In the mood for chicken and gravy? This delicious garlic chicken 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!
This rustic chicken recipe features a fabulous garlic gravy, that’s tailor-made for spooning over mashed potatoes. Just a vegetable for a delicious chicken dinner!
What you’ll need
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 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 work here. I used skin-on/bone-in thighs and I left 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. Be sure to check and test the chicken. It should be cooked to 165F internal temperature in the oven.
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 teaspoon 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.
Step-by-step photos
- Heat a bit of oil in a skillet, then place the chicken thighs into the skillet skin side down.
- After the skin is browned, flip and cook a few more minutes.
- Remove the chicken thighs to a clean plate.
- Add the garlic cloves to the skillet and cook, stirring, until golden.
- Add the flour to the skillet and cook with the garlic cloves briefly.
- Return the chicken to the skillet, cover the skillet and place into a 400F oven for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the oven.
- Remove the chicken to a clean plate.
- Start the gravy by heating the juice and garlic over medium-high heat on the stovetop.
- Deglaze the hot pan with the wine and cook for one minute, scraping up the browned bits, then add the chicken broth.
- Season the gravy with thyme, salt and pepper.
- Return the chicken to the pan and simmer with the gravy until re-warmed.
Recipe video
Recipe tips!
- Take your time browning the chicken and garlic to get some nice colour, for the best flavour and presentation.
- 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.
- You can eat the cooked garlic or not, as you like :) If you don’t want to eat it, you can mash some of it and add it to mashed potatoes for garlic mashed potatoes.
What to serve with garlic chicken
You’ll want to 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 into 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.
Making ahead, storing and freezing
You can make this chicken ahead, cover and refrigerate, then re-heat it later to serve. Simply reheat in a skillet on the stovetop over medium heat until the chicken is warmed through.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
This chicken with gravy will also freeze well for up to 3 months.
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Get the Recipe: Rustic Garlic Chicken with Gravy
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon cooking oil, 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) or start with pre-peeled garlic cloves
- 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 pepper. Add the chicken thighs to the hot skillet, skin side down and cook until well browned underneath. Flip the chicken over and cook on the other side for a couple of minutes. Remove the 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 golden, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the garlic and stir until combined. Return the chicken to the pan, COVER, and bake for about 15-20 minutes in the pre-heated 400°F oven (*If your 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. *Bone-in chicken breasts will take longer.
- Remove the pan from the oven and put it on a burner. *Be careful not to touch the panhandle! It's hot! Remove the chicken pieces from the pan to a clean plate. Heat the skillet 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 the 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
- Take your time browning the chicken and garlic to get some nice browning, for the best flavour and presentation.
- If you’d like to make this with boneless chicken thighs or boneless chicken breasts, simply adjust the oven time accordingly, cooking the chicken until it is cooked through and reaches 165F internal temperature.
- You can eat the cooked garlic or not, as you like :) If you don’t want to eat it, you can mash some of it and add it to mashed potatoes for garlic mashed potatoes.
- If you’d like a thicker gravy, you can use a Beurre Manié, which is a fancy name for butter combined with flour, which is used as a thickener at the end of cooking. So instead of just adding 1 Tablespoon of butter at the end, you can rub 1 Tablespoon of flour into the butter instead, then add it a bit at a time to the pan, until the desired thickening is achieved. The additional flour will thicken the gravy more, without worry of lumps.
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!
This is a good one. I didn’t have any dry white wine so I used more chicken stock. I also smashed the garlic. There was nothing leftover. Usually there are mashed potatoes left over but not this time. Next time I’ll add more flour and a little to the gravy so it makes more and leave the butter out so it’s not as oily. I’ll make this again soon.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks :)
This was so easy and is sumptuous! Finally a dish for garlic lovers
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks :)
Thinking of including mushrooms. I know that this is a cracking recipe as it includes some of my favourite ingredients. So will pre fry and add at last stage to warm through
I think that would be a nice addition if you like. And yes, definitely cook separately and add at the end to warm. Enjoy!
Can’t wait to try it! I was just going to let you know a trick I got from Rachael Rae. If your pan and lid have a plastic handle, you can wrap the handle in tin foil. It will not melt when placed in the oven! I have done it many times. Works great!
