Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Juicy, tender chicken served with the creamiest garlic sauce that the whole family will go crazy for!
Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic has been on my bucket list for years. But I guess I’ve been putting it off because I was always a bit skeptical about the “40 cloves of garlic” part. Now you know how much I love garlic as seen in yesterday’s post, but 40 cloves just seemed like way too much, even for me. But then curiosity took over and I finally gave it a try, and boy, was I in for a treat.
If you have your skepticism about the garlic like I did, have no fear – the 40 cloves of garlic actually lends an amazing garlic essence to the chicken, letting them simmer in their own juices. This allows the flavors to really meld, leaving the chicken to become incredibly tender and flavorful. And if you take that extra step to thicken up the sauce with a little bit of flour, it is absolute perfection.
After devouring my entire plate along with every last bit of this creamy garlic sauce, this has quickly become one of my absolute favorite ways to prepare chicken, and if you’re not in the mood to peel 40 cloves of garlic, I’m with Julie on this one – I highly recommend purchasing the peeled garlic cloves. It’s such a time-saver and it’ll save your fingernails from smelling like garlic for days!
Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 40 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
- Add garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add chicken and sprinkle with thyme. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 25-30 minutes; set aside chicken, reserving the juices in the skillet.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour and milk. Whisk in flour mixture to the skillet until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately with sauce mixture.
Did you make this recipe?
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I use 1/2 cup white wine and 1/2 chicken broth and omitted the flour and milk. I let the garlic caramelize to a deeper golden brown before placing the chicken on top to finish the cooking. I also use plump drumsticks with the thighs (there’s one for every thigh on a chicken) and reduce the sauce down until it’s thick, and it works really well. Great with steamed white rice and buttered French green beans! It’s a regular at our house.
Just made this tonight, loved it except for the gravy . Next time I will just scoop out the garlic and eat them whole. May have done something wrong but was really thick.
I have to say… this has become one of our FAVORITE dishes!! It is truly amazing… so tasty and the sauce is delicious! I serve it with pretzel bread sticks on the side to soak up the sauce, which is honestly… one of the best parts of the meal.
We ADORE garlic, but admittedly, I was a little worried at first about using 40 cloves of garlic. But we were not disappointed! We’ve made it several times (and making it again for friends who are coming for dinner tonight). Thanks so much for posting this… my entire family is grateful. 🙂
This is the only recipe I’ve found that doesn’t require any type of alcohol or heavy cream. I don’t want to have to buy heavy cream for ONE dish, and I don’t want to buy wine or cognac for the same reason. This one is a keeper.
Looked at lots of versions of this dish and chose this recipe. Only change, cornstarch for flour due to family gluten issue. Used white wine for milk. ( because I was enjoying glass while making this) really delicious. Aroma in house wonderful. If you are able to eat bread…sop up the gravy on this!!! Easy, quick and one skillet with lid. Make sure to brown skin of chicken. Makes dish !
Whole family loved it!
This recipe was in the better homes and gardens over 20 years ago. It’s very good!
Is bottled garlic cloves in water ok to use?
Yes, that should work just fine, Bill! 🙂
I made this recipe exactly and it was perfect. Making it again tonight for dinner 🙂
Love it, however, I’m not too sure about the sauce?? I’m dairy free / gluten free and I replace the ingredients with tapioca flour and almond milk, and it didn’t turn well…
Otherwise, delicious!!!
Try replacing the flour with 1/2 the amount of corn starch and white wine or additional chicken broth for the milk.
Looks very nice and easy for beginners
I made this recipes. It is delicious!
Glad you liked it!
Can this be made with pork cutlets?
I’m sure it can be modified with pork cutlets, but since we haven’t tried this ourselves, I can’t answer your question with certainty, especially when it comes to cooking times. Please use your best judgement when making modifications and substitutions.
This recipes sounds deliciou, but my family doesn’t like tights can I make it with breast?
Of course!
My mother used to make this dish! She cooked a whole bird with a fresh herb bouquet inside, low and slow (covered) in the oven. We would spread the garlic on toast and then place a piece of chicken on top. Absolutely divine! Don’t make it before a big interview or anything though.
Should the broth complete cover the chicken? I have some simmering right now, but my pan is small.
No, the chicken does not have to be completely submerged.
