Roasted Garlic Bombs
Roasted Garlic is incredibly easy to make. Roast up a double or triple batch
and store it in the freezer for quick flavor boosts to your weeknight meals!
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Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved to read. I remember reading the Berenstain Bears and Hardy Boys books when I was a kid. I read everything I could get my hands on. I was even reading Stephen King books by like 6th grade. Seriously…what 12-year-old reads The Shining? But with all of the books I’ve read, I think my favorite is probably Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I’ve read it 3 times, and I’m sure I will read it again at some point. If you’ve never read it, then go pick up a copy. It’s a bit different (and way better) than most of the popularized movies about Dracula. So what does this have to do with today’s post? Well, vampires hate garlic, of course! But not me…I can never get enough of this delicious Roasted Garlic.
You’ve probably already been roasting garlic for many years. But if not, then you need to! This little addition is one of the easiest flavor boosters ever for weeknight meals. About once a year, I’ll roast a whole load of garlic and then store it in the freezer. (I’m not kidding when I say a whole load…I think this batch was somewhere between 26-28 heads of garlic!)
But I don’t just dump all of the roasted garlic in a bag. I wrap about 8-10 cloves in a little pouch made out of plastic wrap. Then I store all of these pouches in a large sandwich bag in the freezer. That way, I can just reach in and grab a pouch (i.e. “bomb”) of roasted garlic whenever I need a quick flavor boost.
These Roasted Garlic Bombs are perfect for all sorts of meals. I usually toss one or two in whenever I make a big pot of soup. Same thing for pasta. Need a quick weeknight meal? Make a box of pasta and toss in a Roasted Garlic Bomb and some veggies. Top with Parmesan cheese, and you’ve got a delicious dinner ready in like 20 minutes! Same goes for mashed potatoes and even homemade bread. Roasted garlic is an easy flavor enhancer for all sorts of savory foods! (I also make Basil Pesto Bombs…which are another quick and easy flavor booster. If you want to get really crazy, then throw a Basil Pesto Bomb and a Roasted Garlic Bomb in the same dish. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
Roasted garlic isn’t hard to make at all. But I still make a huge batch when I do. Sure, I get strange looks at the store buying all that garlic. Other folks in line probably think I have a vampire problem or something…nope, just an obsession with roasted garlic. And an added bonus to making your own roasted garlic? Your kitchen will smell incredible! I made this garlic the other night, and I woke up the next morning to my stomach growling. I kid you not. So if you’re a fan of roasted garlic, then get into the kitchen and make a double or triple batch of this recipe! Your weeknight meals will thank you for the rest of the year. And I also bet that you won’t see any vampires hanging around your front door for a while.
Roasted Garlic Bombs
Ingredients
- 6 heads of garlic larger heads work the best
- 3-4 Tbsp olive oil
- aluminum foil
Instructions
- Peel the outer skin off of each head of garlic, but leave the inner skins around each individual clove.
- Slice 1/4" off the top of each head of garlic, exposing the tops of each clove inside the head.
- Place heads upright on a piece of aluminum foil. (I usually do 2 heads of garlic per piece of foil.)
- Drizzle olive oil on top of each head until fully saturated (usually about ½-1 Tbsp of oil per head.)
- Cinch the aluminum foil at the top and sides to create a pouch. Place pouches on a baking sheet.
- Bake at 400°F for about 30-35 minutes, or until garlic is tender.
- Let heads cool slightly, and then pinch each clove of garlic out of its' skin.
- (Optional) Wrap 7-8 cloves in plastic wrap and place wrapped clusters in a large sandwich bag. Repeat with remaining garlic. Place bag in freezer and then pull out one “roasted garlic bomb” as needed.
I’m a huge garlic lover… stand close at your own risk! These bombs are the bomb dot com!
Haha! Thanks, Chef Bec! Looks like your stash of nuts is safe tonight. The vampires wouldn’t dare come close to your house with all this roasted garlic around. 🙂
That’s a freaking good thing, because nobody handles my nuts but me, dangit! Umm… wait… I really AM a woman, I promise!
