How to Roast Garlic Cloves, Freeze and Eat Them!

Follow the step-by-step process of how to roast garlic cloves, store them in the freezer and eat them in your dinner tonight. It's an easy, low-carb way to add healthy flavor to your next recipe!

If ever there was a secret for easily enhancing the flavor of a dish, without adding a lot of extra calories, roasting garlic cloves has to be it. Once you know how to do it and have a few stashed in your freezer, you'll never eat another boring dish again. It's perfect for a low-carb, South Beach Phase 1 or ketogenic diet because you get all the benefits of garlic without adding calories or carbs.

How to Roast Garlic Cloves Step-by-Step

You're going to want to do several heads of garlic at one time so there is plenty to freeze!

Cut the top of a head of garlic so that the tips of the cloves are nipped off and exposed. The cloves that are a little lower on the side of the garlic head can be hard to get. I missed one in the picture below. Do you see it? A 1/2 inch cut is generally good.

Peel the loose papery skin off. (It doesn't all need to come off though.)  Place the head of garlic on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle 2 teaspoons of olive oil on top and sprinkle it with salt. The oil will permeate the head of garlic and run down the sides and that's a good thing. You want the entire head to be coated.

Fold the aluminum foil into a packet...or just pull up the sides and scrunch them closed at the top.

Bake the packet in a 400-degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 45 minutes. The same process is used to cook the garlic head on the grill or in a toaster oven. The cloves will be fork tender when they are done. Allow the head of garlic to cool about 10 minutes before working further with it.

Grab the head of garlic by the closed bottom and squeeze out the cloves. Use a fork to tease out any that don't fall out easily.

How to Store Roasted Garlic in the Refrigerator

Roasted garlic will stay good in the refrigerator for about a 3-4 days. Store whole cloves or mashed cloves in an airtight container and lift out as needed.

How to Freeze Roasted Garlic Cloves

Freeze whole roasted garlic cloves or mashed cloves. Spread whole cloves in a single layer on a baking sheet and allow to them to freeze before transferring them to an airtight bag or container. For mashed garlic cloves, freeze in small portions, such as 1 teaspoon, in an ice cube tray.

Recipe Ideas and Ways to Eat Roasted Garlic

Most people don't enjoy raw, uncooked garlic. But, that's not the case once it has been roasted. Roasted garlic has a sweetish, mellow flavor and a buttery feel to it and can be eaten all by itself. Or, try one of these ideas:

1. Stir cloves into crock-pot mashed potatoes.
2. Spread mashed cloves on microwave corn on the cob or into vegetables like cauliflower or green beans.
3. Mix them with softened butter (and herbs, if desired.) This mixture will liven up vegetables, pan fry chicken or fish and in shrimp scampi.
4. Add whole cloves as a pizza topping or spread mashed garlic on the base and crust.
5. Add whole or mashed cloves to spaghetti or pasta dishes.
6. Add whole or mashed cloves to soup.
7. Throw a few whole cloves into a salad.
8. Rub garlic like a paste on meat before roasting.
9. Use it in hummus, guacamole or other dips that call for garlic.
10. Spread it on a slice of crusty bread, crackers or make garlic toast.

You'll find more creative ideas in 25 Things to do with Roasted Garlic by The Wicked Noodle.

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