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!
20 cloves of garlic?
Yep :)
Add gnocchi in gravy. delicious
Sounds delicious!
Genius! I have always struggled what to make with this dish, we are not a big fan of mashed potatoes in this house. Came back to the site just to look for other side dish ideas and this popped up! Love it!
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 :)