If fall-off-the-bone tender chicken combined with tons of mellow, buttery browned garlic sounds like heaven to you, 40 Clove Garlic Chicken is the dish you need to try. This classic dish made famous by James Beard is not only easy to make, but one of the most flavorful dishes you will ever enjoy!
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Chicken, legend-style
40 Clove Garlic Chicken is most famous for being made by legendary chef James Beard, for fellow legendary chef Julia Child and combines garlic and chicken in a way that is not only easy, but truly magical.
The chicken is seared until the skin is crisp and then combined with the garlic cloves to slowly roast, allowing the garlic to mellow and become tender. I’ve made this dish for my family a few times, and they absolutely love it. It truly is a garlic lover’s dream.
40 clove garlic chicken is excellent served with crusty bread, a simple green salad tossed with my homemade French vinaigrette, and a side of roasted garlic mashed potatoes, because who doesn’t want more garlic?
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Chicken. This dish really needs to be made with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. The skin allows the chicken to crisp up beautifully when searing, and the thighs lend themselves to roasting. I don’t recommend making this with chicken breasts as the results will not be nearly as good.
- Garlic. This recipe quite literally calls for 40 cloves of garlic. Depending on the size of the garlic you buy, that could mean 2-4 heads.
- Acid. Vermouth or a dry white wine, such as sauvignon blanc, is best here.
- Herbs. Tarragon and flatleaf parsley, and thyme are used – all fresh.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make easy 40 clove garlic chicken
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Pat the thighs dry with paper towels, season well with salt and pepper, and sear them skin side down in a large pan over medium heat with the olive oil, then add the butter to the middle of the pan.
- Sear for 6-8 minutes or until well browned, then flip them over and cook another 5 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover with tented foil.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and add the garlic cloves to the pan and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.
- Add the vermouth and chicken stock and turn the heat to high while scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge the brown bits.
- When the liquid reduces by half, add the tyme and turn off the heat, then place the chicken thighs in the pan, skin side up. Spoon some of the sauce and the garlic cloves on top of each piece of chicken.
- Roast the chicken in a 375°F oven for 1 hour or until the chicken is at least 185°F internally. Let the chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving, then top with parsley and tarragon. You can eat the garlic cloves as they are, or spread them onto crusty bread.
Top tips
- Use homemade stock. Whenever possible, use homemade stock to elevate the flavor of your dishes and give you absolute control over the sodium levels in your food. I recommend using homemade chicken stock for this chicken with 40 cloves of garlic.
- The pan. I strongly recommend using a large, oven-safe, 12- or 14-inch pan. You want the pan to be large enough to fit all the chicken, but using a pan that can transfer from stovetop to oven will make it so much easier.
- Mop up the sauce. I highly recommend serving this dish with crusty bread because there will be incredible flavor left at the bottom of the pan after the roasting process. There won’t be a lot of liquid, but you’ll definitely want to use bread to mop up whatever is there. Trust me.
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40 Clove Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 8 chicken thighs trimmed of overhanging fat
- salt and pepper to taste
- 40 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup vermouth or dry white wine
- 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon minced tarragon
- 1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Heat a large pan to medium heat with the olive oil. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels then season well with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the chicken thighs skin side down then add the butter to the middle of the pan. Sear for 6-8 minutes or until well browned. Turn the thighs over and cook for another 5 minutes. Place the seared thighs onto a plate and tent with foil.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and add the garlic cloves to the pan. Cook until they turn golden (about 5 minutes).
- Add the vermouth and chicken stock and turn the heat to high. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge the brown bits. Once the liquid reduces by half, mix in the thyme, and turn off the heat.
- Place the chicken thighs into the pan, skin side up. Spoon some of the sauce and the garlic cloves on top of each piece of chicken.
- Roast for 1 hour or until the chicken reaches an internal temp of at least 185°F. Let the chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. Top with the parsley and the tarragon before serving. The roasted garlic can be eaten as is or spread onto crusty bread. Make sure to mop up the sauce with crusty bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- Herbs. Tarragon has a sweet anise like flavor. Omit if you don’t like it.
- Pan size. All eight chicken thighs should just fit in a 12-inch pan but a 14-inch pan works better.
- Sauce. Most of the liquid will be evaporate during the roasting process, but the bottom of the pan with the remaining caramelized bits have tremendous flavor. Use crusty bread to mop up all of that flavor.
- Leftovers. Chicken thighs with 40 cloves of garlic can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the microwave or oven.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Does one peel the garlic cloves first??????!
Yes – please refer to the process photos and you’ll see in step 3 the cloves are being cooked and do not have skin on them.
Jim,
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I had 40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken at the Stinkin’ Rose restaurant in L.A. several years ago. HEAVEN!!!