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Roasted Garlic Sauce

This thick and creamy vegan roasted garlic sauce is perfect for salads, casseroles, roasted vegetables, pasta, burgers, and more. Use it instead of mayonnaise or even your favorite vinaigrette. Healthy, flavorful, refreshing!

A jar of roasted garlic sauce with a spoon.

This roasted garlic sauce recipe is quite versatile and packed with flavor. You can use it on your salads, in your casseroles, or atop your favorite sandwiches, protein and even tacos.

The unique, bold flavor is due to the roasted garlic (if you’ve never roasted garlic before, you’re in for a real treat!) that gives it a sweet richness instead of the normal pungent flavor most associate with garlic.

It’s also a much healthier vegan alternative to mayonnaise, so you can also use it in dishes to which you’d normally add mayo (although if you’re looking for more of a classic dressing, try my cashew-based vegan mayo and vegan bechamel).

And if we are talking delicious and nutrient-dense dressings, one of my absolute favorites is creamy buddha bowl dressing.

A bottle of roasted garlic sauce.

Why Use Roasted Garlic

While the pungent flavor of raw garlic is quite delicious, there are times it can over power a dish and a more subtle taste is needed. 

Or maybe you want a garlicky, date night dinner without the bad breath that comes with it.

Garlic heads in a braid.

Enter: roasted garlic.

Plus, all the health benefits of raw garlic are preserved when you roast it.

With more garlic on your plate (in the form of roasted garlic sauce or any other), you receive more of those health benefits… without burying the flavor of your other ingredients.

Most of garlic’s health benefits include potential anti-cancer, immune-strengthening, metabolism-boosting and heart disease-preventing effects. The more garlic you consume, the more effects it’ll have on your health.

I encourage you to try roasting your garlic if you haven’t done it yet. Honestly, it was a discovery to me. Now I’m obsessed with its robust, nutty, mellow and caramelized flavor!

Unpeeled roasted garlic on a tray.

How To Roast Garlic

The best part: It’s very easy to make

To roast the garlic, cut the tips off the head, exposing the ends of the cloves, so that it’s easier for you to peel them later.

Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and black pepper and wrap each head in a piece of aluminum foil. Roast for 35-40 minutes until tender and aromatic.

Please make sure to read detailed instructions on how to roast garlic and how to store and use roasted garlic.

Preparing garlic heads for roasting.

How To Store Roasted Garlic

It makes sense to roast more than just one head at once. I roasted three heads in one batch and used two of them for the sauce and saved the rest for later use. 

You can simply roast your garlic in advance, peel it and and store it in olive oil for up to 10 days.

When you are ready to make a roasted garlic sauce from it, just take it out, and follow the recipe. This way, too, you’ll have it on hand for other roasted garlic recipes you may enjoy as well.

Peeling roasted garlic by hand.

Ingredients

Here is what you need for this sauce (check for the substitutions below):

For the roasted garlic:

  • garlic heads
  • olive oil
  • salt and black pepper

For the sauce:

Ingredients for the roasted garlic sauce.

How To Make And Store Roasted Garlic Sauce

This is a very simple recipe… Just blend everything together until smooth and you are ready to go. 

You can use a blender or an immersion blender for mixing.

Just make sure it’s creamy and ready.

You can make it up ahead of time and store it in a glass jar or bottle in your fridge for up to a week and enjoy it on sandwiches or spread on toasts or crackers all week long.

Blending the roasted garlic dressing in a food processor.

Serving Options

Adding roasted garlic sauce to a vegan casserole

Cook’s Tips

  • Use this garlic sauce in dishes to which you’d normally add mayo. This sauce is perfect for salads, casseroles, roasted and fresh vegetables, pasta, burgers, soups, bowls, sandwiches, toasts, crackers and more. See all the serving options above for more information.
  • To roast the garlic, cut the tips off the head, exposing the ends of the cloves, so that it’s easier for you to peel them later.
  • Store the roasted garlic cloves in olive oil in the fridge for up to 10 days.
  • The sauce can be stored in a glass jar or bottle in your fridge for up to a week.
  • Capers give a salty touch, so you’ll need very few or no salt in the end.
  • Depending on how thick you want your sauce to be, you will need different amount of vegetable broth to adjust the consistency. Start with 1 cup and keep adding water until you like the consistency.

A bottle of roasted garlic dressing with a spoon.

Recipe Variations

  • Use other nuts instead of cashews. I tried to make this dressing with walnuts and it tasted great, too. Though the color was not as bright as with the cashews.
  • You can use any other sweetener of your choice instead of brown sugar: agave juice, maple syrup or molasses.
  • You can use lemon juice in place of lime juice for this sauce.
  • Olive oil can be substituted for sesame oil.
  • Skip the capers if you don’t have them. You’ll need more salt though.
 

