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!
I don’t comment on recipes. Ever. Here’s to new beginnings. I just tried this and I had to say how amazing it was. I was initially worried with how much garlic is in this but Im so glad I didn’t put less, they end up such sweet and mellow nuggets of goodness! Thank you SO MUCH! :)
So glad you enjoyed it, Kev and thanks for commenting :)
Oh good gracious. I made this last night and it is seriously one of the TASTIEST dang meals I’ve had! Pinned it big time and have already given the recipe to friends. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it. One of my favourite meals :)
Can you substitute the wine with more chicken broth?
You can, Mary. I would add a bit of lemon juice or white wine vinegar, for acidity.
hi, after you cook the chicken and you’re ready to add the garlic do you leave the oil in the pot or pour it out?
Hi Jos, You should leave it in.
Was awesome! My family loved it!
So glad you enjoyed it :)
Hello, looks like a really Nice! I want to try it. Do you have a suggestion for a substitute to the wine please? ☺️
Hi Nazira, I would just replace with chicken broth and maybe add a tsp. or two of lemon juice or white whine vinegar for some acidity.
I made it without the wine and everyone enjoyed it. I just replaced the wine with extra chicken broth.
Thanks Sandy! (Good to know :)
hello! Great looking dish and I can’t wait to try it this week.
We are garlic lovers. We should own stock in it lol
I do have a question. I recently discovered roasting a whole bulb of garlic in the oven. It turns into mush and you squeeze it out of the skin when done. It turns into a sweet flavor. Do you think this would be the same taste as garlic roasted on the stove top?
Maybe do one bulb in the oven and one on the stove top?
Hi Tiphany, I love roasted garlic, but I really don’t think you need to go to the trouble for this one. The way this dish cooks, it’s just like roasting the garlic – they come out soft and sweet, so I think you’ll love them just as well, without the extra work :)
Ok :) I’ll stick with the recipe. Thank you :)
I needed the oven for something else so decided to make this on the stovetop – minus the wine since my boyfriend can’t have it. I browned chicken drumsticks, removed them, sauted the garlic and added the flour. Then I added the chicken stock and seasonings and reduced it some. I added the chicken back in and simmered it for 40 minutes, covered. Right before serving I added the butter. Next time I think I’d leave the flour out and add a cornstarch slurry at the end to make the sauce a little thicker. Just my personal preferance.
The chicken was falling off the bone and the garlic was mild and very soft. We really enjoyed it.
Glad you enjoyed it, Sandy. Good to know it worked out well on the stove-top, too! :)
Excellent!! I added some sliced crimini mushrooms after cooking the garlic. Served it with buttered noodles
Glad you enjoyed it, Rena :)
Making this tonight, on my way out the door to buy garlic and potatoes!
Do you have any suggestions as to which type of onion I could add to this? Both boyfriend and myself also love onions. Or do you think it would ruin the taste of the gravy?
Hi Stephanie, I noticed sweet onions in my grocery this week. That might be might choice. Otherwise, just a cooking onion. Enjoy!
I’m needing to prepare this for a larger group. My iron skillet won’t hold that much chicken at one time. How do you think it will turn out if I do it all in the electric skillet?
Hi Kelli, So assuming your electric skillet has a lid, I suppose you could replace the oven trip with covering the skillet and simmering. I guess, just be sure your chicken is cooked through before you remove the lid and finish off the sauce.
Yes the electric skillet does have a lid. I can also set it to a certain temperature like an oven. I was hoping I could prepare it all in the same pan as in the recipe. I would just put the lid on the electric skillet at the appropriate temperature as the oven. What’s your thoughts?
Should work. It may take a bit longer to simmer with the lid on vs. oven. The reason for the oven is simply to cook the thighs through, so without doing the oven thing, you’ll just want to simmer with the lid on until the thighs cook through that way. Be sure to test with thermometer or cut into them near the bone to check.
Thanks for the suggestions. I will be making it tonight and will let you know the results.
Hi there, I am going to try this recipe tonight! I will let you know how it goes.
Do enjoy, Jasmine!
Hi Jennifer, made your rustic chicken and garlic gravy last nite. I really enjoyed it. It had a unique flavor to me, that i can’t really describe, but it was good and not over powered by the garlic (was good on the mashed taters too :)–) Would have liked if more of the garlic flavor came through. I’m wondering if why i got a unique flavor to it, was because i used Chardonnay, and i used vegetable stock, instead of chicken, was just what i had around. Would you suggest using a different white wine, like a pinot, or blanc, and stick with the chicken stock ?
Thankyou, Cary
Hi Carey, My first thought is that the vegetable stock might be what is introducing that unique flavour. I’d try it again with chicken stock and see if that changes the flavour profile. My guess is it will. P.S. You can always through a bit more garlic in too, if you like :)
Thankyou Jennifer, I will definatly try the chicken stock next time around, as this dish has become one of my new favs. Also a few more in here that caught my attention. Thanks again, Cary :)
You’re welcome! Be sure to put the pork loin with wine and herb gravy on your to-try list. It was a stand-out for me :)
Made yet another one of your recipes and it was amazing! I added some onions and carrots to sneak some veggies in there, and next time I might add some mushrooms and corn. My chicken took longer than expected to cook (I also used 10 thighs) and the gravy took a while to reduce because I made extra sauce, but it was so worth the wait. I served it over rice and mashed potatoes :)
Thanks so much for another awesome recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Ruosi!
I NEVER comment on blogs but I had to tell you how FANTASTIC this recipe is. Thank you for sharing! my husband and I gobbled it up!
So glad you enjoyed it Tracy and thanks especially for commenting! I appreciate it :)