Yum, it surely tastes good. and what a lovely way to eat it. i remember my aunt feeding my cousin this during her pregnancy. supposed to be good for digestion and helps relieve flatulance..... isnt it wonderful.
S

You seriously eat straight garlic?

HOLY goodness gracious, what that must do to one's breath.

Note from Elise: Surprisingly, roasting garlic whole like this cooks the stuff that gives you garlic breath. Instead, the garlic is nice and mellow, with an almost buttery, nutty flavor. Not overwhelming at all, just good.

Yeah, this is a real winner. A favorite of mine is to make a nice fresh pizza dough, stretch out personal size crusts, then bake. After baking, spread fresh roasted garlic on, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, crack a little fresh ground pepper, and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil. A delightful appetizer or late night snack in front of a movie. Yum!

Throw some cloves of roasted garlic into your mashed potatoes, rice and soups but when spread on toasted rosemary bread, it is heavenly.

We do this for Christmas dinner every year. We usually make about 4 cloaves and all of it always dissappears! You wouldn't want to eat with us if you don't like garlic. I love it mashed on bread.

Sorry, not 4 cloaves. 4 Heads of garlic.

I love this stuff spread on a slice of crusty bread and it makes a great hors deurve (sp).

One question. I bought a huge jar of pre-peeled garlic this weekend at my local Asian supermarket. Do you think it would work if I put just the pre-peeled cloves, some EVOO and salt in tinfoil sans the original skin?

Try the roasted garlic with roasted red bell pepper on toasted pita. Sprinkle with a little sea salt, a touch of olive oil. Delectable!

cvh-

Yes, you can eat roasted garlic whole, straight from the clove and it doesn't affect your breath the way raw garlic does. Once the roasting carmelizes and softens the cloves, they become much milder and take on a sweet, almost buttery nutty flavor.

If you've never tried this, EVEN IF YOU HATE GARLIC, get in the kitchen and do it today! This is not like any garlic you've ever had.

-Steve

For those of us who don't like washing dishes, it works equally well to wrap the entire head in foil instead of just covering the top. I usually bake them this way on a cookie sheet, but I've cooked the foil-wrapped heads straight on the rack before.

P.S. As weird as it sounds, roasted garlic dipped in dark chocolate fondue is yummy!

Bistro 110 in Chicago has been doing this for ages. They serve a crock of butter, a head or two of roasted garlic, and a half loaf of bread.

And THEN you have to order something on top of that. Oof.

This is great with brie cheese on crusty bread. Take a plate and heat it up in the oven. Get it hot enough so that when you place the brie on the plate it will soften and melt (not melt completely but just enough where the cheese is warmed through and is soft). Spread some of the cheese on a cracker and put a whole clove of garlic on top and enjoy.

A couple of points for peoples questions...

Eating roasted garlic is enourmously different than raw. When cooked many of the complex compounds that give garlic it's pungency actually breakdown into compounds that are sweeter than cane sugar.

Roasting naked cloves does not work as well. The outsides become tougher and don't yield quite the same effect. I tried it to add to twice baked potatos but it tended to shred instead of the creamy consistancy from roasting in the skins which is a lot like roasting in paper.

I LOVE this recipe, it makes an easy, simple, spread (and its also one that is hard to find on the internet). For those that may find straight garlic too strong, elephant garlic is an excelent substitute.

I roast garlic this way all the time, and it is great! It is not an overpowering garlic taste as one might imagine, and it is wonderful on crackers, or as an additive to sauces or dips...etc. I like it on a fresh French Stick. Oh, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

This reminds me of the garlic heads at Bistro 110 in Chicago. They serve this with bread. My aunt thought it would be disgusting but it was fantastic. I was thinking about where I could find a reciepe for this earlier today and ta da! I stumble across this. You're fantastic!

Great post!

I love adding roasted garlic to mashed potatoes and using it as a pizza topping.

Delicious!

Not only tastes good, but keeps vampires away too!

One of my favorite variations on roast garlic is to put peeled cloves (lots of them!) in a small ovenproof dish, cover w/ EVOO and slow roast them in a toaster oven until golden. If you then chill the whole thing down in the fridge, the oil firms up and you can mash the garlic w/ fork. Add a little salt and the spead is great on everything, lasts well and makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches (use it instead of the butter and keep the heat low).

Try to substitute olive oil with balsamic vinegar (in large quantities). I recommend it as a side to meet dishes.

Janis.

All I want to know is where you got the garlic in those pictures. Talk about perfect! I always seem to end up with garlic that has started to sprout, or all the inner cloves are teeny-tiny. Those are perfect heads of garlic!

Thank you for this great way to make roasted garlic. My bf and I are garlic lovers and this is the best method I've read so far. Can't wait to try it!

Also, coming out of lurkdom to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. And congrats on the Bloggie nomination. I voted for you. =P

I'm not so sure about the relieving flatulance thing, clearly you've never been around my husband after eating garlic. Regardless, this is a must have, especially when it's warm and spread over fresh bread. My mom and I are garlic addicts and when we first learned how to roast garlic we were sold. Yum!!

