Have you ever wondered How to Roast Garlic Without Foil? Here is my trick for creating sweet creamy roasted garlic using two muffin pans.
When roasted the sugars in garlic concentrate. The flavor of the raw garlic mellows from spicy, sharp and pungent to buttery, nutty, and sweet. Roasted Garlic adds subtle sweetness to dishes such as soups, mashes, dressings, marinades, and sauces.
It is also easy to preserve meaning you can always have some to add to your favorite dishes.
Typically, oven-roasted garlic is wrap in tin foil and placed in a hot oven. But I don't want to waste a sheet of aluminum foil when there is a much easier way to roast whole garlic heads.
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Recipe Ingredients
You only need two simple ingredients to make Roasted Garlic and of course foil isn't one of them.
Olive Oil: Because we are cooking the olive oil it doesn't need to be expensive or fancy. Cheaper regular olive oil will work just fine.
If you don't have olive oil, ghee or avocado oil would work too.
Heads of Garlic: I usually roast one muffin pan full of garlic, which means you will need 12 heads of garlic.
When shopping for garlic look for garlic heads that are firm and plump. Avoid garlic heads that are soft and spongy or heads with green shoots growing out of them.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step by Step Directions
Step 1: Cut approximately a ½ inch off the top of each garlic bulb. Peel as much of the papery skin off as you can. Make sure to expose the top of each clove of garlic.
Step 2: Place one head of garlic in each section of a muffin tin. Drizzle olive oil over each head of garlic and rub it in making sure the garlic is well coated.
Step 3: Place the second inverted muffin tray on top. Bake in a 400°F (205°C) oven for 40 - 45 minutes. You may want to check the garlic after 30 minutes. Some ovens cook faster than others.
Step 4: Roasted garlic is done when the tops are nicely caramelized and the tip of a knife is easily inserted into an inner clove.
Once cooled, squeeze each garlic clove from its skin.
Don't forget to save all of the garlic skins to use in this Homemade Rotisserie Chicken Bone Broth.
Alternative Ways to Roast Heads of Garlic
While the muffin pan trick is my favorite way to roast garlic because I can roast up to twelve heads of garlic at once there are other ways to roast garlic that don't need foil. Many of these are useful if you would like to roast a smaller number of garlic heads.
- Roast heads of garlic in a Dutch oven. Follow the steps listed above but place the heads of garlic into a Dutch oven rather than a muffin pan. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and bake as directed.
- Roast the garlic heads under a ramekin. Follow the steps listed above and place them on a baking sheet. Cover head garlic head with a ramekin and bake as directed.
How to Use Roasted Garlic
Roasted garlic adds delicious flavor to a variety of dishes.
- One of the simplest ways to use roasted garlic is to puree it with a little bit of olive oil turning it into a creamy buttery paste. Garlic paste makes a delicious dip for crackers and vegetables. It can also be used as a spread on slices of crusty bread.
- Add it to your favorite pasta dishes like this Spinach Pesto Shrimp Pasta or pasta sauces like this Fresh Vegetable Pasta Sauce.
- Mix it with mayonnaise to create garlic aioli to spread on a sandwich.
- Add roasted garlic to mashed potatoes, cauliflower, rutabagas, or turnips. Pretty much any vegetable that you can mash will benefit from the addition of roasted garlic.
- Add it to whipped butter to make a delicious spread and create your own garlic bread.
- Use it in salad dressings or vinaigrettes.
- Add roasted garlic to soups and stews like this Roasted Cauliflower and Potato Soup.
- Saute it with mushrooms and use it as a topping for steak, chicken, or pork.
- Stir it into homemade or store-bought hummus.
What are the Best Ways to Preserve Roasted Garlic?
There are two methods that I typically use to preserve my roasted garlic.
Preserve Roasted Garlic in Oil
To extend roasted individual garlic cloves' shelf life, submerge them in enough oil to cover the soft garlic cloves completely and store them in a sealed jar.
Stored this way roasted garlic will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Be sure to save the garlic oil. It will add mellow garlic flavor to sautees and vinaigrettes.
How to Freeze Roasted Garlic
My favorite way to store garlic is to place roasted garlic cloves in an ice cube tray and then cover them with olive oil.
Once frozen the garlic and olive oil form ready-to-use portions that are convenient to use whenever a recipe calls for sauteed garlic.
Transfer the frozen garlic olive oil cubes to a freezer bag. The frozen garlic should last in the freezer for up to three months.
Frozen roasted garlic is a great staple to have in your freezer. Another great freezer staple that helps me save time and money are frozen herbs. Learn the Best Ways to Freeze Your Favorite Herbs.
Recipe FAQs
Store garlic at room temperature in a dry, dark place.
When roasting a whole head of garlic, you want to trap the steam to keep the garlic bulbs moist. There are several ways to do so that don't require foil.
You can stack two cake pans on top of each other the same way you would stack the muffin pans.
If you are only roasting a single whole bulb of garlic, you can wrap it in a piece of parchment paper and use kitchen twine to tie the parcel closed.
If you are roasting garlic often, you may want to purchase a garlic roaster which is often a lidded terra cotta vessel. You can also just use another small baking dish if it has an oven-safe lid.
Always refrigerate or freeze roasted cloves of garlic. Whole heads of roasted garlic can be stored in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Expert Tips
- Select garlic heads that are similarly sized so that they roast at the same rate and will be done at the same time.
- Whole heads of roasted garlic can be stored in the refrigerator, in an air-tight container for 3-4 days.
- Garlic cloves submerged in olive oil in a sealed jar will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- My favorite way to store garlic is to make a paste by mashing the garlic with a little olive oil and then freezing it in ready-to-use portions in an ice cube tray.
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📖 Recipe
How to Roast Garlic Without Foil
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 heads of garlic
- ¾ cup of olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400-degree Fahrenheit.
- Cut approximately ½ inch off the top of each head of garlic. Peel as much of the papery skin off as you can. Make sure to expose the top of each clove of garlic.
- Place one head of garlic in each section of a muffin pan. Drizzle olive oil over each head of garlic and rub it in making sure the garlic is well coated.
- Place a second inverted muffin pan on top.
- Bake in the oven for 40 - 45 minutes. Roasted garlic is done when the tops are nicely caramelized and the tip of a knife is easily inserted into an inner clove.
- Once cooled, squeeze each garlic clove from its skin.
Notes
- Whole heads of roasted garlic can be stored in the refrigerator, in an air-tight container for 3-4 days.
- Garlic cloves submerged in olive oil in a sealed jar will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- My favorite way to store garlic is to make a paste by mashing the garlic with a little olive oil and then freezing it in ready-to-use portions in an ice cube tray.
Marijane Stahl says
Do you use mini muffin pans or regular size pans?
Erica @ Raspberries and Kohlrabi says
I use regular-sized muffin pans.