Garlic lover or not, everyone will love this buttery, spreadable garlic confit! The low-and-slow cooking process completely mellows out the flavor, transforming raw garlic cloves from sharp and pungent to soft, sweet and caramelized. Add them to essentially any dish for some extra gourmet flavor!
We normally have a bit of a battle in our house when it comes to garlic. My husband and I can't get enough of it, but our kids just aren't there yet (one day, right?).
For dishes that go heavy on it, like this spicy spaghetti arrabbiata, I'll just make something separate for the kids altogether. But for things like everyday hummus, which my kids also eat, I'm always trying to find that balance of how much garlic I can actually add without them complaining.
However, all this goes out the window when it comes to garlic confit. When submerged in olive oil and cooked slowly on low heat, the garlic becomes almost buttery with a sweet and nutty flavor. We each take however much we want, adding the softened cloves to pasta dishes or pizza, mixing it in with salad dressings or simply spreading it on toast or garlic bread.
Garlic confit is incredibly versatile as it makes for a wonderful addition to almost any meal. On days where I make it, the garlic feud in our home is temporarily put to rest... that is, until I make the next batch of hummus!
Why You'll Love this Garlic Confit
- Easy recipe - just submerge peeled garlic cloves in olive oil and let the oven do the rest!
- Simple ingredients
- Sweet, buttery flavor - delicious way to enjoy all the health benefits of garlic
- Luxurious, velvety texture - perfect for spreading
- Versatile - pairs well with any dish
- Kid-friendly
Ingredients
I only use 3 ingredients for this incredibly gourmet dish:
- Fresh garlic: Unlike roasted garlic which cooks exposed cloves while still attached to the bulb, here we peel each clove entirely.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Use a good quality olive oil as this plays a huge role in giving garlic confit its flavor and complexity. Plus, the resulting garlic infused olive oil can be saved for future use in other dishes.
- Salt: Even just a little bit of salt brings out all of the flavors.
You can certainly add more ingredients to infuse the cloves with additional flavors, but this is completely optional. I love adding a couple springs of fresh thyme, rosemary and red pepper flakes (for a little heat).
How to Make Garlic Confit
I tested this recipe multiple times at various temperatures and 250 degrees F is definitely the sweet spot. At 225 degrees, it took way too long to cook and even still it didn't soften or caramelize enough. At 275 degrees, it came close to burning, causing me to have to check on it often, especially towards the end. Cooking at 250 degrees turned out just right!
1. Peel the cloves.
2. Submerge them in olive oil and add the salt.
3. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the garlic has become golden brown and soft. You can test for doneness by removing one clove - it should easily mash using the back of a fork or spoon.
4. Serve immediately or store (submerged in the olive oil) in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Recipe Tips
The size of the dish matters. Finding the right size will save you some olive oil as the cloves need to be fully submerged (see the next tip). If only cooking a little bit of garlic, use a smaller oven-safe dish like a ramekin. If cooking a lot of garlic, use a casserole dish.
Submerge the entire cloves in olive oil! You can use as much olive oil as you want as long as you use enough oil to at least cover the top of the cloves. Any part of the clove that is exposed will not cook evenly and will likely burn.
Use fresh heads of garlic. Better quality ingredients means better flavor! Look for firm, slightly heavy bulbs where the papery skin is tightly bound around the tip. Avoid bulbs that are mushy, brown or shriveled around the sides.
Storage and Food Safety
Store garlic confit by fully submerging the cloves in the olive oil in a mason jar (or any airtight container) and placing it in the refrigerator. The olive oil will preserve the garlic for about 2 weeks.
Improperly stored garlic confit actually creates a risk of botulism. If the garlic bulbs used contain even just a small amount of a certain strain of bacteria, the bacteria can grow if left at room temperature. This has to do with the lack of oxygen given it is submerged in oil. Therefore, it is recommended that garlic confit be refrigerated anytime it is not in use.
Note that the olive oil may congeal when refrigerated. This is perfectly fine! Once removed from the fridge, it will settle back to its normal liquid state within a few minutes.
I hope you enjoy this easy garlic confit recipe! Please feel free to tag @eatingbyelaine so I can see your creations!
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Easy 3-Ingredient Garlic Confit (Oven Roasted)
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Garlic lover or not, everyone will love this buttery, spreadable garlic confit! The low-and-slow cooking process completely mellows out the flavor, transforming raw garlic cloves from sharp and pungent to soft, sweet and caramelized. Add them to essentially any dish for some extra gourmet flavor!
Ingredients
- 3 large heads of garlic (~38 large cloves)
- ⅓ cup good quality extra virgin olive oil (or more as needed to fully submerge the garlic - see instructions)
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- Optional: sprigs of fresh thyme, rosemary or red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Separate the garlic cloves from the bulb and peel them. Place the peeled cloves in one even layer in a small dish (14.5 ounce capacity is ideal for 3 heads of garlic).
- Add the olive oil and salt. Use enough olive oil to fully submerge the garlic so it does not burn.
- Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the garlic has become golden brown and soft. You can test for doneness by removing one clove - it should easily mash using the back of a fork or spoon.
- Serve immediately or store (submerged in the olive oil) in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
The size of the dish matters. Finding the right size will save you some olive oil as the cloves need to be fully submerged. In the photos above I used this dish which comfortably holds 3 heads of garlic (38 cloves of garlic). If only cooking a little bit of garlic, use a smaller oven-safe dish like a ramekin. If cooking a lot of garlic, use a casserole dish.
Save the olive oil! Your olive oil will come out tasting better than where it started, thanks to the infusion of flavor from the garlic. I love drizzling the oil as a garnish over dips or enjoying with crispy socca. And my husband absolutely loves it for dipping crusty bread to sop it all up!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: French
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