In the mood for chicken with gravy? This delicious, one-pan, chicken with garlic gravy fits the bill perfectly and is a garlic lover’s dream. You’ll want to bust out the mashed potatoes to soak up every bit of this fabulous gravy!
Why I love this chicken with garlic!
This one-pan, chicken with gravy dinner is so delicious, it’s in regular rotation in my household! It’s my go-to chicken dinner when I’m craving gravy!
I also love this dish because the chicken is wonderfully moist and browned and the gravy is rich and chock full of garlic. Twenty cloves worth! But you’d never know it, because the garlic gets browned and softened and changes into sweet bits of flavour, much like the beautiful mellow flavour of roasted garlic.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Garlic – If you’re like me, the thought of separating and peeling the 20 cloves of garlic for this recipe isn’t super appealing. I picked up a bag of the pre-peeled cloves at the grocery store for about $1. Money well spent, if you ask me :) And again, don’t worry that you won’t be able to leave the house for days after eating this. Like roasted garlic, this garlic becomes very mellow. You’ll know it’s there, but it won’t knock you (or anyone else) over.
Chicken – As for the chicken, any cut will do. I used skin-on/bone-in thighs here and I leave the skin-on for a more moist chicken. Boneless/skinless chicken thighs will also work here, as will chicken breasts, though the breasts will need longer in the oven to cook through.
White Wine – the recipe specifies some wine to de-glaze the pan after it comes out of the oven. Any wine will do. If you don’t have wine on hand or you prefer not to use it, simply skip it and use 3/4 cup more chicken broth instead. If you skip the wine, you may like to add a little acidity to the gravy that the wine usually brings, maybe add a splash of fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar to the gravy. Just a tsp or so. It makes all the difference!
Other ingredients you will need – chicken broth, thyme (fresh or dried), flour, cooking oil, salt, pepper and butter.
Cook’s Notes
- You’ll want serve this with something on the side to make the most of the delicious garlic gravy. My choice is usually a creamy mashed potato, but pasta or rice would also be nice. At the risk of carb overload, I’d even throw a great crusty bread in to the mix, to dip in the gravy. Add a salad or veg for a complete meal. I also love green beans or broccoli with this dish.
- I like to always brown up my skin-on chicken in a non-stick skillet. I’ve found it to be a foolproof method of keeping the skin on and getting it beautifully golden! Simply heat a bit of oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the skin-on chicken, skin side down and allow to cook until deep golden, before flipping. Don’t rush it, this may take as much as 8-10 minutes depending on the size. Move the chicken around in the pan once in a while, to ensure even browning. Just make sure your non-stick pan is oven-proof (most are these days), but if not, simply transfer to an oven-safe pan or dish.
- Don’t forget to taste your gravy at the end of cooking and add additional salt and freshly ground pepper, as needed, to really bring all the great flavours together.
Get the Recipe: Rustic Chicken with Garlic Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon cooking oil, vegetable, canola etc, for the pan
- 6 pieces skin-on/bone-in chicken thighs, or any skin-on chicken, such as breasts or drumsticks, about 2 lbs.
- Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- 20 cloves garlic, separated and peeled (2 full heads)
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dry white wine, any kind, or alternately replace by using more chicken broth instead
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/4 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or about 3/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. (not fan assisted)
- Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Dry the chicken pieces well by patting them with a paper towel. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and the pepper. Add the chicken thighs to the hot skillet, skin side down and cook until well browned underneath. Flip chicken over and cook on the other side for a couple of minutes. Remove chicken to a plate. *Chicken thighs can be fatty! If you have a lot of fat in the pan, you can remove and discard some of it, but do leave a bit in the pan to cook the garlic in the next step.
- Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium. Add the garlic cloves and cook, stirring regularly, until the garlic is starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the garlic and stir until combined. Return the chicken to the pan, COVER, and bake for about 15 minutes in the pre-heated 400° oven (*If you pan or skillet doesn't have a lid, you can tightly cover the top with tin-foil instead.) Be sure to cook until the chicken is cooked to 165F internal temperature. *Chicken breasts will take longer.
- Remove the pan from the oven and put it on a burner. *Be careful not to touch the hot pan handle! Remove the chicken pieces from the pan to a clean plate. Over medium-high heat, whisk in the wine and simmer for 1 minute to cook off the alcohol. Whisk in the broth, thyme and a bit more salt and pepper, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until the gravy thickens. Turn the heat off and stir in the butter. Taste sauce and add more salt and pepper, as needed. Add the chicken back to the pot to re-warm with the sauce. Serve spooned over mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.
Notes
More Bone-in Chicken Thigh Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
20 cloves of garlic?
Yep :)
Add gnocchi in gravy. delicious
Sounds delicious!
Hi…..it’s that time of year for comfort food that’s exactly what this recipe was I loved it I was expecting a much stronger flavor from all the garlic but was mild with tons of flavor I also had fresh rosemary hmmmm delish!
