Feb 11
2012

How to: Roast Garlic

How-to-Roast-Garlic-Cookin-Canuck

How many of you made New Year’s resolutions to work on your cooking skills or at least branch out in your recipe repertoire, such as cooking with roasted garlic? When I started my “How to” series a year ago, it was with the intention of providing tips for some much-used cooking techniques, such as chopping an onion or holding and cutting with a chef’s knife (Knife Skills 101). If you would like to check out the whole series, head to the How to page or click the tab in the header above. If you want to learn to roast garlic, then stick around to learn this technique for making an easy appetizer or adding an extra layer of flavor to your favorite soups or pasta dishes.

Not only is the method for roasting garlic easy, but the ingredient list just doesn’t get any shorter. A bulb of garlic, olive oil and a piece of foil will do the trick. Peel the papery skin off the bulb, rub the whole thing with olive oil, bundle it up in a piece of foil and tuck it into the oven. Forty minutes later you’ll be rewarded with creamy, slightly sweet garlic that can be smeared on toasted pieces of baguette, pureed into creamy soups or stirred into pasta sauces.

How to do it:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel all of the loose papery skin from the outside of the garlic bulb, leaving the bulb intact. Cut off the top of the bulb, leaving the top of the cloves exposed.

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Place the bulb on a sheet of foil, drizzle over 2 tablespoons olive oil and throughly rub the olive oil onto the entire surface of the bulb.

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Close the foil and place the package in an oven-proof dish.

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Roast the garlic until the cloves are soft when pierced with a small, sharp knife, about 40 minutes. Let the garlic cool for about 10 minutes before handling.

Using a small knife or your fingers remove the garlic from the skin. My favorite way to do this is to remove the whole clove from the bulb and squeeze out the soft pulp.

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Mash the garlic with the back of a fork, if you wish, and serve on pieces of toasted baguette or in a recipe (think stews, soups, dips…) The roasted garlic is fantastic with roasted vegetables or smashed avocados.

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Recipes with roasted garlic:
Hungry Foodies Pharmacy’s Roasted Garlic, Bacon & Onion Marmalade
Good Life Eats’ Roasted Garlic & Cauliflower Soup
My Kitchen Addiction’s Roasted Garlic Pasta Salad with White Beans & Spinach

How to: Roast Garlic

Yield: About 10 cloves garlic.

From the kitchen of Cookin Canuck. www.cookincanuck.com

Ingredients

  • 1 bulb garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Peel all of the loose papery skin from the outside of the garlic bulb, leaving the bulb intact. Cut off the top of the bulb, leaving the top of the cloves exposed.
  3. Place the bulb on a sheet of foil, drizzle over 2 tablespoons olive oil and throughly rub the olive oil onto the entire surface of the bulb.
  4. Close the foil and place the package in an oven-proof dish.
  5. Roast the garlic until the cloves are soft when pierced with a small, sharp knife, about 40 minutes. Let the garlic cool for about 10 minutes before handling.

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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Barbara @ Barbara Bakes February 11, 2012 at 6:59 am

Nice how to post. Love the difference roasting garlic makes in the flavor.

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2 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:32 am

You’re right, Barbara. It really is a great added flavor.

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3 the wicked noodle February 11, 2012 at 7:19 am

I just love, love, love roasting garlic!

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4 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:32 am

I hear you, Kristy. So much flavor for so little effort.

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5 Deborah February 11, 2012 at 8:16 am

Roasted garlic is one of my favorite things – ever!!

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6 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:33 am

Every time I roast garlic I wonder why I don’t do it more often.

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7 A@Bigcitykitchen February 11, 2012 at 8:26 am

Looks great. Roasted garlic is a staple in our house. My daughter eats it straight from the oven – at least we won’t have to worry about vampires.

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8 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:33 am

You daughter is my kind of gal!

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9 Megan February 11, 2012 at 8:35 am

Mmmm — LOVE roasted garlic! Great post

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10 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:33 am

Thanks, Megan.

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11 Terry February 11, 2012 at 9:46 am

I always roast several bulbs at a time. After carefully removing them from their skin I toss them into a covered glass filled with olive oil. They store well right on my kitchen counter and ready to use at my slightest whim.

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12 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:33 am

Great idea, Terry. I am definitely going to do this.

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13 Barbara | Creative Culinary February 11, 2012 at 10:39 am

I also roast several bulbs at one time too. Out of necessity…shopping at Costco means a lot of garlic at one time! Terry does exactly what I do with some but I also freeze some in Tbsp portions and put them in a plastic bag…they get thrown into soups, stews and pasta.

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14 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:34 am

Another great idea! I don’t know why I haven’t thought to freeze them.

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15 Asiya February 11, 2012 at 12:26 pm

I just recently started roasting garlic and love it…so easy to do. I love to bake potatoes and roast the garlic in the oven at the same time. When the potatoes are done so is my garlic and I can mix the two together!

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16 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:34 am

Asiya, you’re making me hungry. Potatoes and roasted garlic really are a perfect match.

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17 Jackie Thompson February 11, 2012 at 6:30 pm

Yum, roasted garlic makes everything taste better, doesn’t it!

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18 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:37 am

Indeed it does!

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19 Yuri - Chef Pandita February 11, 2012 at 8:03 pm

I roast garlic for hummus to avoid strong garlic after taste :)

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20 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:37 am

Great idea! I’ll try that the next time I make hummus.

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21 Courtney February 12, 2012 at 9:26 am

I love roasting garlic then putting it on top of a marinara pizza. So heavenly!

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22 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 12, 2012 at 9:34 am

Ooo, does that ever sound good!

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23 Jen at The Three Little Piglets February 12, 2012 at 7:02 pm

There’s not much more heavenly than the smell of roasted garlic!!

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24 Erica February 15, 2012 at 9:02 am

Looove roasted garlic. Its a great way to add a ton of flavour without a ton of fat! Thanks Dara!

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25 Jane February 19, 2012 at 9:37 am

I thought that you had to use a high heat tolerant oil…not olive oil when the oven is 400 degrees? I use avocado oil or other oil labeled for high heat when roasting garlic or veggies.

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26 Dara (Cookin' Canuck) February 19, 2012 at 9:24 pm

Hi Jane, you’re absolutely correct that oils with a high smoke point (e.g., canola oil, grapeseed oil, etc) should be used for high-heat temperature cooking. For this reason, olive oil is not a good choice for high-heat cooking, such as searing meat or frying foods. The oil will break down and give off an odd taste, plus will make the food greasy. However, extra-virgin olive oil does have a smoke point of approximately 410 degrees (with “lighter” olive oils having a higher smoke point), so it still works when roasting garlic at 400 degrees. Though it’s definitely cutting things close on the temperature gauge, I have never had a problem with using olive oil to roast garlic. I hope that helps!

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27 Sarasota Flight School March 2, 2012 at 10:25 am

Brilliant!!! I’m going to have to give this a try…love the idea of serving it on a baguette! I looooove garlic!!

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28 Aurelia July 20, 2012 at 5:17 am

As you might see I am kind of sticked to your blog. I love roasted garlic and it is so unbelievable easy…

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29 Lisa January 29, 2013 at 7:31 am

My favorite restaurant in Gulf Shores serves roasted garlic mixed with parmesan and olive oil with their bread. It is Heavenly!!!

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