I make this ALL THE TIME!!! It’s AMAZING!!! And honestly its not too garlicy because the garlic steams for 20 minutes so its just delightful. It’s a favorite of everyone in the family. It goes great with Rosemary Potatoes or Brown Rice (and a salad of course). Delicious!
40 cloves? sounds like it needs more! just kidding. not enough garlic in the world. will make this one. thanks.
No where do you say to take the chicken out of the pan before you add the garlic.
We guessed that when you say to add the chicken back in.
The recipe actually specifies to set the chicken aside in step #2:
2. Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
Thank You! I cooked this up last night and got rave reviews!To cut down on fat a bit, I even skinned the thighs. Since I had so many thighs, I used a large cast iron pan to brown them which worked well. Since the thighs had still produced quite a bit of grease, I skipped adding the flour and had a thinner sauce, but it was still fantastic! I saved the sauce which I plan on using tomorrow for Thanksgiving, adding it to the turkey gravy. Thanks again!
Made this for dinner tonight and served it over rice. The whole family enjoyed it a lot! Thank you!!
My family likes a similar recipe. We use 8 thighs plus all the cloves from one head of garlic. The main difference is that we add 1/2 cup of sauvignon blanc to the sauce (and serve the rest of the bottle with the meal). We generally use either a hard boil or cornstarch to thicken the sauce. We love that it has only a few ingredients and cooks quickly. We serve with baguette and steamed green veg (broc/sugar snap peas/beans). This is one of my 22 year old son’s favorite meals. I suggest you don’t use pre-peeled garlic because it doesn’t seem to soften enough during the cooking time and the gooey garlic, spread on bread, is one of the best parts. – k
This was amazing! Everything I’ve made from your site is delicious! Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your masterpieces!
If I cut the recipe in half should I cut the garlic in half?
Yes, I recommend cutting all ingredients in half.
I have a tip about peeling all the garlic! If you just break them up (with the peel still on) put them in a bowl. Then put another bowl on top of that bowl and shake super hard. The garlic will peel itself!. This works best with a big mixing bowl. I’m sure there are videos on youtube if anyone needs to see it done. 🙂
That trick didn’t work for me so I had to peel them manually. If you rub your hands on the surface of a stainless bowl or any stainless utensil it will immediately neutralize the garlic smell. No more stinking hands.
decided to make this for dinner and can I just say “WOW”. The house smells amazing and it looks so great(still cooking) we are making it was stuffing and asparagus. I have been looking for another way to cook thighs that wasn’t in a wing sauce ( although those are good too) this is an amazing recipe, adding to my regulars 🙂
I live in Los Angeles, home to the world famous Stinking Rose restaurant, where everything
has garlic and lot’s of it! Including ice cream :)! They serve 40 clove chicken, and while their’s
is different I have to say Thank You! Your recipe was/is amazing.
HI! If I triple the recipe, does that mean I have to put in 120 cloves of garlic?! The recipe says good for 8, I am expecting a party of 22. Thanks for the help!
Yes, if you are tripling the recipe, I would recommend tripling all of the ingredients!
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Wow! 40 cloves of Garlic!!! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing
Made this for supper and it is delicious! The only downfall…the chicken stuck to the pan terribly and didn’t want to get crisp! I’m blaming the pan.. 🙂
Same here, the chicken got stuck to the pan but still delish!
Hot pan, room temp oil, and almost guarantee that meat will never stick.
made this tonight and it was amazing 🙂 instead of adding milk and flour, i reduced slightly as i broiled the chicken to make it crispy again in the oven, and then added baby spinach to the sauce. the spinach soaked up all the garlic-awesomeness. thanks!
The garlic taste is definitely there, not too strong but yummy at the same time. My chicken was juicy and flavorful but I had the problem that the sauce had evaporated wayyy before the 30min were up. Would you suggest adding more chicken broth (maybe my 6 quart dutch oven is too big?) at the beginning or later when I notice the pan sauce is mostly evaporated?
Yes, absolutely. Feel free to add more broth as needed to fit your preferences.
Oopsie, I just bought chicken thighs without the skin and no bones. Is that going to be a problem?
It is really best to use thighs with the skin to have that amazing crispness.
