Roast garlic in the air fryer for a quick and easy way to add extra garlic flavor to many dishes. When roasted, garlic cloves turn soft and buttery, easily popping out of their shell casings and becoming spreadable on crusty bread or garlic toast. Savory roasted cloves of garlic make a wonderful addition to soups, salad dressings, pastas, homemade breads and so much more.
It turned out really perfect!! Thanks for this!
Table Of Contents
Using the air fryer to roast garlic cloves is one of my favorite ways to use this convenient appliance and to cook one of my favorite foods. With just 2 ingredients and about 20 minutes of cooking time, air fryer roasted garlic is ready to use in all of your best recipes - taking much less time than oven traditional oven roasting! I use the same method of making roasted garlic in my air fryer as I do when making sweet roasted tomatoes.
While roasted garlic compliments many dishes, I also love eating it right out of it's shell for a healthy and delicious snack. If you love garlic, this is hard to resist as the lovely aroma fills your kitchen.
Roasted garlic cloves are very freezer-friendly, so I find that they are best air fried in large batches and frozen in portions for easy in recipes whenever you'd like. You can make as many heads of garlic as can fit in your air fryer without changing cooking time or temperature.
Why You'll Love This Easy Air Fryer Method
- This recipe works in any style and with any brand air fryer- so whether you have a basket style or toaster style, you can make air fried garlic. I use both my Instant Omni Plus and Instant Pot Duo Crisp.
- It's an easy air fryer recipe for beginners to get used to how their brand and style of air fryer cooks.
- Cooking time is nearly half that of the oven it takes in your oven!
- The air fryer won't heat up your kitchen like the oven does.
Ways To Use Roasted Garlic
One of the most obvious ways to use roasted garlic is as a substitution for raw garlic in your recipes. But there are so many other uses too.
- Pasta dishes, like homemade spinach pasta, fresh tomato sauce spaghetti, or Instant Pot tomato basil pasta.
- Toasted bread, like garlic bread, cheese bread, or this super fluffy white bread.
- Classic or specialty grilled cheese sandwiches, such as a tomato basil mozzarella grilled cheese and Mediterranean quesadillas.
- Enhance the flavor of soups by adding roasted garlic to cabbage soup, carrot soup, cauliflower soup, loaded baked potato soup, etc.
- Add to pizza dough or a topping for pizza, such as Mediterranean pizza.
- Pizza, especially a margarita pizza or spinach and feta pizza.
- Vegetable side dishes, such as air fried cauliflower, green beans, crispy roasted baby potatoes, zucchini and more.
- Add to crockpot mashed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes or creamy mashed cauliflower.
- Stir fry recipes, like this garlic butter chicken stir fry.
Ingredients and Equipment
You need:
- Whole head of garlic: keep the garlic bulb intact with the shell on.
- Oil: use a good quality oil. I use extra virgin olive oil but avocado oil, vegetable oil and other neutral oils can be used.
- Aluminum foil: tin foil is used to wrap the garlic head in so that it roasts in the olive oil and caramelizes.
- Oven mitts and tongs: needed to remove the hot roasted garlic from the air fryer.
Step-By-Step Instructions
STEP 1: Keeping the garlic bulb in its shell, slice off a small amount of the bottom to expose the inner cloves. Place the cut bulb in a piece of aluminium foil large enough to tightly wrap the entire bulb. Drizzle each head of garlic with about 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil so that it coats the exposed cloves and drips down the outside of the bulb. Secure the entire head of garlic tightly in the aluminium foil, keeping the top slightly exposed.
STEP 2: Set the air fryer to 390°F/198°C. Put the foil-wrapped garlic bulbs in the air fryer basket or on the shelf (for oven type air fryers). Roast for 20-25 minutes, until the top of the garlic bulb begins to caramelize and turn golden brown.
*Start checking the garlic around the 20 minute mark. Open the foil carefully using oven mitts and tongs. If not done, return to the air fryer and continue cooking in 2 minute intervals
STEP 3: When top of garlic has turned golden brown and reaches caramelization, remove with tongs and oven mitts. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
STEP 4: Remove individual garlic cloves from their shells by gently squeezing the bottom of the roasted garlic bulb into a dish or piece of foil. Use immediately or store for later use (see storage tips below)
Enjoy!