Great tips for garlic everyone! I'm also a big fan of using roasted garlic for:

- homemade hummus (with chickpeas, tahini and lemon)
- spread on bruschetta
- on top of pizzas
- as a base for sauces
- repelling vampires!

Roasted garlic = one of my all time favorite things. I just gave this post a shout out. Love it! [Spectacular photography!]

Thanks for this recipe. I tried it last night and loved it. I used spread half of it on a pizza crust and topped it with some sauteed eggplant and zucchini slices, artichokes and parmesan cheese. The rest I ate straight from the bulb. Yum!

This recipe is so simple and delicious, Thanks! My whole family loves it and I've been making it at least twice a week!

Love this recipe. Perfect for cold saturday afternoon treats! Enjoy with some wine and french bread. Will warm you through and through. And, despite your breath, you and your partner can enjoy a romantic snack!

try with french bread and goat cheese, had this at Doc Holiday's in Taos. Can't stop eating it!

I am new at this cooking thing and we love to add fresh garlic to our dishes. I am going to try this recipe today but, does anyone have a recipe for the garlic you mix with the oil and dip your bread in it? How do I get it crunchy? I believe I am looking for a recipe for toasted garlic. We have it in one of our local resturants and love it.

Does Elephant garlic tend to roast the same way? I'm sure the flavor is even milder. And what about small onions? (small enough to fit in the muffin tin) Can they be roasted in the same fashion with similar results?

This recipe is great! Tried it last night and the garlic tasted soooo good. I've never had so much garlic in one sitting. Thank you!

We have done this for years! Over a good bread or crackers and warm Brie cheese! Oh, I eat a whole head myself!

What is the best way to roast garlic using the romertopf clay garlic baker to produce soft garlic bulbs that can be spread on warm bread?

Any suggestions would be aprreciated.

My friend has a secret recipe he will not share, but it seems pretty simple. It is whole garlic cloves and whole green chili's in olive oil. You serve with fresh bread and the spread the garlic right on it, and then put the chili's and eat like a sandwich, it is incredible! Do you think the garlic needs to be roasted, or is it just left in the oil for a couple of days?

Fantastic and easy! What incredible flavor! Can't wait to roast some more. I plan to use nothing but this recipe in all of my cooking. Thanks so much!

What an incredibly simple, yet delicious recipe!!

I kind of roared when I read an earlier post (has this really been actively posted for over a year now?!) that suggested the garlic must do something horrible to your breath. Just as I thought when I was first introduced to roasted garlic. Yet nothing could be further from the truth or...more delicious!!!

Cheers,

David-Proof that it's never too late to learn how to cook!

Made some roasted elephant garlic yesterday (before I saw this recipe) by putting it in the micro for a few minutes to soften, then wrapping it in foil after drizzling with olive oil, then putting it on the barbecue. Wonderful with a fresh baguette. We left it a bit too long on the bbq as we weren't sure of the timing, and it burnt a bit on the bottom. Next time I would just put it directly on the bbq now that I know it doesn't really take that long.

Loved reading about Bistro 110 in Chicago, as that's where we had this many, many years ago.

Exactly the type of recipe I was looking for... and it sound delicious! Bought 4 heads of garlic the other day to try this with - and share!

Could butter or margerine be used instead of EVOO? Cooking oils tend to make me a tad ill after consumption.

WOW!!!!!!! 25 people over for a dinner party and no one knew how to roast garlic it was a hit we needed to go out for bread 3 times.

thanks

Wendy,
to toast Garlic, just heat a pan, add EVOO and saute until slightly brown. Don't over heat or let it burn otherwise it will get bitter.

Enjoy ;o)

This is awesome mixed in with plain couscous.

I love this recipe too. I've added it into bread when I bake it, and it is delicious. When I roast it though, the sides of the cloves always come out dark brown. Is there a way to prevent this? Thank you!

This roasted garlic sounds wonderful. I'm going to try roasting it over a wood fire on my next camping trip. I think I can wait till the fire is fairly low, then put the garlic right on the grill and cover the top of it with the top of my big cast iron skillet. This will really smoke the garlic while it roasts...or else it will incinerate it! Anybody tried grilling garlic??

Roasted garlic is a favorite in our home also. I would like to share another tip: when cooking Pork tenderloin or roast, make small slits in un-cooked meet...insert roasted cloves, season and cook meat in usual manner. Excellent!

Thanks for this detailed recipe. I use roasted garlic in many things, especially garlic bread. After messing it up a few times, I found this article helpful in not screwing it up again.

Thank you so much for posting such a detailed procedure, complete with pictures. I roast garlic all the time the same way as you but I use ramekins or pyrex cups instead of a big muffin tin.

