One of our favorite ingredients in grilling is garlic. I am wholeheartedly convinced that it is impossible to add too much to a recipe. But, one thing we had never tried is roasting garlic on the grill. I am glad we finally tried it – it is super easy and oh-so good!
🍲 Preparation
Ginny bought a few heads of elephant garlic from Wegmans and we prepared them for grilling. I had just finished grilling Huli Huli Chicken, and we had some time at home, so we set about prepping these for a slow grill.
Step One: Peel off the outer skin of the garlic and cut off about ½” of the top of the bulb. See the picture below.
Step Two: Set the whole head in an 8” x 8” piece of aluminum foil and wrap the foil around the garlic. This will create a tight seal for the grill to work its magic.
Step Three: Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil on the garlic and finish folding the foil to completely wrap the whole head.
🔥 Grilling Instructions
I use a Big Green Egg as my grill, but a gas grill will work just as well.
Step One: Set up the grill for indirect heat. I added the plate setter to avoid the direct flames on the garlic.
It takes a few minutes for the temperature to come back up, but dial it in to around 400 degrees.
Step Two: Set the foil-covered garlic in the center of the grill and let it cook for one hour. When you open up the foil, the garlic should be extremely soft and a light brown color. You’ll see when it is ready.
💡 Recipe Tips
Don’t make the mistake I made. I was being a bit lazy and set the garlic (still in the foil) in the refrigerator after it cooled. When I opened the fridge door in the morning, I was overtaken by a wave of roasted garlic smell. While I love that smell, most of the other food in the fridge took on some of that flavor. Oops! Definitely store them in a Ziploc bag.
Roasted Garlic Cloves freeze extremely well. Just separate the cloves, peel off the skin and place them between two sheets of Press-and-Seal.
As you need them, just cut off a piece and let it thaw before using.
📌 Recipe Uses
Well-roasted garlic can be used as a buttery spread for homemade bread. Not only will the roast head of garlic be a beautiful, and unexpected, addition to the plate, it spreads easily and the mild taste works wonders with fresh bread.
Ginny made a roasted garlic mashed potato dish after we finished roasting our garlic. Spencer stood at the bowl and kept taking spoonfuls out of the bowl and said it tasted like a side dish you would order from a restaurant. He walked away and came back and asked how long did that take? He compares it to a potato dish she made out of fontina and gruyere that takes a bit more time.
There is a lot of time spent taste testing in our house!
Grilled Roasted Garlic in Foil
Ingredients
- 4 Garlic heads of Elephant Garlic
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the Garlic
- Peel the papery outside of the garlic. Cut off the top 1/3 of the whole elephant garlic, do not separate the cloves.
- Drizzle the top with olive oil and a little salt and pepper
- Wrap the head of garlic in aluminum foil
Roast the Garlic on the Grill
- Preheat grill at 400 degrees with indirect heat
- Add the wrapped garlic head to the grill
- Grill for 45-60 minutes, depending upon size of garlic. Check at 45 minutes. Remove when the garlic is close to a soft paste-like consistency.
Nutrition
Jason’s been firing up the grill for over 30 years after graduating from the US Coast Guard Academy. His love of finely-grilled steak and chicken led him to buy his first Weber grill to put on his apartment patio in 1992. Each military move led to a new grill (a mixture of gas and charcoal) until he fell in love with the Big Green Egg in 2008. Since then, he has added another 4 grills to the collection. Yes, he has a problem. Jason loves smoking in the ceramic BGE with exotic woods including olive wood from Egypt and hard to find varieties such as sassafras and orange wood. Jason takes the term “foodie” to a whole new level, jumping at the chance to take food tours and cooking classes during foreign travels. These have provided inspiration to incorporate new ideas into recipes when he gets back home. He has been featured in Fox News, Parade, Yahoo News, Kansas City Living and more. After retiring from the military and moving to southwest Florida, he has focused grilling and smoking locally sourced meats and fish (read: he likes to catch his own fish!)
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