Our 40 cloves Garlic Chicken recipe is a flavorful and delicious French dish all made in a single pan! I get so many compliments for this tender chicken and delicious sauce.
I love traditional French recipes so much, like French Onion Soup and Croque Madame. Or Disneyland’s inspired Monte Cristo Sandwich.
I put 40 cloves of garlic in my chicken…and you will too!
I put 40 cloves of garlic in my chicken…and you will too!This is my favorite French dish to make from home; Poulet aux Quarante Gousses d’Ail or chicken with 40 cloves of garlic (aside from Crepes, which we make weekly). I use chicken thighs instead of a traditional whole chicken because it’s simpler but you can use chicken breasts or a whole young chicken, cut into pieces, skin-on. This is an EASY, fancy one-pan meal, great for a busy night where you want something delicious, but no so much clean-up. We serve garlic chicken with French Green Beans, Crusty Bread, and a salad.
How to make Garlic Chicken (Poulet aux Quarante Gousses d’Ail):
Boil Garlic: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil then separate the garlic cloves and add them to the water. Boil for 1 minute, drain water, and peel garlic.
Brown Chicken and Cook: Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of chicken then add to a very hot pan with butter and oil. Cook until the skin is golden brown. Spread the garlic cloves around chicken and add thyme and bay leaf. Cover and cook over medium low for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.
Make Sauce: Place chicken on a plate and cover to keep warm. Pour wine into skillet then cook until liquid has been reduced by half. Whisk cornstarch into chicken stock then add to pan, cooking until sauce has slightly thickened. Add remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter then taste sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Serve: Remove chicken to a serving platter and pour sauce over chicken. Spread the sweet cooked garlic cloves on top of a baguette or piece of crusty bread.
Serve With:
- French Green Beans (Hericots Verts)
- Roasted Vegetables or Mashed Potatoes
- No Knead Artisan Bread or a green salad
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Recipe
40 Clove Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons butter , divided
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 6 or 8 chicken thighs*
- salt and pepper
- 3 heads garlic
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme , or ½ tsp, dried
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup white wine*
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 Crusty bread baguette, for serving
Instructions
- Boil garlic: Add 2 cups of water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Separate garlic cloves (you don’t need to peel them) and add to the water. Cook for 1 minute, then drain and peel garlic.
- Prep chicken: Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels and season well with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a very large deep (preferably cast iron) pan or skillet over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons butter and oil until hot.
- Sear chicken: Add chicken, skin side down and cook for 5 minutes, until the skin is golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side for 3 minutes.
- Add garlic cloves around the chicken and add thyme and bay leaf.
- Cook: Cover the skillet and cook over med-low heat for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear when pierced with a fork. Transfer the chicken and garlic to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Discard the bay leaf.
- Sauce: Turn the skillet heat to medium-high and add the wine. Cook until the liquid has reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Whisk the cornstarch into the chicken stock and add to the pan. Cook until the sauce has slightly thickened, 2-3 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, or herbs, as needed. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter. Place the chicken on a serving platter and pour sauce over the chicken.
- Serve with French green beans and a toasted baguette for spreading the cooked garlic cloves on.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe January 2020. Updated August 2024.
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This was delicious! The hubs and kids loved it!
This was fabulous! The whole family loved it! I didn’t have any white wine, so I used Marsala and it was great. I agree that the garlic flavor was less than anticipated by blanching, and being big garlic lovers, I will likely add some garlic powder to the seasonings next time. Would love to make with mashed potatoes to accompany the yummy sauce! Thank you for a great keeper recipe!
This is a fab recipe. I tried your method of easy peal garlic and I have to say, it wasn’t much better and I think it lost some flavor in the process. I think you have to peel them the old fashioned way or buy them that way. Otherwise, this was very easy and tasty. I used drumsticks and they were delicious. I’ll be using this one again. Thanks!
Lauren! This is an amazing recipe! I have to tell you that I’ve been following you for a few years now. Religiously using your weekly meal plans to feed my family. Finding you have been such a time saver and relief for meals in our household. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!
The N.Y. Times recently published a similar recipe with vingt cloves: fully half. Quelle chose!
Outstanding recipe! Followed it exactly except I forgot the wine before the broth so I added it after and just reduced the liquid longer. Still got a beautifully textured and flavored sauce to pour over the chicken thighs which were tender and luscious and the garlic cloves were so soft and buttery I wanted to steal them all for myself. I’d recommend being more generous with the thyme than the recipe calls for (I had to use dry); otherwise, perfection. Lauren’s French green beans recipe as a pairing is spot on.
Fantastic, but I had 2 issues. The garlic list some of its pungency and also stuck to the bottom of the Dutch oven. To combat the stickiness, cook lower. I prefer to peel the garlic the hard way so I dont lose any flavor.
Can you substitute minced garlic for the garlic cloves? If so, how much?
This was easy to make and delicious.
I must admit though, I gave up after peeling 32 garlic cloves. But it was still more than enough to mix with the mashed potatoes and spread on the baguette.
Absolutely delicious and surprisingly easy… it’s a perfect entree for date night!
Hi! In a moment of confusion my friend and i added the stock and wine after browning the chicken but final result was still perfect. In your recipe you brown chicken, add garlic and herbs then cooked on stovetop for 30 mins. How do you prevent scorching or drying? Also I would love to know the source of your recipe if you don’t mind.
Overall very tasty. My garlic cloves were not soft like roasted garlic so I couldn’t spread over bread. The sauce made it for me. My son like the chicken by itself and my wife like the home made baguettes that she used to soak up the sauce
Absolutely delicious! My whole family loved it, and we felt very French eating it with sauteed green beans and a baguette.
Delicious!!!!
This was my favorite recipe this week – served with mashed potatoes with the sauce as gravy… delicious! Only question is, Why would anyone want to peel garlic this way? 😂 Is there some reason it has to be boiled first? If not it is so much easier to give each clove a whack with the flat of a knife and the peel comes right off!
You have to blanch it first to get rid of the bitter bite it would give the sauce if you didn’t.
Fine! (Sigh) It is a delicAious recipe, it’s worth it. Thanks!
What kind of white wine did you use?
I used chardonnay.
I would love to try this. What are your thoughts on white meat instead of dark meat?
You could use chicken breasts–they may not need quite as long to cook, depending on how thick they are.