How To Store
There are a few options for storing leftover roasted garlic cloves. Put the individual garlic cloves in an airtight container, glass jar or freezer-safe storage bag. Pour extra virgin olive oil over the cloves. They should be completely covered and submerged. Cover tightly with a lid or seal the bag and store in your fridge or freezer. Roasted garlic will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge if submerged in oil. In the freezer, roasted garlic keeps for about 6 months.
Chef's Tip
For storing in ready-to-use portions, put a specific amount of individual garlic cloves in an ice cube tray. Pour extra virgin olive oil into each section to cover the cloves. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store in the freezer. When ready to use, pop out the individual sets of garlic as needed. Thaw the garlic at room temperature before adding to recipes.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can. Roasting garlic without foil in your air fryer will will be a bit more messy, as the oil will drip down the bottom of the air fryer. Rub the whole garlic bulbs with oil, then air fry for 15-20 minutes, or until the top caramelizes but doesn't burn.
Yes, you can roast individual garlic cloves. Peel the garlic cloves, toss them with olive oil and put on a piece of parchment paper or small baking sheet. Air fry for 10 minutes, toss, and continue air frying in 2 minute increments until they begin to caramelize and turn golden brown.
While raw garlic has a strong pungent flavor, roasted garlic has a more mellow flavor that is buttery and savory. Roasted garlic adds this less pungent and softer flavor of garlic to recipes.
If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to give it a star rating and let me know what you thought in the comments! And follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more delicious recipes!
Recipe
Air Fryer Roasted Garlic
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 garlic bulb
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Keeping the garlic bulb in its shell, slice the bottom off (the side with the brown part) of the bulb to expose the inner cloves.
- Place the cut bulb in a piece of aluminium foil large enough to tightly wrap the entire bulb. Drizzle with the olive oil so that it coats the exposed cloves and drips down the outside of the bulb. Wrap tightly in the foil.
- Set the air fryer to 390°F or 198°C. Put the wrapped garlic in the air fryer basket or cooking pan. Air fry for 20-25 minutes, garlic begins to caramelize and turn golden brown. Remove carefully using mitts and tongs.
- When ready to use, squeeze the garlic bulb gently so that the cloves easily slide out of their shells. Serve in pasta dishes, appetizers, dipping oil, or on sandwiches and toast.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Elizabeth Freebird
Enjoyed this very much, came back for reminder times and temp.
Sarah
Just made this. It’s incredibly good smeared on toasted sourdough.
Essess
I tried this and it wasn't as roasted through as when I bake in the oven. I'm unsure if it needed to be rotated partway through, or if it needed more time. It was okay, but definitely not the right creamy texture I get with my conventional roasted garlic.
Kristina
It likely needed more time. It doesn't need to be turned at all. It's possible your air fryer brand just needs to cook it a little longer.
Rae
Have you tried roasting multiple heads at once? Wonder if I could place three in one piece of foil or if I’d have to wrap each one individually?
Kristina
You can put 3 garlic bulbs in 1 piece of foil. There isn't a need to wrap them individually. Enjoy!
Toni
It turned out really perfect!! Thanks for this!
Chef Dennis
This is perfect! I am definitely going to try this idea.
Becky
Can u something besides aluminum foil? Thx!
Kristina
You could put it in a baking dish and top with the oil. Or, peel the garlic cloves and toss with oil, then put on a pan and air fry them like this...either way watch it closely to ensure it caramelizes but doesn't burn.
ANNE
I ACTUALLY SMOKE THEM IN MY STOVE TOP SMOKER IN OLIVE OIL WITH THE CLOVES PEALED OF SKIN. BE SURE TO COVER THE CLOVES WITH OIL. I NOW HAVE SMOKED OLIVE OIL AND SMOKED CARMALIZED GARLIC CLOVES. IF I USE A GLASS OVEN PROOF WITH A SNAP ON LID I CAN SMOKE-LET COOL-AND STORE IN REFRIGERATOR IN ONE DISH
Audrey
I never knew I could make this in my air fryer!
Mary
We found that we needed to turn up our temp to 400 and bake longer, almost 40 minutes to get the garlic as soft as we like. We still enjoyed the recipe and it is better then having to use the oven. Thank you.