For The Best Roasted Garlic, Skip Your Oven

Roasting a fresh head of garlic is an absolute game-changer in the kitchen. It can be used to make fresh garlic bread, in a pasta sauce, or mixed into a bowl of silky homemade mashed potatoes. But it can be time-consuming to do in the oven. Thankfully, there is an easier and quicker way to get the perfect roasted garlic — using an air fryer!

Usually, you roast garlic in an oven for around 40 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, this can vary depending on your oven and the size of the garlic. It has never taken me more than an hour to roast a head of garlic at that temperature! Some recipes will suggest up to an hour and 25 minutes. You can simply pull the garlic out and see if it looks caramelized to know it's done.

In the air fryer, however, it will only take around 15 to 25 minutes at most for a beautifully roasted head of garlic! You'll need to set it to 400 degrees, the same as the usual oven temperature! To prep your garlic, cut off the top part and place it on foil. Drizzle the garlic with oil and season with salt, pepper, and some thyme, and then fold the foil shut before placing it in the air fryer.

You may be curious as to why it takes a shorter time to cook things in an air fryer rather than an oven and a simple answer is that the hot air inside helps speed up the cooking time.

Inside an air fryer is a fan that continuously circulates hot air around the food in the perforated tray or basket that usually comes with the small appliance. This means the food is exposed on all sides so the hot air can cook it quicker without the need for oil or frying. Air fryers are also smaller than an oven, meaning there is not as much area to heat up as in a traditional gas or electric oven. Moreover, many air fryers don't require you to preheat them, further cutting down the cooking time!

For example, chicken thighs in an air fryer can cook for 20 to 25 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas it would take 40 minutes at the same temperature in an oven. Bacon, cauliflower, and salmon are a few other food items that can all be cooked faster in an air fryer, making that after-work dinner all the less stressful!