This 50 Clove Garlic Chicken is a French classic that’s gone full throttle because 40 cloves just didn’t cut it. Slow-cooked with herbs, vermouth, and whole garlic (yep, unpeeled!), the chicken comes out meltingly tender, swimming in a sauce that’s begging to be mopped up with crusty bread. Comfort food with a garlicky punch - great for a Sunday night dinner.
Category
Dinner
Servings
4
Prep time
10 minutes
Cook time
1 hour 35 minutes
This 50 Clove Garlic Chicken is a French classic that’s gone full throttle because 40 cloves just didn’t cut it. Slow-cooked with herbs, vermouth, and whole garlic (yep, unpeeled!), the chicken comes out meltingly tender, swimming in a sauce that’s begging to be mopped up with crusty bread. Comfort food with a garlicky punch - great for a Sunday night dinner.
Ingredients
- 40ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
- 2kg (4.4lb) chicken, cut into 10 pieces
- sea salt and pepper, to season
- 2 sticks celery, chopped
- 2 brown onions, sliced
- ½ bunch thyme
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 3 sprigs flat leaf parsley
- 1 tsp dried Herbs de Provence
- freshly grated nutmeg
- 50 cloves garlic, unpeeled (about 4 heads)
- 125ml/5oz (½ cup) Vermouth
- crusty bread, to serve
Directions
Prep and cook the chicken
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan force (340°F).
- Season chicken pieces well with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a large oven proof saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Cook the chicken pieces for 6-8 minutes, in batches, until well browned all over, then set aside.
Cook the base
Add the onion and celery to the pan and cook for 3 minutes, until softened.
- Stir in thyme, bay, parsley, dried herbs and grate over nutmeg.
- Sprinkle over half of the garlic cloves, then return the chicken to the pan and any resting juices.
- Add remaining garlic then pour in the vermouth. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Finish and serve
Once done, remove the pan from the oven and place on a heatproof surface.
Serve chicken pieces with fresh crusty bread. Squeeze the garlic from its skin and lather it on the bread (like butter) and enjoy with the chicken and sauce.
Recipe notes
A bit of background on the dish
This dish hails from Provence in the south of France, basically the home of long lunches and garlic.
Garlic tip
Don’t peel the garlic. Leave the skins on so they roast up soft and sweet. You can pull off any excess papery bits, but don’t go too far. The magic’s in the squeeze at the end.
Swaps & sourcing
Herbs de Provence is a classic French herbs blend which you should be able to find at a green grover, but if you can’t find it, mixed dried herbs will do the job. No vermouth? Try dry sherry or verjuice if you don't want to add alcohol.
Storage
The chicken can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated, but keep the garlic cloves separate to be able to squeeze to serve.
How to serve
Classically this dish is served with fresh crusty bread and you spread the garlic paste like butter and use it to mop up the sauce, but you could also serve over mashed potato, pasta or some rice and greens.
