This creamy garlic chicken recipe has one rule: Go hard on the garlic. We use whole cloves from 2 to 3 heads of garlic, which amounts to about 24 to 36 cloves total. Cook the garlic until browned, then simmer in rendered chicken fat, cream, and butter to infuse their flavor. The cloves transform into soft, jammy morsels bursting with garlicky sweetness.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 500–600g bone-in, skin-on chicken thigh or leg quarter
- salt and pepper
- neutral oil, for searing
- cloves from 2–3 garlic heads, peeled
- fresh thyme (optional)
- 1–1 ½ cups chicken stock or water
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- ¼–⅓ cup all purpose cream
- 1 ½ tbsp unsalted butter
Prepare chicken: Pat chicken thighs dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
Brown chicken: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until light wisps of smoke appear. Add chicken skin-side down, working in batches if necessary, and fry until skin is golden, at least 10 minutes for thighs. Flip and cook the other side briefly, 1–2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
Cook garlic: Add peeled garlic cloves to the pan and cook in rendered chicken fat, stirring frequently, until browned. Add thyme sprigs, if using, stirring quickly to cook. Add chicken stock or water and rice vinegar to deglaze the pan. Once liquid is boiling, reduce heat to low and bring it to a simmer. Cook garlic until softened. Add cream and butter. Stir until well combined and sauce has taken on a pale yellow color.
Finish chicken: Add chicken back to the pan, skin-side up. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through and garlic is tender, 15–20 minutes. Season to taste. Transfer chicken to a serving dish. Spoon garlic cloves and pan sauce over chicken. Serve hot.
