How to Roast Garlic Without Oil

Roasting garlic caramelizes in the oven, bringing out a slightly sweet smokey flavor.  It’s less harsh than raw garlic and more palatable for some people.  It creates a more gentle flavor that is great for mashed potatoes, salad dressings, toast, soup, pasta, hummus, or mixed with sour cream for dipping.

So most instructions I’ve come across say to cut the top ¼-1/2 inch off the top and cover it with oil.  Now I’m not 100% oil-free, but I cut it out in a lot of places, especially where it’s very easy to do so.  I’ve been sautéing oil-free for years, so now it’s just easy for me.  Well, garlic can be roasted without oil.  I also didn’t like cutting so much garlic off the top either,  I don’t like wasting things.  Yes, you can dice it up and use it with something else or you can just cut the head of garlic in half through the middle of the bulb.  This will expose all of the cloves so they’ll brown when roasting and there’s no waste.  

How to Roast Garlic without Oil

Cut the head of garlic in half through the middle of the bulb.  Some cloves may fall off, but that’s fine it will all be sealed up in the foil.  Just place the cloves back where they popped out.  Wrap up the two slices, cut side up, in aluminum foil.  Make sure the foil pouch is sealed, this will keep in the moisture.  Roast at 400 F (200 C) for 50-60 minutes.  The garlic is done when a paring knife will easily pierce a clove.  Let it cool before handling it.  Squeeze out the cloves of garlic from their papery shell, a paring knife can be helpful to dig out any remaining bits left.  

Remove the roasted cloves from their paper coating before storing them.  They’ll keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator or freeze for later use.

Add Some Extra Flavor

If you want to infuse extra flavor into your roasted garlic, hardy herbs like rosemary do great.  Place fresh hardy herbs or sprinkle dried hardy herbs on the two halves of a head of garlic before sealing up the foil pouch. 

If you enjoy roasted garlic try my recipe for Rosemary Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with coconut milk or mashed potatoes without butter or oil.