Recipes similar to roasted garlic sauce

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5 from 29 votes

Roasted Garlic Sauce

This creamy vegan roasted garlic sauce is perfect for salads, casseroles, bowls, pasta, burgers and more. Use it as a healthier vegan alternative to mayo or even your favorite vinaigrette. Healthy, flavorful, refreshing!
Course Sauce
Cuisine American, European
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 10 servings
Calories 84kcal
$5

Ingredients

For the roasted garlic:

  • 2 big heads garlic
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of black pepper

For the dressing:

  • 2 heads roasted garlic peeled
  • 1/3 cup or 50 g cashew nuts
  • juice of 1/2 lime about 2 tablespoons
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon capers
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 cup or 250 ml vegetable broth or more
  • salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Roast the garlic

  • Preheat the oven to 200 °C or 400 °F. Cut the tips off the head, exposing the ends of the cloves, so that it's easier for you to peel them later.
  • Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and black pepper and wrap each head in a piece of aluminum foil.
  • Roast for 35-40 minutes until tender and aromatic. Let it cool and peel.

Make the sauce

  • Combine peeled garlic, cashew nuts, lime juice, sesame and olive oil, mustard, capers, brown sugar, white wine vinegar and vegetable broth. Blend everything together until smooth using a food processor or immersion blender. Add more broth if you like more liquid consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Use in dishes to which you’d normally add mayo. This sauce is perfect for salads, casseroles, roasted and fresh vegetables, pasta, burgers, soups, bowls, sandwiches, toasts, crackers and more. See all the serving options above for more information.

Notes

Cook’s Tips

  • Please make sure to read detailed instructions on how to roast garlic and how to store and use roasted garlic.
  • Use this garlic sauce in dishes to which you’d normally add mayo. This sauce is perfect for salads, casseroles, roasted and fresh vegetables, pasta, burgers, soups, bowls, sandwiches, toasts, crackers and more. See all the serving options above for more information.
  • To roast the garlic, cut the tips off the head, exposing the ends of the cloves, so that it’s easier for you to peel them later.
  • Store the roasted garlic cloves in olive oil in the fridge for up to 10 days.
  • The sauce can be stored in a glass jar or bottle in your fridge for up to a week.
  • Capers give a salty touch, so you'll need very few or no salt in the end.
  • Depending on how thick you want your sauce to be, you will need different amount of vegetable broth to adjust the consistency. Start with 1 cup and keep adding water until you like the consistency.

Recipe Variations

  • Use other nuts instead of cashews. I tried to make this dressing with walnuts and it tasted great, too. Though the color was not as bright as with the cashews.
  • You can use any other sweetener of your choice instead of brown sugar: agave juice, maple syrup or molasses.
  • You can use lemon juice in place of lime juice for this sauce.
  • Olive oil can be substituted for sesame oil.
  • Skip the capers if you don't have them. You'll need more salt though.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 84kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 118mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 50IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Follow @happykitchen.rocks on Instagram and show me the recipes you are making from my blog using the hashtag #happykitchenrocks!
Vegan Roasted Garlic Sauce Pinterest Image
Recipe Rating




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Rhea Rawley

Monday 15th of February 2021

Made this yesterday. Served with bucatini. It got raves all around. It was easy and a keeper in my recipe box. Thank you.

Elena Szeliga

Monday 15th of February 2021

Hi Rhea, I'm so happy you enjoyed the sauce! Thank you for your kind feedback!

Constance

Friday 7th of February 2020

My sister-in-law gave me a jar of roasted garlic in a jar for a gift. Do you know the conversion for this?

Elena Szeliga

Monday 10th of February 2020

Hi Constance, the equivalent will be around 1/2 cup of drained garlic cloves. Hope that works!

Natasha

Thursday 21st of March 2019

Sounds delish till I saw the honey in it ... not vegan sadly

Elena Szeliga

Saturday 23rd of March 2019

Hi Natasha, I actually plan to post a vegan version of that dressing. But it's nit hard to make it vegan - just substitute agave nectar for honey. Hope that helps! Cheers

krystina stiffler

Sunday 20th of May 2018

Looks great! Do you have a recipe with for the dish that you have pictured? It looks so delicious but I cant make out all the ingredients. Sweet potatoes, kale? Those are a few I can pick out. LOL

Elena Szeliga

Sunday 20th of May 2018

Hi Krystina, thank you for pointing that out! I should include a link to this casserole dish in this post because I have it published :) Here you go, sweet potato casserole with black beans, kale and buckwheat. It's delicious and goes so well with the roasted garlic dressing. Cheers!

Ashlie

Monday 19th of February 2018

Hi! Do you have a substitute for the cashews? My husband has a nut allergy. We can only do almonds and walnuts in the house but those two don’t have the same consistency as cashews! Also we aren’t vegan so any advice on options would be welcome!

Elena Szeliga

Monday 19th of February 2018

Hi Ashlie! That's a very interesting question and it made me think quite a bit :) First of all, you can try it with soaked almonds. Walnuts would work as well but they will give a greyish color to the dressing. If you don't mind that, you can try it out. The flavor will be slightly different but not too much. As for dairy options, how about Greek yogurt? I would add it to the dressing AFTER blending because it tends to become too liquid otherwise. You might need less broth since without nuts the dressing will be rather runny. Hope it's helpful! Cheers!

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About Elena Szeliga

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Elena Szeliga is the founder of Happy Kitchen.Rocks, where she shares delicious and healthy vegetarian and vegan food, from weeknight dinners to veganized classics and gourmet appetizers. Her recipes have been featured at Better Homes & Gardens, BuzzFeed, Country Living, The Kitchn and Reader’s Digest. Her mission is to help cook easy vegetarian and vegan meals with simple and fresh ingredients. Read more about Elena.

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