Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic
The French classic where forty cloves of garlic bake down into something soft, sweet and spreadable next to crisp-skinned chicken.
- 75 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.34 a serving
- 550 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 6 bone-in chicken thighs, skin on
- 40 cloves garlic, peeled
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 French bread, sliced and toasted (optional)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 550 calories, 35 g protein, 11 g carbs and 37 g fat, and costs about $2.34 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No bone-in chicken thighs? Chicken drumsticks work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No French bread? Sourdough bread works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 375°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
the chicken dry and both sides with the salt and pepper.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Heat the oil in a large oven-safe over medium.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heat
Lay the thighs in skin side down and cook 10 to 12 minutes, until and .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium heatTimer: 11 min
Move them to a plate.
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat, add the garlic cloves, and cook 4 to 5 minutes, , until they’re lightly in spots.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: A tub of peeled garlic from the produce section saves you 15 minutes. Keep the cloves moving so they stay pale gold.Pour in the wine, , and let it bubble 2 minutes. Add the broth and thyme.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min
Set the chicken on top skin side up, with the skin above the liquid, and uncovered 30 to 35 minutes, until the thickest thigh reads 165°F and the garlic is soft as butter.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 32 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Let it 5 minutes, then serve the chicken with the garlic and pan juices, and spread the soft cloves on toasted bread.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 5 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
