Quick Look at
Roasted Garlic Confit In The Oven
- Ready In: 2.5 hours
- Makes: 1 Jar
- Main Ingredients: fresh garlic, high quality olive oil or rendered chicken fat, and fresh thyme.
- Dietary Info: Naturally dairy-free and gluten-free.
- Why You’ll Love It: We’re turning the usual sharp and peppery flavors of garlic into an almost sweet and creamy spread that’s absolutely amazing on crostini, on top of garlic hummus, or to add a garlic infused finishing oil to your classic grilled steak.
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Garlic Confit Ingredients & Substitutions
Be sure to see the recipe card below for a full listing of ingredients, instructions, and estimated nutritional information.
- Fresh Garlic: Pick two hefty sized heads of garlic.
- Rendered Chicken Fat: This is the secret ingredient that brings this garlic confit to the next level. Make your own with saved chicken fat trimmings. Don’t have any on hand? Ask your butcher for their chicken fat trimmings!
- Olive Oil: This is a great sub for rendered chicken fat. Quality matters here! Find a brand that shows the harvest date on the bottle vs. the best by date. Oils should be used within 12-18 months of their harvest date. Look for oils stored in tinted glass bottles, as light speeds up rancidity.
What Is Garlic Confit?
Confit is a classic French cooking technique where food is slowly cooked in fat at a low temperature. Instead of duck or another protein, we’re using garlic to transform it’s natural spicy flavors to soft, sweet, and buttery flavors.
Roasted Garlic vs. Garlic Confit
The differences between oven roasted garlic and garlic confit are minor, but important to note. Roasted garlic requires only about 45 minutes and uses considerably less oil/rendered chicken fat. Roasted garlic is a great option for when you’re cooking smaller quantities.
How To Make Garlic Confit In The Oven
Step 1 – Place peeled garlic cloves in an oven safe dish.
Step 2 – Add olive oil or rendered chicken fat, salt, and fresh thyme in the baking dish and place in oven.
How To Quickly Peel Garlic Cloves
To quickly peel garlic cloves, place a few of them in a glass jar with a lid. Give them a good shake for 20 seconds or so. The shaking processes loosens the peels making them easy to peel or even peeling themselves right in the jar. Silicone garlic rollers are helpful for smaller batches.
Step 3 – Serve as a spread or add it to your favorite recipe.
Step 4 – Store garlic confit in a clean, airtight container in the fridge.
Garlic Confit Stove Top Instructions
- Combine all of the garlic confit in a saucepan and give it a stir.
- Let everything simmer on medium-low for about an hour or until the garlic has turned golden brown.
- Use immediately or store in a clean container in the refigerator.
Garlic Confit FAQ & Tips
Garlic confit can be stored in a clean, air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Refrigeration is a must in order to lower risk of botulism. If garlic confit solidifies, prior to using, set it out at room temp for a few minutes and it will quickly become liquid again or scoop out the garlic you need.
Garlic confit has so many uses. We put it in sauces, salad dressings, or vinaigrettes. It can also be used on salads or spread on toast or garlic bread. Mix it into classic mashed potatoes homemade roasted hummus, braised lemon garlic chicken, or a burrata summer pasta!
Garlic confit can turn bitter if the garlic isn’t fully submerged in liquid or if the liquid temperature is too hot. Be sure to set your oven no hotter than 250 degrees F.
Garlic confit is done when the garlic cloves can easily be mashed with the back of a spoon. The cloves will be a golden brown color and the oil should be gently simmering.
Place cooled garlic confit in ice cube trays in the freezer. Once they’re frozen, transfer the cubes to a freezer safe bag to pull from whenever you need them. Store frozen cubes in freezer for up to 3 months.
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Ingredients
- 1 cup rendered chicken fat or extra virgin olive oil
- 2 heads of garlic, peeled
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
- Prep: Place peeled garlic, olive oil or rendered chicken fat, salt, and fresh thyme in an oven safe baking dish.
- Cook: Let garlic confit cook for 2-2.5 hours or until the garlic turns golden brown.
- Store: Let cool slightly and enjoy immediately or store in a clean air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
Notes
- Stove Top Method: add olive oil/chicken fat, garlic cloves, salt and thyme to a sauce pan and let simmer over medium-low heat for an hour or until garlic turns golden brown.
- Storage: Store in airtight glass container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
- Herbs: we love using fresh thyme, but you could also use fresh rosemary sprigs, a bay leaf, star anise, or black peppercorns!
- Leftover Oil/Chicken Fat: Use garlic and/or leftover olive oil or chicken fat for cooking – we love using it in this Lemon Garlic Chicken.
- Pro tip: pour some of the oil into ice cube trays and then you have pre-portioned servings of olive oil that you can use as needed!
Donna says
Making it again! Best tasting garlic. Did mine in the oven. I use the leftover oil to make croutons.
Erin says
So glad to hear that, Donna and I LOVE the idea of using the leftover oil to make croutons! I might have to try that!
Pamela Ellis says
Did this with the stove top method. Delicious!!! Used the garlic smeared on ciabatta bread (toasted). Perfect recipe!! Thanks for the idea.
Erin says
yay!!!