Roast Garlic In Your Microwave For Quick Convenience

We tried almost every way possible to roast garlic but, while each of these methods had their pros and cons, none was as convenient as popping it in the microwave. Simple oven-roasted garlic takes a whopping 45 minutes (not including the time it takes to preheat the oven), the air fryer will cost you 40 minutes, and the slow cooker is (unsurprisingly) the most time consuming method with five hours of cooking time required. So, if you're in a rush and need to get dinner on the table in under an hour, or if you would just prefer to spend your evening doing things other than waiting for these aromatics to roast, then turn to the microwave.

Depending on how you adjust your microwave's power settings, you can get all of those sweet, nutty flavors in as little as five minutes. The caveat is that your garlic may not emerge quite as browned or delicious-smelling as it would if you followed another method. But, for flavor purposes, it will have just about all of the same qualities as well as the appropriate softness needed for spreading or squeezing, so you won't need to peel your cloves.

While you may wrap your garlic heads in foil for the oven, make sure to leave the foil out of the microwave. As long as you do that, your aromatic shouldn't cause any safety issues when you nuke it. Just like when you roast garlic via any other device, you'll want to start by chopping off the top the garlic head so that you can see the bulbs. Then, place the garlic heads in a shallow microwave-safe bowl along with just enough water to cover the bottom. Just like when oven-roasting garlic, be sure to drizzle the bulbs with olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper and any other spices you like.

All you need to do now is pop your bowl in the microwave and nuke it on medium power until the cloves are soft. If your device is set to 50% power, this could take up to nine minutes, but with a 1,000 watt microwave, you may only need five minutes at 40% power. Everyone's appliance is different, so to be safe, check your garlic halfway through roasting to determine how much more time you'll need — and never cook it at full power. After cooking, you'll have garlic cloves that are ready to be squeezed out.