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Roasted Garlic is incredibly delicious as an appetizer, served over a slice of toasted baguette, or incorporated into a dish like pasta, dips, pizzas, or mashed potatoes. Find out how easy it is to roast garlic directly on the grill!
A simple and delicious recipe and instructions on how to roast garlic on the grill.
Table of Contents
Roasted Garlic Highlights
Garlic, when topped with extra virgin olive oil, cooked until soft and almost caramelized, becomes silky and smooth, and the flavor is remarkably different than raw garlic. Roasted garlic is simply decadent! It’s creamy and indulgent, and can be used in so many ways. But my favorite is simply served over a slice of toasted baguette, just like a soft cheese.
You can easily roast the garlic in the oven, BUT in the summer months, when we’re all cooking outside, why not cook the garlic in the grill?! You can get your grill up to a steady hot temperature and prepare the garlic the same way you would in the oven. But cooking it outside means you don’t have to turn on your oven heating up your kitchen, plus it allows you to make a fantastic appetizer spread for your summer cookout guests and you don’t have to be running back and forth into your kitchen! Boom.
Next time you’re having a cookout, perhaps add some grill roasted garlic to the mix! I’m sure your guests will welcome the surprising (and oh-so-delicious) addition.
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How to Roast Garlic on the Grill
- Prepare your garlic by slicing the top of the garlic bulb off (depending on the size of your bulb it should be around 1/4 to a 1/2 of an inch from the top) to expose the individual cloves.
- Next drizzle the exposed garlic cloves with olive oil. Just a good drizzle will do.
- Cover the bulb with aluminum foil. Pro Tip: We’ve experimented without using the foil and don’t recommend it. It will dry out the cloves and encourage burning on the outer cloves. Covering them with foil protects the cloves from burning while also steaming the cloves so they all cook uniformly and end up soft and creamy when they’re done.
- Place covered bulbs on a hot grill, over indirect heat, for approximately 40 minutes (this will vary based on the exact size of your bulbs). Then open the foil and use your finger to test if they’re done. They should be nice and soft to the touch when roasted through.
- Remove and serve this delicious treat! Using a small knife or cocktail fork, gently remove the individual roasted garlic cloves from the skins and serve over bread or in your favorite recipes.
How to serve Grill Roasted Garlic
- My favorite way is over bread with a pinch of finishing salt. Bring some to your next picnic!
- Mix with room temperature butter and serve over a grilled steak (ahh yeah!).
- Mix into mashed potatoes or other root vegetable purees (so good!).
- As a topping for grilled pizza (yes please!)
- Toss with pasta and some fresh olive oil.
- Mix into sauces and soups.
- Mix into spreads (like hummus or bean dips).
- Use as the base to aioli.
The options are endless. There are loads of ways to use garlic. Pair it with smoked mortadella as part of a charcuteries board.
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Roasted Garlic Recipe on the Grill
Ingredients
- 1 whole head of garlic (or more if you choose to multiply)
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt, for finishing
Instructions
- Preheat Grill: Prepare grill for indirect cooking. Aim for around 400 degrees internal temperature of the grill.
- Prep Garlic: Using a sharp knife, slice the top off of each garlic bulb (about 1/4 to 1/2 inches from the top), to expose the individual garlic cloves. Drizzle each bulb with about 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil (more or less depending on the exact size of the garlic bulb). Wrap each bulb with foil.
- Grill Garlic: Place the wrapped garlic bulbs on the grill, over indirect heat, for approximately 40 minutes. Exact time will be based on the size of your bulbs. Test after 40 minutes using your finger. You're looking for a dark golden color and a caramelized look and the cloves should be soft to touch.
- Remove and serve immediately, or save for additional recipes.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Does it take less time to cook if you break the garlic in half and foil them separately?
You could do this and it may shave off a few minutes. The half bulbs also have less portions if using as an appetizer. But could be good if you are using the grilled garlic in another dish like pasta sauce.
I use salted butter & Rosemary fresh from the backyard on the grill wrapped in foil. Its tasty on everything !
What an awesome flavor modification!
This is so great!! I love to take a frozen thin-sliced pizza and throw it in on the indirect side of the heat as a way to use up the rest of the hot coals, now I get to roast and spread roasted garlic on top! FANTASTIC!!!
This is completely genius! I’m so used to roasting garlic but I think cooking it on the grill is absolutely brilliant because you get all that great smoky flavor too!
I can’t wait to try this! It looks perfect for a Friday night bbq!
So in love with the idea to roast garlic on the grill!!! This sounds like the perfect addition to a summer spread!
Grilling any food magically makes it taste even better, and I’m sure the same goes for garlic. How in the world have I never tried this before?! I’m definitely putting some garlic on the grill the next time we BBQ