So glad you enjoyed it, Donna! And yes, it’s amazing how the garlic mellows out as it cooks. Thanks so much :)
5 stars!! I don’t usually leave reviews on recipes but I had to write one for this! Just a fantastic, easy and delicious meal. I even used skinless chicken breast (I know, not ideal) and added more butter at the browning stage to compensate. So few ingredients and yet so tasty. I own a Le Creuset Dutch oven and rarely think to use it. It worked perfectly here. Key is to ‘deglaze’ the pan when adding the liquid making the gravy – getting all those delicious bits from browning the chicken into the sauce.
So glad you enjoyed it, Laura :) Thanks so much!
Made this last night step by step and it turned out great, I have been in and out of the hospital a couple times in the last few weeks and this type of comfort food was just what the Dr. ordered, my husband and myself devoured this with mashed potatoes and broccoli!!
So glad to hear, Peggy :) Thanks and get well soon!
Everyone loved this. I didn’t have any white wine on hand so I took your suggestion to use chicken broth with a little fresh lemon juice. I don’t have an ovenproof skillet (as far as I know) so I transferred the chicken and garlic to a casserole covered with foil for the oven step. Then back to the skillet. This was easy to make without a lot of ingredients but had great flavor . Thanks for the recipe! Served with mashed potatoes and peas.
So glad you all enjoyed it, Kim :) Thanks so much!
Is the 2g protein per serving a typo? Seems odd for a chicken recipe. Just wondering. :)
Hi Nicole, the nutrition is calculated automatically, but is done “per serving”, so it would be 2g per one thigh and since they are bone-in, there really isn’t a ton of meat on them compared to boneless chicken.
I completely screwed up the steps and ended up scorching the garlic by adding it with the chicken, which was completely my fault. It came out super clumpy, which was also my fault for not following instructions correctly. But the flavor was terrific. I added maybe 1/2 tsp onion powder to the gravy and my whole family devoured it, clumpy gravy and burnt garlic and all! They all said to definitely make again. Next time I’ll follow instructions better :)
So glad you enjoyed it despite the challenges, Gina :) Thanks!
Hi. Can you substitute Chicken Stock for broth?
Hi Mark and yes, you can :)
Hi would love to try this recipe. Question I dont have a Dutch oven. What alternative do u recommend?
Hi Annette, an oven-safe skillet will work just as well (pretty much anything that can go stove-top to oven). If your skillet doesn’t have a lid, simply cover tightly with aluminum foil instead. Enjoy!
Terrific recipe. We love it!
So glad to hear, Deb :) Thanks so much!
Have you tried this with gluten free flour or cornstarch as a substitute in the gravy?
Hi Brenda and no I haven’t, but you could easily omit the flour at the beginning of the process and then thicken the gravy at the end of cooking with a cornstarch slurry (mixed with cold water).
I make this all the time with gluten free 1:1 flour and it works perfect. My family loves this dish over wild rice. Yum!!
Glad to hear, Christina and good to know it works well with GF flour, too :) Thanks!
I have made this dish many times and it never disappoints! Family and friends can’t get enough of the gravy.
I have shared this recipe to many and the feedback has extremely positive!
Thank you Jennifer, for creating and sharing your fantastic recipes especially in times of quarantine.! We all need some love and joy and that’s what your dishes are!
So glad to hear, Alice :) Thanks so much!
Hi Jennifer. Made this tonight as a “family dinner” attempt with very picky kids. Everyone loved it. Mashed potatoes and peas. Embellished the gravy a bit my way. I’m a good cook but this recipe is incredibly easy to execute and anyone can stun a crowd with this meal. Cheap, too! Thanks for sharing, I’m adding it to my rotation.
Hi Patrick and so glad you enjoyed it! It’s a favourite here, as well :) Thanks!
This is a great meal to make to impress company. I have made it several times for my family and they love it. But when I had my daughter’s future in-laws over for the first time I made it and they still talk about this meal. It is so yummy and for as elegant as it looks and tastes, it is not a difficult dish to make. Thank you so much from a family of garlic lovers!
So glad you are all enjoying it, Leslee! Thanks so much :)
This made a lovely dinner tonight. I served it with mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans and onions. Crusty bread and fresh butter rounded it out.
So glad to hear, Aimee! Thanks so much :)
I made this and it was delicious.
Glad to hear :) Thanks!
Do I chop the garlic or leave them whole
Hi Patricia, you just leave them whole.
If i use skinless/boneless thighs, do i still sear them prior?
Hi J and yes, give them a light sear to seal the outside and start them cooking. They will need less cooking time over-all as they are boneless.
Hi your recipe looks delicious but I do not cook with alcohol. Any suggestions for a substitute?
Thanks!
Hi Rima, just substitute the wine with more chicken broth. Maybe add a splash (teaspoon or so) of white wine vinegar for some acidity, if you like.
If I only have 3 chicken thighs should I half the rest of the recipe or would it be okay as is?
Hi Lindsey, you might have made it already, but my advice would have been if you like lots of gravy, leave as is. If not, half the gravy/garlic part.