Roasted Garlic in Air Fryer

Roasted garlic in air fryer will infuse any dish with rich flavor. In 25 minutes you can get amazing air fryer roasted garlic to use for pasta, toast, crackers or crusty bread.  

Air Fryer Roasted Garlic

Something magical happens to garlic when you roast it. It retains all the great flavors we love about garlic in a sauce or stew, and adds a delicious sweetness. The garlic becomes softer in texture and sweeter in taste, with the breadth and depth of flavor you expect from the best roasts. Once upon a time, you would have had to wait a while to roast garlic in the oven, but with the air fryer, you can have perfectly roasted garlic in half the time.

The best part about roasting garlic? It’s incredibly easy. Just two ingredients, flexible portions, and it stores well in the fridge or freezer. Use it in sauces, with veggies or meat, or enjoy it on its own.

You should try roasting your garlic alongside some tomatoes, especially small, sweet cherry tomatoes. They work really well together, and you can make a deceptively delicious, simple sauce by blending the two after roasting. For this recipe, we’re focusing on just the garlic, but feel free to add other ingredients and make your own tweaks.

You can use pretty much any air fryer as long as the basket’s big enough for the amount of garlic you want to roast.

How To Use Roasted Garlic

Most obviously, you can use roasted garlic instead of fresh garlic in a recipe. Here are some of our favorite ways to use that tasty roasted garlic.

• Pasta dishes
• Toasted bread, like garlic bread, even better with cheese!
• Sandwiches, particularly a gourmet grilled cheese such as a tomato basil mozzarella grilled cheese.
• Bread dough or pizza dough prior to baking.
• Pizza, especially a margarita pizza.
• Vegetable side dishes
• Mashed potatoes, creamy mashed cauliflower, or similar sides
• Stir fry recipes
• Garlic butter

The list is really only limited by your own creativity.

Ingredients

All you need to make awesome roasted garlic is two high-quality ingredients. Like a lot of old-world cooking, simplicity is the secret, and you don’t want to overcomplicate things. Fresh garlic and high-quality oil are all you need. We highly recommend extra virgin olive oil, as it has the best flavor, and some antioxidant properties so it’s pretty healthy, too.

How To Make Air Fryer Roasted Garlic

Roasting garlic in an air fryer is really easy.

• First, keeping your head of garlic in its shell, slice off the bottom (the brown part) so it exposes the inner cloves. Put this bulb in a large piece of aluminum foil. The foil should be big enough to tightly wrap the entire bulb, but not much bigger than that.

• Before wrapping the bulb, drizzle your olive oil on the garlic so it coats the exposed sections of garlic and drips inside the bulb. Getting good oil coverage is great for the garlic’s deep, satisfying, roasted flavor.

• Next, wrap the head of garlic tightly in the foil.
• Set your air fryer to 390°F/198°C and put the garlic wrapped in foil into the air fryer basket (or cooking pan) and roast for 20 to 25 minutes. You want the garlic to turn golden-brown and caramelize, not to burn. Check the garlic at around 20 minutes. You should open the foil very carefully, as it will be extremely hot, using tongs and oven mitts. If it’s not done, cook it in two-minute intervals until the flesh of the garlic is golden-brown.

Expect some of the oil and garlic juice to leak out, so remember to use a drip pan to catch the excess liquid.

Can I Roast Garlic in the Air Fryer Without Foil?

You sure can! You can rub your garlic with oil and place it in a baking dish, then air fry it for ten minutes or until the garlic caramelizes.

Otherwise, you could try separating each garlic clove, tossing them with olive oil, and putting them on a piece of baking paper. Air fry them for ten minutes, toss, and cook for another two minutes until they turn golden brown.

You’ll want to use about a tablespoon of oil for each head of garlic (not each clove!) for both of these methods.

Can I Roast Unpeeled Garlic Cloves in the Air Fryer?

Absolutely! We prefer to roast garlic cloves for our pasta dishes as they are firmer. Simply peel the garlic using our shake method, drizzle with olive oil and transfer to your air fryer basket. Air fry for 6-7 minutes at 356°F | 180°C.

How To Store Roasted Garlic

Roasted garlic stores like a champ. Keep cloves in a sealed jar with oil in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for 3 months—whole, mashed, or in oil. A fun trick: freeze in an ice cube tray for easy grab-and-go garlic cubes!

What’s the Difference Between an Oven and an Air Fryer?

• Air fryers take less time to cook than ovens do. In the case of roasted garlic, that means twenty to twenty-five minutes in the air fryer as opposed to forty to forty-five minutes in an oven.
• Air fryers, with shorter cooking times, use less electricity than ovens do, as well. They also localize the heat better than ovens, as anyone who has baked on a hot day will attest.
• Air fryers are more portable, as you can bring them with you to hotels and campers, unlike ovens which are fixed to the home.
• The air fryer also generally uses less oil, often as little as half of that compared to a typical oven.

More Air Fryer Recipes

• Air Fryer Fish
• Teriyaki Salmon in Air Fryer
• Air Fryer Chicken Breast

If you make this recipe be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! We will be happy to hear from you!

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