By Sarah Jampel
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- 5(1,845)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The idea of adding a whole head of garlic to a dip might scare you, but compared to its bracing raw counterpart, roasted garlic is sweet and mellow. This dip is garnished with a sprig of sizzled rosemary that's for more than just looks: Frying the herb infuses the olive oil with its fragrance. Spoon the remainder over your finished bowl for a hit of rosemary you wouldn’t get with just the minced leaves, then scoop it up with warm pita, cucumber spears, and carrot sticks.
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings (2½ cups)
- 1head garlic
- 1teaspoon, plus 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 2(15-ounce) cans white beans, like cannellini, Great Northern or navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 3tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
- 1tablespoon roughly chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus 1 full sprig
- ¼teaspoon black pepper
- 1pinch of cayenne, plus more for garnish (optional)
- 1tablespoon hot water
- 1¼teaspoons kosher salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
117 calories; 2 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 287 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
Step
1
Roast the garlic: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel off most of the garlic's outermost skin but leave the whole head intact. Trim about ¼ inch off the top of the garlic to expose the cloves. Place the garlic on a large piece of aluminum foil, then drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil over the exposed cloves and close the foil into a pouch. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until you can pierce the center of the head with a knife. Let cool slightly.
Step
2
Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into the bowl of a food processor. Add the white beans, 4 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary leaves, black pepper, cayenne (if using), hot water and salt. Purée until smooth, then taste for salt, pepper, rosemary and lemon juice. Adjust as necessary. Transfer to a serving dish.
Step
3
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the remaining rosemary sprig — it should sizzle. Cook until brown and crisp, flipping once, about 1 minute per side, then transfer to the top of the dip as a garnish. Pour or spoon the remaining olive oil, now infused with rosemary, over the top of the dip. Sprinkle with cayenne for a little additional heat.
Tip
- The roasted garlic can be made up to 2 weeks in advance. Wrap well and store in the refrigerator.
Ratings
5
out of 5
1,845
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Cooking Notes
Debby
I’ve made this twice now. The first time I followed the directions exactly. The second time I didn’t want to use my oven (waste of energy if you’re not also cooking other things), so I used a Cook’s Illustrated tip for mellowing garlic. I separated the garlic cloves but left the peels on and toasted them in a pan on the stove over medium heat until brown on at least one side then cooled and peeled them. I think I actually preferred this to the roasted garlic.
ERH
I’d never roasted garlic before, but it was so easy (and strangely satisfying) to pop the roasted cloves out of their skins that I may consider it for other recipes. This dip was quite tasty fresh out of the food processor, but the flavors really came together after a day or two in the fridge. I served this with pita chips and sliced vegetables originally, and ate the leftovers on top of crusty toasted bread with avocado and hot sauce. A great, smoothly flavorful alternative to hummus!
Phill
Update: yes. This works as a soup. Used flageolet beans with their cooking broth. Sautéed a couple fat minced garlic cloves with the Rosemary step. Could even increase the amount roasted garlic, though it worked very well with one big head.Didn't purée the soup though. The broth was so silky it seemed a shame to disturb it. Drizzled with lemon juice to taste.
Christin
I made it with a whole head of roasted garlic, one 19 oz can of white kidney beans, added a touch more salt and a good pinch of cayenne. The rosemary sprig fried in olive oil is a must and more oil can be used. The dip, especially because of the rosemary-infused olive oil, has to sit for a few hours to bring out the flavours. It was a huge hit and eaten up very quickly!
Laura
I really like the look of this recipe and I’m definitely going to give it a try. Just FYI, though, I made hummus with roasted garlic one time and I found that I missed the fresh garlic in it—but I like strong, bold flavors, so maybe you’d like it. Something I’ve done with roasted garlic several times, however, is to squeeze it out into a small bowl and mash it up with lemon juice and then smear it on toasted baguette.
Erin
I read a cooking note that said the roasted garlic did not give this dip enough of a punch and suggested adding some raw garlic. I’m a garlic lover, so i decided to throw in a clove of raw garlic along with the entire bulb of roasted garlic...what harm could that do? Well, as it turns out i really shouldn't have done that. It tasted really sharp and overpowering. I would recommend following this recipe EXACTLY and tasting before deciding whether or not to add more garlic.
Laurel
Wonderful the day you make it but even better the following day. This is our new go-to instead of hummus. We ate it on homemade crostini and with baby carrots, but I think it would be great spread on flatbread and coupled with thinly sliced prosciutto and arugula and grilled as a panino.
Victoria
This is very good but too much salt for my taste. The Cannellini beans have a velvet texture and the mix of roasted garlic and rosemary is really nice. It needed a bit more oil and definitely needed the cayennne pepper. I must have over cooked the fried rosemary because it was bitter as was the olive oil so i did not use. Overall a nice change from hummus but will absolutely cut that salt in half next time.
