Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic sounds overwhelming but instead it is a deliciously mellow garlic with a creamy white wine sauce you’ll want every day!
Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. My mom loved cooking with garlic and white wine, so this dish was always a favorite with a side of crusty bread.
French recipes like Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic seem to get a bad rap for being difficult to make. The secret of this dish is just treating your ingredients well and cooking them with care since there are so few of them. You always hear “cook with a wine you would drink” and today’s recipe is exactly that as I enjoyed the rest of the bottle thoroughly thanks to Holman Ranch and Will’s Fargo Restaurant who gave me the bottle of wine to cook with and hosted us for a wonderful meal at Will’s Fargo Restaurant in Carmel, CA.
We had the absolute best time in Carmel (kid free! cue the singing angels here for a minute) and you can read all about hotels, winery, tasting and Will’s Fargo restaurant here. This post is reserved for awesome Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic made with one of the delicious bottles of wine the proprietor’s were kind enough to send us home with.
I cook the chicken in my trusty cast iron because I love the browning capabilities of it and the even cooking in the oven. Plus with a rustic recipe like this one, it really does present wonderfully. I tell almost everyone who asks, but I use this skillet so much I never put it away. Also, against rules of cast iron but following the rules of what seems most hygenic, I do wash my skillet after each use. Then I add a bit of canola oil to the pan and rub it in deeply with a paper towel. 
If you’re making this meal and you want to make it more of a one pot wonder you can definitely add a few variations:
- Double the sauce ingredients (butter, wine, cream, flour)
- Add small fingerling potatoes or baby red potatoes you’ve tossed with a bit of Kosher salt and some olive oil (try not to use a cut potato or it will soak up a ton of the liquid and break down) just before putting the pan in the oven.
- Add frozen peas at the end or make quick Buttered Carrots and Peas.
- Serve with garlic roasted tomatoes, you can also add some thin asparagus stalks to the pan when roasting the carrots if you prefer asparagus to peas.
That amazing pan sauce you see is pure heaven scooped up with a piece of french bread. Not a bad meal huh? Serve it up with some delicious Will’s Fargo Pinot Gris. 😉
Ingredients
- 40 cloves garlic , peeled (about 3 heads of garlic)
- 8 chicken thighs , skin and bone on
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups white wine (I used Will's Fargo Pinot Gris)
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Put the garlic in a small saucepan covered with water and boil for a minute.
- Remove the garlic and dry on a paper towel.
- Dry the chicken thighs with a paper towel, the drier the skin, the better it will brown.
- Season your chicken with salt and pepper to taste (I use about a teaspoon of kosher salt and a ½ teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper).
- In a cast iron skillet or your favorite frying pan add two tablespoons of butter and add half of the chicken skin side down on medium high.
- Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side or until well browned and remove from the pan.
- Cook the second half of the chicken the same way then remove to a plate.
- Add the garlic cloves to the pan and on low cook for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown.
- Add the wine and scrape up any browned chicken bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Add the chicken back to the pan add the fresh thyme.
- Cover the pan with foil tightly and put in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven, and take the chicken out of the pan (I usually put it on a plate and cover it with the foil I used to cover the pan when baking.
- Mix the cream and flour together and add to the pan, cooking on medium high until it boils and thickens.
- Season again with salt and pepper if needed.
- Remove the stalks of thyme.
- Add the chicken back to the pan and serve immediately.
- Serve with some amazing mashed potatoes.
Nutrition
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Could you make this recipe using a whole cut up Chicken? Likely would just need to cook longer? Not all of my family cares for thighs.
Yes, that would work. 🙂
I am SURE that it tastes good. I made the garlic chicken on my blog some time ago, and it was amazing. I used less garlic but now I want to try this version too! I read about this “40 cloves of garlic” chicken in some French book but never got to try it. Now I will have the recipe. Thanks!
Made this for dinner last night. Followed the instructions to a T and it was fantastic! The whole family loved it. Thanks for the awesome recipe 🙂
I’m so glad your family loved it! I’ve been eating this dish since I was a child so I was happy to pass it on!
Bring on the garlic breath – it sounds so worth it!
Thanks, Lauren!
I’ve heard of this dish but have never made it – pinning to try!
Come back and share your experience when you make it!
Oh, wow! That pan sauce!!!
Our family loves dishes that include garlic and white wine as well, so this is sure to be a hit. Delicious!!!
I hope your family enjoys it! Come back and let me know how it turns out!
I ADORE Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. It is one of my favorite recipes and yours is looking scrumptious! And that delicious white wine sauce? I could drink it with a spoon!
I know! I want that white wine sauce with every meal!
Oh man this looks delicious! Give me all the garlic!
I’m a HUGE garlic fan, so of course the name of this recipe caught my eye 😀 Can’t wait to try it!
I have had chicken with 40 cloves of garlic once before in my life, decades ago, and wow was it good. Yours looks even BETTER !
I’m so glad I could help you recreate that experience!
Oh My!! I had no idea that a 40 cloves of garlic could look so delicious!! Great recipe and amazing photos
I kept reading Will’s Fargo as Wells Fargo and was thinking, “your bank gives you wine?! Dang, I’m at the wrong bank!” LOL
I love this classic, it’s so awesome, and I agree it’s not hard to make. Beautiful sear on that chicken skin!!
Thanks, Julie!
I used to make this in the crock pot but haven’t made it in so many years. I have to make this ASAP. That crispy skin looks amazing!
This is PERFECT for garlic fiends like me!
You and me both!
That looks like the perfect dinner plate! I love garlic so this will make me a happy happy girl.
Nothing is better than cooking in cast iron and I love how creamy the garlic gets when it’s done like this! Fantastic recipe!
I love my cast iron skillet too!
Sabrina!!! I just made my French chef’s version of this dish for my clients this weekend!!! Yours looks fab!
Aww thanks love!