Last night I made lasagna for my hubby and my parents and served roasted garlic with the bread. They were flipping out and wanted to know how to do it. I was getting ready to email them directions when I decided to Google it. I found your directions (and another set that put WATER under the garlic - blasphemy!!) ... so I'm sending my parents your site. Thank you so much!!! Karin

I've never seen so many comments, and I haven't read them all. Sorry for any repetitions. It's "clove" and "head" of garlic. What the heads look like, i.e. size of cloves, depends on where you are. Here in Greece the local is usually big on the outside and small in the middle. Very nice heads come from Spain and China (no lead). I put unpeeled in many things, e.g. all the small ones in a ragu for pasta. They dissolve just about. I made Julia's Garlic Mashed Pots for the first time 25 years ago or so. Amazing. Talking to the uninitiated I say you will not realize there's garlic, but you will say they're the best mashed you've ever had. Anything that will cook for a while can benefit from unpeeled garlics. The longer it cooks, the softer they get. I could go on, but enough for now.

Roasted garlic is indeed delicious, but it doesn't need to be covered in aluminum foil, because then you're steaming garlic. A head of garlic, top sliced off and drizzled with olive oil, can easily withstand 400 degrees without a foil covering. And that's how you roast things.

How long do they keep for? I was told that garlic is very good for you - natures antibiotic - but I don't want to go through the roasting process every day. Can I roast a bunch and eat them throughout the week?

I like to roast a head of garlic before I go on a hike. I will keep them in a plastic sandwich bag in my pocket and then I will pretend to rummage around in the grass and pull one of the cloves that I have hidden in my hand and say, look I just found a big grub and hold it up for then to look at and then eat it and it grosses out anyone around.
Try it, it is so much fun to see their expressions.

Note from Elise: Hah! Just the sort of trick I'd play on my nephews. ;-)

My seven year old daughter and I just made this! I let her mash it up and then we added it to some melted butter and spread it on french bread! So yummy~we were fighting over the last piece! Great recipe and a fun thing to cook with my budding chef Libby!

This is wonderful. I use it instead of butter or margarine on a piece of crusty bread. Yum! I love garlic anyway, but I agree that this is a completely different flavour experience, and if anyone is afraid of the garlicky smell and taste, they need to actually try this, as it's difficult to explain how different it is. If you've ever eaten boiled garlic, (God help you, my mom used to just plunk a whole clove in the soup when I was little, and it's terrible) you might think this is the same, but it's not at all. You just have to try it to believe it. Thanks for the post.

As stated before, roasting naked cloves doesn't work quite as well, but I have that roasting them in a ramekin with lots of olive oil & covered in foil is nearly as good. It's a matter of dealing with more time & mess v. easy convenience. It's good to have both in your kitchen arsenal for different occasions.

Thank you! I've wondered how to do this for a while, having had it served to me in restaurants, and I should have just tried it. So simple! We had this last night on crusty bread.

What a wonderful blog! The pictures are fabulous!

My first time roasting garlic and I truly believe this is the best way to do it! Even my babies (2 year old boy and 10 month old girl) enjoyed it straight from the bulbs before I added them to our mashed potatoes! Thanks for the great roasting method!

Yum roasted garlic I love the smell! I made a roasted tomato soup last week and in place of onions I used roasted garlic and it was out of this world!

I first had this at the Portobella Yacht Club in Downtown Disney "Orlando" it is so wonderful served with buttered Italian bread. It is also great to serve with thin sliced Italian bread that is basted with olive oil and toasted "oil side down" in the oven.

Yeah or simmer with milk on stovetop and use for mashed potatoes YUMMY

We just made this recipe at my girlfriend's apartment. We spread it over our brushetta and then topped with tomatoes basil, and parmesan cheese. It's a good thing we only made half a pan's worth.

We're going to try it in mashed potatoes very soon.

I've come up with a trick for this recipe that cuts down on the prep a bit. Rather than wrapping each head in foil, spoon a couple of tablespoons of oil into each muffin cup for however many you're roasting (i.e. 6 heads of garlic, couple of tablespoons of oil in 6 cups). Then cut the tops off and remove the extra skin (as in the original recipe). Then take each head of garlic and dip them top down in a muffin cup with oil. Then turn them all over. This guarantees that everything is properly oiled. Then cover the top of the whole muffin tin in foil and bake (as in the original recipe).

Nothing sticks due to the oil and it's slightly less tedious than wrapping each head in foil. I also find it easier to pour all the oil off and use it on whatever I'm cooking for the next few days.

This recipe is super convenient. I pick up between six and a dozen heads of garlic every other week or so and pop them straight in the over. Even though I'm a garlic addict (the mantra in our household is "there is no such thing as too much garlic!"), I very rarely use fresh garlic anymore. The roasted garlic has better flavor and in recipes which call for a stronger flavor I just throw in more cloves of roasted (which may even have extra health benefits since garlic is toted as one of the "new trends" in healthy cooking because roasted garlic is easier on the digestive tract plus you can eat way more of it).

Thanks for the tip, Stephanie! ~Elise

Came up with another cool way to use roasted garlic. I pop the whole heads of garlic in a plastic bag skin and all when they all cool off. After using the roasted cloves, I pick up the skin with a pair of tong and use it as a basting brush! It works really well and the garlic oil is always tasty. I do this with pans on the stove or in the oven or meat on the BBQ, but I also rub down my bowl or my plate with the garlic oil basting tongs before filling it with pasta or whatever.

Garlic should rest for 10 minutes after cutting before you do any cooking, to allow those good anti-oxidants to form.