40 Clove Garlic Chicken is a classic, comforting Provencal roasted chicken dish perfect for chilly winter dinners. The silky sauce is bright and flavorful, with a mild garlic note that is neither overpowering nor sharp or bitter.
Be sure to serve a loaf of crusty, French bread and spread a clove of the roasted garlic on top. The garlic, when roasted, becomes buttery, rich, and sweet, and very spreadable. It’s delicious!
I like to serve the 40 Clove Garlic Chicken with Savory Mushroom Risotto, Sauteed Haricots Vert, and Mousse Au Chocolat for dessert.
What Is 40 Clove Garlic Chicken?
This is a classic French one-pot cafe-style meal originating in the Provence region. It was brought stateside when James Beard presented the dish to Julia Childs, who adored it so much that she recreated the recipe in the 1970s.
What Ingredients Are Needed?
- 3.5-4 pound whole chicken – be sure to remove the neck and giblets, if included.
- Salt and pepper
- Onions, celery, and carrots – aromatics to flavor the chicken from the inside out and add flavor to the sauce.
- Olive oil
- Whole heads of garlic – pick full, plump heads and remove most of the outer paper.
- White wine – I like using a dry, buttery Chardonnay, but any dry white wine you enjoy will work.
- Lemon juice – freshly squeezed, please.
- Fresh poultry seasoning bundle – you can also use fresh thyme, rosemary, and sage if you can’t find the poultry seasoning blend.
- Chicken stock – store-bought or homemade.
- Cornstarch
- Butter – used to enrich the sauce.
How To Buy The Best Garlic
- Look for locally grown garlic. Imported garlic can have chemicals sprayed on the bulbs to prevent sprouting while shipping.
- Look for roots at the bottom of the bulb. American grown garlic is presented with the rooted bottom.
- The garlic head should be firm, heavy for their size, and covered with unblemished papery skin. Give it a squeeze. If it feel soft anywhere, move on. Soft spots indicates the garlic is past it’s prime or has diseased spots.
- Give the bulb a good whiff. If you can smell the garlic through the skin, pass it by.
- Avoid any garlic that has begun to sprout, which indicates age.
- Fresh garlic will be bright white in color. Aging garlic will become more yellow and softer.
How To Store Garlic
- Whole garlic bulbs will stay fresh for up to six months. Separated cloves, with skin attached, will last up to a week.
- Store the garlic in a cool, dry place with good air flow, such as a basket or mesh container and low humidity. The refrigerator will cause it to sprout quickly.
Why And How To Truss A Chicken Or Turkey
Trussing a chicken involves using kitchen twine to tie the legs and sometimes the wings close to the body. Often the wings are tucked beneath the bird instead of using twine.
Trussing allows the chicken or turkey to:
- Cook evenly by creating a more compact, uniform piece, allowing all parts to cook at a similar rate. This avoids drying out the white meat before the dark meat is done.
- Retain moisture aand flavor by protecting the more delicate wings and legs from direct heat.
- Makes a pretty presentation.
- Gives a crispier skin.
To truss:
- Remove neck and giblets.
- Position the chicken, breast-side-up, with the drumsticks pointing towards you.
- Place the center of a long piece of kitchen twine under the chicken’s tail (where to backbone meets the cavity), leaving equal lengths on either side of the bird.
- Bring the twine up, cross the twine over the legs, and pull tigt to bring the legs together close to the body.
- Crisscross the twine over the legs, making an ‘X’
- Pull the twine tightly, drawing the drumsticks together. Tie tightly.
- Tuck the wing tips behind the breast or under the twine to secure them close to the body.
- Snip off any excess twine.
If you would like a great tutorial with photos, The Spruce has all the information you might need.
Steps To Make 40 Clove Garlic Chicken
- Remove the neck and giblets, rinse the cavity of the chicken, and pat dry.
- Season inside and out with salt and pepper.
- Stuff the cavity with aromatics.
- Truss the chicken.
- Brown all sides of the chicken in a large Dutch oven.
- Add the wine, lemon juice, and stock.
- Toss in the garlic, and fresh herbs.
- Roast for 45 minutes, flip the chicken breast side down, and continue to roast for another 45 minutes.
- Remove the chicken to rest.
- Cook the pan juices over medium heat for five minutes, then stir in the cornstarch slurry until thickened.
- Finish the sauce by whisking in the butter cubes.
- Slice and serve with the roasted garlic and sauce. The roasted garlic is especially delicious spread over a toasted baguette slice.
May I Suggest Tryina A Few Of Our Other Chicken Recipes?
Print40 Clove Garlic Chicken
40 Clove Garlic Chicken is a classic, comforting Provencal dish perfect for chilly winter dinners. The silky sauce is bright and flavorful, with a mild garlic note that is neither overpowering nor sharp or bitter.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6
- Category: Main Dish – Poultry
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 onion, unpeeled and quartered
1 stalk celery, cut into four pieces
2 carrots, stemmed and cut into pieces
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
3–4 large heads of whole garlic, cut in half crosswise. Count to ensure you have 40-45 cloves. If too many, break a few cloves off the head to use in another dish.
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 bunch fresh poultry seasoning, tied with cooking twine
2 cups chicken stock
4 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved into two tablespoons of water, chicken stock, or white wine to make a slurry.
2 tablespoons of room-temperature butter, cut into four pieces
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Remove the neck and giblets from the chicken.
Rinse the cavity with cold water and pat it as dry as possible with paper towels.
Sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper.
Stuff the chicken with the onion, celery, and carrots, taking care to stuff the neck cavity as well.
Tie the legs together with cooking twine (trussing) and tuck the wings under the chicken.
Place a large Dutch oven over medium heat and melt two tablespoons of butter and olive oil together.
Add the chicken and brown on all sides – about 10-15 minutes.
Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Set aside.
Stir in wine, lemon juice, salt, and chicken stock.
Tuck the tied fresh poultry seasoning in the pot.
Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pot.
Nestle the garlic heads around the chicken.
Cover tightly and bake the chicken for 45 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven and carefully turn the carcass breast side down so the white meat stays moist.
Return to the oven and roast until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh – about 45 additional minutes.
Remove the pot from the oven.
Using two slotted spoons, one on each side of the chicken, carefully remove the chicken from the pot onto a serving platter, allowing as much of the juice to drip back into the pot.
Cover the chicken with a double layer of foil and a tea towel, and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before carving. This will allow the meat to reach 165 degrees and continue cooking until it is no longer pink.
Bring the pan sauce to a low boil over medium heat.
Stir in the cornstarch slurry and stir until the mixture begins to thicken.
Cook, stirring constantly, for five minutes.
Quickly whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, until entirely melted and incorporated before adding the next piece.
Pour the sauce and garlic cloves over the resting chicken or, if you sliced your chicken, over the chicken slices.
Serve warm.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 541
- Sugar: 4.9 g
- Sodium: 979.7 mg
- Fat: 19.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 65.9 g
- Cholesterol: 219.3 mg