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!
Came across your blog yesterday & made Rustic Chicken with Gravy last night, it was delicious. Thanks so much for a yummy supper!
Thanks so much, Mary! So glad you enjoyed it :)
Thanks so much, Mary :)
So delicious! I made it with wild rice and crescent rolls. Loved the sauce with whole garlic cloves so much! I will just use a little less salt next time, and after the chicken was taken out to make the sauce, I noticed the chicken needed a little more time, so after the sauce was done, I put the chicken back into the sauce and put it back in the oven for 10 more minutes. It was so incredibly delicious soaking and bubbling in the sauce! Keeping this recipe. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it Tania and yes, the salt can easily get away on this one, as the amount of salt in the chicken stock will always vary. Thanks!
I’ve made this so many times. One of my favourites. I start with bacon first and cook the chicken in that. I also add mushrooms with the garlic. Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks so much, Amy :)
Hi Jennifer! I made this for our Christmas dinner and it was probably one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever made. I’m planning on making it again this weekend…my only problem is that my guests cannot have wine. Is there a substitute I could use? If I left it out completely would it make or break the dish? Welp!
Hi Debbie, I usually suggest just replacing the 3/4 cup wine with that much more chicken broth, but adding something for a little acidity. A squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of white wine vinegar works well. Enjoy!
I had to give up wine for a while and many of our family favorite recipes called for white wine. I actually reduced the added salt and splashed in a little liquid from a jar of green olives and it had a taste that was close to adding the wine.
Good idea! Thanks :)
I’m going to make this tonight with boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets. Also since I have no patience, I’m going to use a small jar of chopped garlic.
Wish me well!
Enjoy Derease! The pre-peeled whole garlic is another option for those of us with no patience :)
I am going to try out this recipe right now. The only thing I’ll substitute is wine.
Enjoy Renata!
Absolutely fabulous. I was totally leery about the 20 cloves of garlic, but worry not! As long as you cook everything according to the directions, it is a fantastic dish.
My husband and son both gave this a “two-thumbs-up” – served with mashed spuds and steamed Brussels sprouts.
So glad you all enjoyed it, Sandra :) Thanks!
Could this be made with thick cut boneless center Pork loin chops?
Hmmm … I’ve never thought of making this with pork. I think it would taste fine, the only difference would be lack of meat juices for the gravy, so you’d probably have to up the added chicken stock. Let me know how it was if you try it :)
Hi Jennifer,
I found your recipe on pinterest and wow did it exceed my expectations! So good!!! I did half bone-in, skin-on thighs and half boneless, skinless chicken breast (because my hubby doesn’t like dark meat- weirdo). I don’t eat the skin but I think it gives this recipe so much flavor!! I served it over mashed potatoes. YUM!!! Hubby loved it so much he ate the second chicken breast after I went to bed. The leftovers heated up perfectly the next day!
Thanks for sharing!!
So glad you enjoyed this Tina and I agree, that the skin and bones adds that something extra :) Thanks!
When you stir in flour with garlic and put chicken back in oven in pot, does the flour not burn?
Hi Janice, no it won’t, as their will be liquid in the pan, so you will simply be thickening it (it won’t be dry flour in the pan).
This has been one of my favorite recipes to make since you first published it! It smells amazing while it’s cooking, and even though it’s so simple, it never fails to impress. I was just thinking about making this over the past week and it popped up on Pinterest. Must be a sign! I’ve always made mine in a Dutch oven and never had any problems.
So glad to hear, Chandra :) Thanks!
I happen to be finishing off the last of our Rustic Chicken with Garlic Gravy as I type. This is utterly delicious! It’s as good leftover and reheated as it was when freshly cooked. A definite winner!
Thanks so much, Janet! So glad you enjoyed it :)
The garlic cloves are left whole? That’s new to me.
Yes they are. If you don’t leave them whole in this one, the garlic would burn. And burnt garlic is not a pleasant taste :)
Wow! I just tried this recipe and it was even better than I expected. Thank you!
So glad to hear, Lynette! Thanks :)
Hi Jennifer. I am new to your blog and am greatly anticipating cooking from your recipes, which look wonderful.
Thought I would share an insight I recently garnered from two of Bon Appetit’s chicken recipes, given your observation that initially your chicken thighs stuck when browning. The writers at Bon Appetit suggest blotting the thighs with paper towel before seasoning and then placing them, skin side down, in a cold, dry Dutch oven. Turn heat to medium and leave them be for 15 to 20 minutes. Apparently as the pan heats the thighs begin to release fat and they get lovely and brown.
Hi Jane and thanks so much! I will definitely try that suggestion, though I have to say, I have taken to just grabbing my non-stick pan when it comes time to sear skin-on chicken. Never, ever sticks and crisps up beautifully. Of course, it always means an extra pan to wash unfortunately ;)