves, still in their paper skins, in a dry skillet on the stove top. It’s much faster and my go-to for Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Unlike raw garlic, which has a sharpness some people can’t tolerate in large amounts, roasted garlic is mellow but still deeply flavorful. You might even find yourself eating a few cloves all by themselves.

Recipe ingredients

At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.

Ingredient notes

• Garlic: There are two main types of garlic: softneck and hardneck. Softneck garlic is common at grocery stores and has thin papery skins and small cloves. It’s harder to peel but has an extremely long shelf life (up to 8 months). Hardneck garlic is stronger in flavor and has larger cloves, and it produces a scape (a strong stem rising out of the bulb) which is visible if you cut a cross-section through the bulb. The shelf-life is shorter, 3 to 5 months after harvest.

Step-by-step instructions

To roast whole garlic bulbs:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove outer papery layers of garlic bulb, leaving the skins in tact and cloves attached. Using a sharp knife, trim about ¼ inch to a ½ inch off the top of the bulb to expose the cloves. Drizzle with olive oil (I like about 2 tablespoons olive oil per head of garlic). 

2. Wrap the individual heads of garlic tightly in foil and place on a baking sheet. Or, place the individual heads in a muffin tin and wrap tightly in foil. Roast for 30 to 60 minutes depending on your preference, checking the cloves at 30 minutes. The roasted garlic is done when it caramelized in color and the cloves are very soft and can be pieced easily with a knife.

To roast peeled individual garlic cloves:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a small baking dish or pie plate with foil. Arrange peeled garlic cloves in the middle of the foil and drizzle completely with olive oil. 

2. Wrap the foil tightly to make a packet and roast 30 to 40 minutes, until golden in color and completely softened.

To roasted unpeeled individual garlic cloves:

1. In a dry medium skillet over medium-low heat, toast garlic cloves until spotty, dark brown, and slightly softened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let stand until garlic is completely soft, 10 to 15 minutes.

Recipe tips and variations

• Yield: 1 bulb of garlic has about 10-12 cloves garlic per bulb, but your results may vary and your yield depends on how many bulbs and/or cloves you start with.
• Storage: Store roasted garlic cloves in an airtight container in the refrigerator, completely submerged in oil, for up to 4 days.
• Freezer: Freeze whole cloves individually on a plate or baking sheet until solid. Or, mash the roasted garlic and portion it into teaspoons or tablespoons, or pack it in an ice cube tray and make tiny cubes of roasted garlic. Transfer the individual cloves or frozen portions to a freezer-safe container, then label, date, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw as needed.
• Roast longer for more flavor: The longer you roast the garlic, the darker and deeper it gets.
• Ways to use it: Mix roasted garlic into mustard or mayonnaise and spread it on a sandwich or add whole cloves to a cheese board. Rub a roasted garlic paste under the skin of a chicken before roasting, or add it to your mashed potatoes.

Recipe FAQs

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How to Roast Garlic

By Meggan Hill

Learn how to Roast Garlic with just foil and a drizzle of olive oil (or make it in on the stove). Stir mellow roasted garlic into soups, mash it into potatoes, or mix it into soft butter to slather on bread.

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Servings 6 servings (2 cloves each)

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Calories 21

5 from 21 votes

ReviewPrint

Equipment

• Chef knife (This Global knife slices through easily)

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 1 or more heads of garlic
• ▢ olive oil

Instructions 

To roast whole garlic bulbs:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove outer papery layers of garlic bulb, leaving the skins in tact and cloves attached.
• Using a sharp knife, trim about ¼ inch to a ½ inch off the top of the bulb to expose the cloves. Drizzle with olive oil (I like about 2 tablespoons olive oil per head of garlic). 
• Wrap the individual heads of garlic tightly in foil and place on a baking sheet. Or, place the individual heads in a muffin tin and wrap tightly in foil.
• Roast for 30 to 60 minutes depending on your preference, checking the cloves at 30 minutes. The roasted garlic is done when it caramelized in color and the cloves are very soft and can be pieced easily with a knife.

To roast peeled individual garlic cloves:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a small baking dish or pie plate with foil. Arrange peeled garlic cloves in the middle of the foil and drizzle completely with olive oil. 
• Wrap the foil tightly to make a packet and roast 30 to 40 minutes, until golden in color and completely softened.

To roasted unpeeled individual garlic cloves:

• In a dry medium skillet over medium-low heat, toast garlic cloves until spotty, dark brown, and slightly softened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let stand until garlic is completely soft, 10 to 15 minutes.

Recipe Video

Notes

1. Garlic: There are two main types of garlic: softneck and hardneck. Softneck garlic is common at grocery stores and has thin papery skins and small cloves. It’s harder to peel but has an extremely long shelf life (up to 8 months). Hardneck garlic is stronger in flavor and has larger cloves, and it produces a scape (a strong stem rising out of the bulb) which is visible if you cut a cross-section through the bulb. The shelf-life is shorter, 3 to 5 months after harvest.
2. Yield: 1 bulb of garlic has about 10-12 cloves garlic per bulb, but your results may vary and your yield depends on how many bulbs and/or cloves you start with.
3. Storage: Store roasted garlic cloves in an airtight container in the refrigerator, completely submerged in oil, for up to 4 days.
4. Freezer: Freeze whole cloves individually on a plate or baking sheet until solid. Or, mash the roasted garlic and portion it into teaspoons or tablespoons, or pack it in an ice cube tray and make tiny cubes of roasted garlic. Transfer the individual cloves or frozen portions to a freezer-safe container, then label, date, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw as needed.

Nutrition

Serving: 2clovesCalories: 21kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 1gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 1mgSugar: 1g

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Meggan Hill

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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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