This secret ingredient can be the key to your holiday meal: How to roast garlic

Roasted garlic: This simple ingredient will add a ton of flavor to all of your dishes

By Lindsay Parrill Published November 23, 2022

There’s just something about garlic. Obviously, it’s delicious, but its adaptability is really something to behold. The ability it has to take dishes to new heights in both its raw and cooked form never fails to impress. Minced raw and tossed into a salsa, it’s pungent, spicy, and boisterous. When cooked, however, garlic becomes a whole new ingredient.

Its wild and bold notes tame to earthier, nuttier, more luscious flavors that just seem to melt into whatever you happen to be cooking, adding beautiful flavor and complexity along the way. This little bulb can be cooked in any number of ways, but roasted is by far our favorite. If you’ve never roasted your own garlic at home, just know that you’ve been missing out big time. Even the scent of roasting garlic wafting and dancing through your house is enough reason to buy this papery little bulb in bulk.

Recommended Videos

So how do we make this magical little ingredient? It’s truly one of the easiest things you can do for your cooking that will have big-time delicious results.

To make your own roasted garlic at home, all you need are four ingredients: garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Now, we’re willing to bet that you’ve already got these ingredients in your pantry, so there’s really no excuse not to make this as soon as you’re done reading this article. It’ll be the most scrumptious thing you do all day, so chop chop. But, not literally. To roast garlic, you’re going to want to keep the bulb whole.

Roasted garlic can be an incredible flavor boost to countless dishes. We love it on pizza and mixed in with pasta dishes. If you really want to impress with your mashed potatoes this Thanksgiving, stirring in a few roasted cloves will have everyone going back for seconds.

You can also use roasted garlic to replace raw garlic in most recipes, if the raw taste of garlic is too bold for your palette. It’s wonderful in pestos, salad dressings, guacamole, or even completely alone, spread on toast.

After your garlic has roasted, if you’ve managed not to spread it all on an entire baguette and eaten it completely by yourself (good luck), it’s best to store the cloves in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Roasted garlic recipe

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Once your whole garlic head has roasted, the individual bulbs should slip out of the papery skin quite easily. Be sure to remove all of the skin before eating and storing your roasted garlic.

Ingredients:

1 whole garlic bulb
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Using a sharp knife, slice the top ¼ inch off the top of the garlic bulb.
Place the garlic cut-side up on a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bring foil sides up around the entire bulb, covering the garlic completely.
Bake 45 minutes – 1 hour, until the cloves are soft and golden brown.

Lindsay Parrill

Contributor

Lindsay is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, from where she holds a degree in…

Food & Drink

How to use a milk frother: Simple tips and tricks to elevate your drinks

Here's how to use a milk frother with ease

Cappuccino

Once you've mastered brewing the perfect coffee at home, the next step in every home Barista's journey is to learn how to use a milk frother. You'll need frothed milk to enjoy specialty-type coffees from your kitchen, such as lattes and cappuccinos. At one point, I was intimated by the concept of frothing my milk, as it can sound more complicated than it is. Learning to use a milk frother is easy enough for coffee lovers of any skill level. Here are two of my favorite ways to froth milk for coffee at home, ideal for those who do not have an espresso maker with a steam wand attachment.
How to use a milk frother: Hand frothing

Using a handheld wand milk frother is one of the easiest methods for frothing milk at home. A handheld milk frother can be used in your mug and is an excellent option for those who don't have an espresso maker at home. Before I had an espresso machine with a steam wand at home, I found the handheld milk frother to be my go-to for frothing milk for coffee. I like this method because it requires minimal skill and clean-up (always a motivating factor when making coffee at home instead of ordering it out at a cafe).

Food & Drink

Rum vs. whiskey: Understanding the key differences in your favorite spirits

What's the difference between rum and whiskey

Whiskey

The hard liquor world is extremely immersive, and to the novice, it can seem fairly overwhelming. It’s okay, I completely get it. I’ve been writing about alcohol for almost twenty years, and I didn’t learn the intricacies of each major spirit type overnight. It took years of tastings, traveling, and research (aka drinking).

Even if you avoid lesser-known spirits, there are still a whole slew of different whiskey types to learn about (bourbon, rye, single malt Scotch, American single malt, Canadian whisky, Irish whiskey, and beyond), and then there’s gin, vodka, tequila, mezcal, and rum. It’s enough to make you want to climb under your covers and not come out until spring or until you magically learn all the basics of every spirit. At least enough to have a basic conversation at a get together with friends.

Food & Drink

What is lungo? Here’s how it compares to your regular espresso shot

Lungo means long in Italian

espresso shot

You might come across a "caffè lungo" around Italy or a "long shot" in cafes around the U.S. I only recently learned the difference between a short espresso, known as a ristretto, and the opposite order: a lungo. The difference between variations of an espresso shot depends on the water-to-coffee ground ratio, leaving each shot of espresso with a different volume and taste. Now that I know the difference between these espresso shots, it makes ordering espresso even more fun. If you've also wondered: "What is lungo?" when reading a coffee shop menu, here's what you should know.
What is lungo?

A lungo is a shot of espresso that contains more water than a standard espresso shot. Its name is derived from the Italian word "long" (which seems fitting if you ask me). Lungo espresso shots use the same amount of ground coffee beans as traditional espresso shots. However, twice as much hot water is used.