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!
Made this for my family tonight, and all five of us loved it. I seared my thighs skin side down for a good 5 minutes to get them crispy and brown before turning them over for another 3. And the garlic gravy? Just dynamite. I made sure to spoon it over the rice and served the chicken over top to keep the chicken crispy, scooping up gravy as desired. Win win! This recipe is going into the keeper file!
Glad to hear, Eva :) Thanks for coming back to let me know!
first time I made this my husband took one bite and said this is a keeper! Made again 1 week later we love it!
So glad you are enjoying it :) Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Do you think the chicken would end up dry if I used boneless/skinless? This sounds so delicious!
Hi Melissa, I think it’s worth a try. I would try and be sure not to over-cook the chicken and you may need to add a bit of oil along the way, as you won’t have any from the chicken skin. If you try it, let me know how it works out.
I made this tonight using chicken breasts and oh my goodness! What an AMAZING dish. Truly restaurant quality and so simple! I used a Sauvignon Blanc in mine and Lord do I love the smell of white wine and garlic cooking on my stove. Will definitely make this again, and again…and again and again! Julia Child would be proud!!
So glad you enjoyed it. Sauvignon Blanc sounds perfect :)
I tried this meal and absolutely loved it! So simple, but so full of flavor. I actually substituted white grape juice for the wine, and it was exceptional. I will definitely be making this again!
So glad you enjoyed it, Kristin and that’s good to know that the white grape juice worked so well! Thanks :)
I’ve been dying to try this. The photo looks so good I wanted to lick the computer screen the first time I saw it, and I adore garlic, but I was wary of the recipe because baking the browned chicken and garlic with flour in a casserole with no liquid at a high heat had me a little worried. I know the flour will ‘cook off’ in the oven before thickening the sauce, but I was concerned that everything might catch/burn due to the dry cooking. My curiosity has got the better of me so I’m going to have faith and make it on Saturday. I think I’ll bone out the chicken thighs and add a spring or two of thyme. Can’t wait!
I think you will love this dish, Chris and don’t worry about the chicken. While it is high heat and no liquid, the dish is covered and baked for just a short time, so it will retain it’s moisture nicely. Enjoy!!
I made this a few times now and I must say the sauce is simply divine, I can’t get enough of it. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Olivia and I agree about that sauce. I could drink it :)
It looks and sounds so yummy,I can’t wait to make it! Here’s an easy way to peel the garlic that your kids will love to do for you: put the garlic bulb in a med. sized stainless bowl and invert another one the same size over it so it looks like a small ball. Hold the two bowls together and shake, rattle, and roll. All the shells will come off and you will have clean garlic cloves all separated. It might work if you use an empty peanut butter jar with the lid screwed on. You would be able to watch the process.
Sounds like fun! Thanks Joyce :)
This was the most delicious dish ever! My husband couldn’t stop talking about it. He beat me to the leftovers and he never eats left overs! I’m doubling the recipe next time. Thank you Jennifer!
Yay! So glad you both enjoyed it :)
Hi, is it possible to substitute a non-dairy product for
butter on this recipe ?
Hi Mark, In this recipe, just omit the butter at the end. It will still be delicious :)
All I can say is ditto to the above. Made this tonight, and while I don’t usually post, this was a keeper. Thank you for the great sauce.
Thanks Becky. Glad you enjoyed it :)
This was delicious! Great recipe thank you!
Thanks Maria! So glad you enjoyed it :)
I can’t wait to try this with chicken but I am going to first try it with pork chops because I have them thawed out. Wish me luck…
Oh! I can’t wait to hear how it turns out :) Let me know!
Oh my goodness. Now I can’t wait until 4:00 to start dinner. Sounds so good.
Thanks Jen! Enjoy :)
This is such a silly question, but I’m new at cooking……I never understand when recipes call for a head (or more of garlic). It’s a bulb that comes apart, I know, but am I supposed to just put all the pieces of the bulb in the pan to cook and then we’ll just eat those bulb pieces?
Hi Melissa and there’s no such thing as a silly question (we were all new cooks once! :) Usually recipe writers talk about heads of garlic, rather than specifying an exact number of cloves simply because each bulb of garlic has a different amount of cloves inside. Some have lots of little ones, while others have fewer large ones. It really doesn’t matter for the sake of the recipe so much, as the same amount (roughly) of garlic is going in the pan.
Unless you are roasting a whole garlic head (to produce roasted garlic paste), most recipes mean that you would separate all the individual cloves of garlic that are in that bulb, peel each of them and then cook them as individual whole cloves (as is the case with this recipe, but other recipes may specify chopping or minding the cloves). You would discard all the peel and outer part.
For roasting garlic, sometimes recipes ask that you would roast the garlic in the bulb. You simply cut off the pointy top to reveal the top of the cloves, pour a little oil over top and roast in the oven. Then when it’s done, you can squeeze out the roasted garlic to add to dishes, discarding the rest of it.
Hope that helps! :)