I adore roasted garlic – only thing is we have a hard time holding onto it – my daughter and I have been known to polish off a head or two!
P.S. – I loved reading Stephen King in my middle school years too – I recall hiding “Misery” in my history book and reading it instead of the chapters my teacher told me to read during class – I guess it’s no surprise I remember Misery over history these days! 🙂
Haha! I love that you hid a Stephen King book inside your history textbook. That totally sounds like something I would have done as a kid, too. 🙂 And I bet I could polish off roasted garlic by itself. We always keep a HUGE bag of these “bombs” in the freezer for quick and easy weeknight meals!
I was just telling my friend how awesome roasted garlic is, and here you give the deets all easy peasy for me to send to her. Thanks so much. Oh, I swear no colds or vamps are coming near my house, they have stayed away for quite some time due to the huge amount of garlic consumed.
Haha! How about that for good timing, huh? Roasted garlic is so darned easy to make, too! I always keep a huge bag of “bombs” in my freezer for quick + easy weeknight meals. (Plus, it helps keep those darned vampires away, too!) Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
We use *a lot* of garlic and just started processing and freezing it in batches. It’s really a great timesaver!
Tell me about it, Jennifer! Once we started making huge…err, massive…batches of this stuff, our weeknight meals became so much easier! We toss one of those bombs into all kinds of meals. Hope you are doing well! 🙂
Oh gosh garlic is practically in my blood! After all, I am half Italian 😉 Smart idea about making it ahead of time and freezing. I need to take advantage of that!
Haha! Thanks, Carla. We always keep a huge bag of roasted garlic in the freezer. Nice and easy weeknight meals! And I don’t doubt that a blood test would prove that garlic does indeed run in your blood! 🙂
We love roasted garlic around here! I’ve never thought of doing a large batch and freezing it. Definitely will be doing that the next time I roast them!
You totally should, Jessica…roasted garlic freezes really well! Just make sure to divide it into “single serving bombs” before freezing…or else you’ll have one gigantic roasted garlic popsicle!
This is a great idea. My husband belongs to the “vegetables of the week” club (or whatever it is) at work, and he gets fresh veggies from local farms. We have a LOT of garlic, and I was afraid it would go bad in the pantry before I got a chance to use it all.
Thanks for the idea!
Oh, you’ve got to roast that entire batch up! It isn’t a hard process, and your house will smell amazing. Freeze them in “bomb” form and you’ve got the base for yummy weeknight meals for a long time to come! Plus, you won’t have any vampires hanging around in front of your house. Hmmm…I wonder if garlic works on Jogger Meisters?
basil pesto bomb and roasted garlic bomb together in one dish?!?! Mind blown! Hahaha love me some roasted garlic. Didn’t know you can freeze it! Totally going to do this. Great tip wolfpack brotha!
Yup, you can make bombs rain on your pasta…but only if you yell stuff like “incoming” or “watch out below” when you drop the bombs. Seriously, though, I keep a big bag of frozen pesto and frozen roasted garlic in the freezer at all time. It’s da bomb. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the obviously cheesy pun there.)
Love roasted garlic but always have trouble cutting tops off. Any helpful hints? Also, when we thaw out the frozen bombs, does the garlic slide out of their skins easily? Thanks! I always buy a large bag of garlic and seemed like we wouldn’t get it used up, but now I can make this ahead and freeze it!
Hey Tracy! Roasted garlic is insanely easy to make…we always keep a bag of these “bombs” in our freezer for pizzas, soup, etc. So as far as the tops, just take whole bulb and slice about 1/5 or so off the top. It might mean that some of the individual cloves get cut a bit more than others…but it’s a huge time saver! So I actually roast these, then slide the roasted cloves out of the skin once it’s cool enough to handle. Then I just wrap up about a bulb or so (~10 cloves?) in plastic wrap. Those little bombs then go into a large freezer bag, and I pull them out one at a time. Does this make sense? You don’t actually freeze the garlic with the skin still on. I hope you enjoy this little trick!