Great tip, Laurie! Thanks and enjoy this chicken :)
I’m sorry if this was already answered but, is there a substitute for the wine? I’m worried if I make up the difference with broth it would be too salty
Hi Cassandra, there really isn’t a great substitute. I would just use a no or low sodium broth and salt yourself. Adding a splash of white wine vinegar adds an acidic touch to the gravy without wine, but you can only add a bit.
Your picture looks amazing!!!!! I bet it tastes as good and it looks. Can’t wait to try the recipe…
Jeff
Thanks Jeff :) Enjoy!
Has anyone tried this in an insta pot?
I’ve made this recipe a few times and it’s sooooo flipping delicious. My picky eating 7 year old even came back for seconds. I will be sharing this on my social media account. Thanks for not being stingy with this one.
Thanks Shantel :) So glad you enjoyed it and thanks so much for coming back to let me know!
Recipe looks amazing. Can I use a combination of drumsticks and skin-on boneless chicken thighs? If so, should I adjust the cooking time?
Thanks!
Hi Ali and yes, you can certainly use a combination of drumsticks and thighs. The bone-in drumsticks will need about as much time as bone-in thighs. If you are using boneless thighs, they will cook more quickly, but you don’t really have to worry about them over-cooking, as they are moist and in sauce. Enjoy :)
This recipe has become our family favorite! We love it. I wanted to make this for some friends who are gluten free. Could you give me an idea of what to substitute for the flour and still keep the delicious flavor?
Hi Desiree :) I would just skip the flour, then thicken the gravy at the end with a cornstarch/water mixture, as needed . There would be a minor hit in flavour, but other than that, should be just fine!
cornstarch is fine for the gluten free? Thanks so much Jennifer!
I am a keto eater so I skipped the flour and added a tsp of xanthan gum when I added the liquids. I also included onion with the garlic. I didn’t have white so I used red. Served with a side of rutabaga fries. It was so good!! Everyone loved it.
So glad to hear, Jeni :) Thanks!
This was so delish! I did decide to chop up my garlic. The sauce is amazing I think I may use it for something else.
Thanks Tammy and so glad you enjoyed it!
Made this for a special Valentine’s Day dinner tonight. It turned out absolutely amazing! The only thing I had to adjust was the cooking time; otherwise, this was completely as is & amazing as is!
Thanks Haley and so glad you enjoyed it for your special dinner :)
Sorry, one more question – when you add the flour to the garlic and then add the chicken back in, what is the consistency with the flour? Is there liquid in the pan with the flour before it goes in the oven? Sorry – that was 2 questions!
Hi Erin, if you use skin on thighs there will be lots if liquid in the pan when you add the flour, so it will be a floury liquid when it goes in the oven.
Awesome – thank you again!
I apologize if this question has already been asked and answered, but I was wondering how powerful the garlic taste is with 20 cloves in it? Obviously with garlic in the title, it’s an important part of the recipe – I was just curious how overpowering the garlic taste might be for kids that are picky. Thank you so much – this recipe looks delicious!
Hi Erin, It’s certainly a logical question with all that garlic :) Let me assure you that while the garlic is definitely “present”, it is significantly mellowed from the cooking. Think roasted garlic. I think it’s pretty kid friendly, unless they really have an aversion to garlic. You might want to use the pre-peeled, packaged garlic that is often found in the produce section though. I find it’s a bit less potent than garlic that is freshly peeled myself.
Great – thank you so much!
Side note – my son came down this morning looking to see if we had any of your French toast bagels left for breakfast!
Wow, I wasn’t sure at first cos I’m African & pretty much all dishes have to be fried in onion and tomatoes. This is amazing, added to my new recipes and can’t wait to prepare it for my people back home in africa. Thank you so much!
Lol Laureen! So glad you enjoy this. Thanks :)
What a beautiful tasty sauce, I used a whole chicken and preserved garlic, deeeelicious is all is can say, thank you.
Thanks Ronda and so glad to hear!
I was looking to get out of a rut, and ran across this recipe. It immediately became a new favorite. The chicken came out perfect, and the gravy is absolutely wonderful. I normally make garlic mashed potatoes, but with the garlic gravy I decided to try out a sour cream mashed potato recipe. The potatoes by themselves were OK, but this gravy made them wonderful.
Outstanding recipe – thanks for taking the time to post it. Next up, I think, will be the pork souvlaki with halloumi, if I can find some halloumi around.
Thanks :) So glad you enjoyed this!