Louise in Leverett
This is DELICIOUS. I made it for Christmas as a vegan alternative to my gravlax to accommodate a guest, thinking it would at least be palatable, but it was a huge hit with everyone. I had the leftovers for lunch the next day. Be sure to add the rosemary oil at the end.
Cathy Buday
Didn’t want to heat up the kitchen so I sautéed garlic gloves on low in olive oil in the stovetop, about 15 minutes. Still wonderful!
Pat T
I used 1 can of cannellini, ½tsp. salt; ½tsp. freshly ground pepper. I've been making almost the same thing for years, but I like this added step of frying the rosemary.
great stand-in for hunmus!
So happy to have discovered this recipe as my daughter cannot eat chickpeas on her restrictive Crohn’s SCD diet so she really misses hummus. Made a large batch of this as app for party & my daughter parked herself next to it for half an hour. Everyone else loved it too! All went!
Mary Rose
This is a winner all the way around! So easy. Fantastic flavor. A great alternative to hummus. Made it for Christmas afternoon and it was gone in no time.
Tammi
Did you use table salt? When. recipe calls for kosher salt, you can't just substitute table salt 1:1.
caroline
I don’t often go for oil/salt but this treat is so so indulgent and very popular among guests. I love it even more after a day or two sitting in the fridge. I roast garlic often, but I just use my toaster oven and 15 min does the trick. With that, this whips up very quickly. Go for it!
Vee
Am currently attempting to not eat the entire batch the night I made it. Absolutely delicious. I forgot the hot water and was wondering why it wasn’t getting good and creamy, but the texture smoothed right out when I remembered to add it.
Tracy
I subbed in a TBL of smoked olive oil for regular and sprinkled pimentón (smoked paprika) on top for color and a little extra smokiness. My old food processor couldn’t get the level of creaminess I wanted so I used my blender, which required a little more water. Yum!
Irma LaDeuce
Tip for those of us without unlimited supplies of energy: instead of heating an oven at 400 degrees for almost an hour to roast one head of garlic, do it while roasting other things, like potatoes or root vegetables. The roast garlic can be made in advance, tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.
Made for Christmas- was a hit!
I had to go dairy free recently and was sad about it. This dip helped! So so good. Ate with all kinds of veggies and the Aldi sourdough pita crackers. Will make again!
KbCalgary
Hi Wondering if anyone has frozen this - either adding rosemary oil before or doing this part after defrosting?
Amelia
Delicious appetizer for all your vegan and non-vegan friends. Always a hit and super easy.
Meg McAlister
I use my comal (or a cast iron skillet) on top of the stove to roast garlic cloves with the skins on. Just flip them over a couple of times until they are soft. No need to add oil.
becca
I made this exactly as the recipe instructed and it was super strong on the garlic and rosemary flavors. I served it as an appetizer at thanksgiving and most people only took one bite. Yikes! Not making it again.
mikeO
This was a fantastic side dish at thanksgiving with charred carrots and focaccia. We had the garlic in the smoker for a half hour before putting it in its pouch in the oven and that was a nice touch. I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t want to put this on. And the rosemary oil recipe alone is worth having because that can be used for so many things too. Thank you!
Windowsmith
This is so easy and so so good. Made exactly as directed.
Leïta
I had a lot of dip left over from a games night because I had too much food on offer. I decided to turn this into a soup, as Phil mentioned a ways back. I added two cups of beef broth to the dip, and it turned into a gorgeous soup. I actually prefer the soup to the dip! So creamy and flavorful. I'd make the soup version of this again with absolute pleasure.
kathy in CA
Infused rosemary oil sounded great. I did that first and used 5 tablespoons of oil and two sprigs of rosemary. Not sorry! Sprinkle the toasted rosemary on top. Chop the fresh rosemary very fine. It doesn’t break up at all in the food processor.
Lee Norris
more garlic, lemon and rosemary
Karyn
I make this as directed, put in a shallow dish and sprinkle the top with chopped sundried tomatoes and marinated artichoke hearts (have also used chopped, pickled chipolini onions and roasted red peppers) in a pretty pattern for, you know...fancy!!! It always gets devoured.
Louise
I made this to use up some home-cooked Rancho Gordo beans, and now I see why white beans are recommended. My delicious Buckeye beans turned a disappointing taupe color, but dip was still delicious! So maybe not stellar for fancy company, just friends and family(?). Roasted the garlic and followed recipe. Delicious with carrot sticks -- or toasted pita if there is any around. Not fabulous, but hey, a cousin to hummus -- why do garbanzos get all the glory?!? -- and healthy protein!
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