I made this recipe last night and served it with linguine. It was SOOOOOO good! I thought the garlic might be a little out of control garlicky (not that I hate this), but it was so evenly balanced. It was easy, quick and one of my new go-to weeknight meals. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
Instead of spending extra for peeled garlic, you can mass peel your own. Drop a handful of cloves in a bowl, with an inverted bowl on top. Shake the heck out of ’em for about 30 seconds, and the peels fall right off. makes cleanup easy too, as the peels are contained.
I’ve been using the 2 bowls technique for quite sometime now and I love it! You can peel 40 garlic cloves in 2 minutes without having garlic fingers for a day 🙂
Trying this recipe tonight!!
Thanks for the tip – I’ve been meaning to try that!
i cooked this a decade ago but the recipe i used called for unpeeled garlic. what it meant was, firstly (obviously), no peeling, and secondly, the garlic flavour was more subtle. we were able to push out the garlic like toothpaste & they were sweet & delicious! i’ve since lost the recipe & that’s why i’m searching the net for a worthy successor! many thanks for the inspiration.
I do something similar, but rather than using two bowls, a mason jar and lid works just as well.
What would you suggest to serve with this? Something that you can pour some of the sauce over…besides mashed potatoes. Just plain rice? 40 cloves seems so intimidating, but I really want to try this! Hopefully tonight since chicken thighs are on special at my local store…
We loved it over rice. And no need to be intimidated about the 40 cloves – it lends off such amazing flavor!
Can I use oven roasted garlic or does it have to be raw
Roasted garlic should work just fine.
I just did it, and had it with rolls, and just dipped the rolls in the sauce! Highly recommend it. And don’t skimp on the cook time. I took mine off a little too early; the chicken was done, but the garlic could have got a lot sweeter, like roasted garlic.
Chung-Ah,
This is the third recipe from your website that I have cooked. The chicken is great, and I will certainly cook it again. I was not able to brown the thighs very well in the pan at the beginning of the recipe, but when I was making the gravy I finished them off under the broiler. They came out browned and crisped to near perfection that way. I wonder about the origin of this recipe. The flavor seems almost Mediterranean.
Your sight is visually pleasing, and I like the general approach to cooking you take. I wish the recipes were easier to navigate. I used Google to help me come back to the recipe a day after I initially found it.
James, I’m so glad you have tried my recipes! As for navigating through my site, I have a search bar in the sidebar as well as a visual recipe index. You can find all recipes there, from appetizers to entrees, which are all categorized alphabetically.
Just delicious!
I tried to cook this before but the garlic melted when i simmered the chicken for 30 mins. should i set it aside?
Tried this today as my Hubby LOVES garlic…super easy and delish!!! WOW, thanks for the recipe!!
this sounds super tasty!! I love garlic and usually use a lot!
I love garlic chicken! This looks great!
This has been on my bucket list too. I must give it a go! I love garlic!
Love that garlic sauce, so good!
This looks wonderful! I’m a huge garlic fan, so this sounds right up my alley 🙂 pinned!
I am making this right now. The house smells amazing! We will serve it with rice and butternut squash. I used chicken breasts, because I did not have thighs on hand.
Wow! I can only imagine how lovely and fragrant this must be! Even if it does mean hiding from the world with garlicky breath for a few days, worth it! x
I’ve always wanted to try this too! I think you’ve just convinced me to. 🙂 Sharon
Gorgeous! This is probably my favorite chicken dish ever! I definitely want to make it now.
This totally qualifies for one of my favorite dishes of all times. I truly love garlic believe it or not and with 40 cloves of garlic I am totally in heaven 🙂 What a great dish!!
This is one of my favorite chicken recipes Sometimes I add some cut up red potatoes to the mix and let them bake with the chicken, absorbing some of that wonderful garlic sauce!
My mother used to make a version of this when I was growing up! It is done completely in the oven and the garlic is so tender and creamy and almost sweet when it’s done. I think you’ve reminded me (and inspired me) to take the recipe out and make it!
What is your mothers recipe that is like this but baked in the oven?
Hi Lauren,
Would love to read your mother’s recipe for this dish if you have time to post it! 🙂
Can i have the recipe for the oven as well f possible lauren.
I need to try this! Sounds divine.
Ok so I loathe garlic. I mean, I hate hate hate it. I am actually allergic to it, too. But seriously just not my thing however your photos, and the way you wrote about it, seriously made me wish I could handle it! This is so intriguing! 40 cloves, wow!