I think you’ll find these sweetly fragrant cloves of garlic confit goodness to be quite irresistible. Some even claim that the tender cloves won’t leave you with bad breath. I can’t promise you that, but I can promise that you may start using them in countless ways. And, when the garlic is gone, save that infused oil for drizzling and dipping and sautéing. Any which way, I think you’ll find these garlic cloves to be pretty darn finger-lickin’ good.
Why Our Testers Loved This
The testers adored the flavor of the confit garlic cloves, which they described as “delicious, sweet, and mellow.” Tester Cindy Z. was delighted that this recipe was “just as easy as making roasted garlic, but without the mess.”
Ingredients at a Glance
- Garlic–Look for garlic bulbs that are plump and firm that are tightly covered by the paper husks. Pass on any garlic bulbs that are soft, shriveled, have discolored spots, or have sprouts growing from the top. When separating the cloves, set aside any that are very small and save them for another use, as they may overcook in the oil. I don’t recommend using pre-peeled garlic.
- Thyme and rosemary–Use fresh herbs for making your confit. For the best flavor, choose herbs with green leaves, and avoid any that are wilted or have discolored spots on the leaves.
- Peppercorns–Use whole peppercorns for this recipe so that the oil stays clear.
How to Make Garlic Confit
- Break the garlic heads into individual cloves, removing and discarding the papery husk.
- Place the garlic in a saucepan with the thyme, rosemary, peppercorns, and salt.
- Add enough oil to just cover the garlic. Cook the garlic over very low heat until tender. Remove from the heat and let the garlic and oil cool.
- Transfer the oil, herbs, and garlic cloves to a clean sealed jar and store in the refrigerator.
Common Questions
After slowly caramelizing in the warm oil, the raw garlic loses its pungent bite and becomes softer and more mellow, with a creamy texture and slightly sweet flavor.
If stored properly in a sealed jar in the refrigerator, and kept submerged in oil, the garlic should stay fresh and safe to eat for several weeks. Garlic that is still good should have a slightly sweet flavor, creamy texture, and pleasant odor. If there are any signs of mold, or if the garlic tastes bitter, or has a sour or rancid odor, it should be discarded.
Yes. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. For easily accessible pre-portioned amounts, freeze it in ice cube trays, then store it in a resealable freezer bag.
Helpful Tips
- To prevent contamination of the confit oil, always use a fork or spoon to scoop the cloves out of the jar.
- If your oil solidifies in the fridge, scoop out the cloves or oil that you need and let it sit in a bowl at room temperature until the oil liquefies.
- This recipe is suitable for gluten-free and dairy-free diets.
Storage
Garlic confit can be stored for up to 3 weeks in a clean sealed jar in the refrigerator, or freeze it for up to 3 months. If any mold appears on the surface of the oil, it’s time to toss it out.
How to Use Garlic Confit
You can use both the cloves and garlic-infused oil in this nifty condiment in many ways.
Garlic cloves
- Schmear it onto crostini, crackers, or toasted sourdough
- Stir it into spicy marinara sauce
- Mash it into roasted garlic mashed potatoes
- Blend it into homemade hummus
- Mash with butter to make a garlic confit butter for serving over steak or grilled beef tenderloin
Confit oil
- Whisk it into a vinaigrette or creamy Italian salad dressing
- Use it for cooking vegetables, like charred broccolini or crispy greens
- Add it to this easy Greek marinade
More Superb Confit Recipes
Write a Review
If you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, consider leaving a review, a star rating, and your best photo in the comments below. I love hearing from you.–David
Garlic Confit
Equipment
- 1 pint jar with lid
Ingredients
- 3 heads garlic
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 20 black peppercorns
- Big pinch salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil, (the amount will vary due to the size of the garlic cloves)
Instructions
- Break apart the garlic heads, setting aside any cloves that are smaller than the rest. Rub off the thick papery husk from each clove, but leave the tight-fitting covering intact.
- Plonk the cloves into a saucepan. Toss in the thyme, rosemary, peppercorns, and salt as well.
- Pour in just enough oil to cover the garlic, then place the pan over very low heat. Keep the oil at a mere tremble, sending up a few lazy bubbles now and then.
- Simmer until the cloves are tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.
- Transfer the garlic cloves, herbs, and oil to a clean jar. Screw on the lid and keep it tightly closed in the refrigerator. The garlic confit will keep in the fridge for up to several weeks.
Notes
- Avoid contamination–To prevent contamination of the confit oil, always use a fork or spoon to scoop the cloves out of the jar.
- If it solidifies–If your oil solidifies in the fridge, scoop out the cloves or oil that you need and let it sit in a bowl at room temperature until the oil liquefies.
- Dietary–This recipe is suitable for gluten-free and dairy-free diets.
An LC Original
View More Original RecipesNutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This is my new favorite garlic for spreading on a chunk of good bread or stirring into a bean spread. I’ve always been a roasted garlic fan, but truth be told, I’ve been known to scorch roasted garlic if I’m not paying attention to the timer.
This was not only just as simple—well, once the heat was properly adjusted (I’m lucky to have a low burner that actually maintains a constant low temperature)—but it cooked with little more than an occasional glance and produced better flavor. I think it was the gentler heat. I love the combination of herbs that infuses the oil and also flavors the garlic itself. A perfect pantry basic.
I’ll never not know what to do with extra garlic again! This is just as easy as making roasted garlic but without the mess. The cloves become so soft and sweet, and the flavored oil is a bonus.
I spread some cloves on toasted baguette and it was heavenly. I’ll be adding this garlic to mashed potatoes next time I make them. The oil would be delicious on a simple salad.
A chef friend of my husband also makes a confit like this; however, he also adds some dried tomatoes to the mix. I’m going to try that next time.
I will definitely make this again. I think it would make a lovely hostess gift if you used a pretty jar and tied a ribbon around it!
This confit garlic recipe was simply wonderful. It was so very easy to make, and the results were delicious, sweet, and mellow.
The garlic made its way into almost every meal for almost a week! It works perfectly as a substitute for mayonnaise and was great on toast, in sandwiches, even mixed into scrambled eggs.
This is a wonderful way to enjoy the sweet creaminess of roasted garlic. The directions are simple to follow and the cooking time is right on. Even if a few cloves are smaller than the rest, as long as you keep the burner on low, they will all cook perfectly without browning.
This method provides a huge benefit versus roasting the garlic in the oven as you now have this delicious, aromatic olive oil to use as you please. Basically, it’s a staple.
A friend of mine had given me “seconds” garlic from the local farmers’ market. I’d been thinking about trying out this garlic confit recipe, and I’m so glad that I did. It doesn’t require much effort besides pulling apart the cloves of garlic and glancing at the pot every once in a while to make sure the garlic stays at a gentle simmer.
I didn’t have any rosemary on hand, so I just doubled the amount of thyme. I’ve been using the garlic in all sorts of things: vinaigrettes, spreads, pesto, and sautéed with vegetables. I can’t wait to use up the rest of garlic and move on to cooking with the leftover oil.
The hardest part of making this garlic confit was separating and peeling the garlic and figuring out what constituted “too small.” I just went ahead and threw in all the cloves. It turns out that “too thin” might be the better descriptor, but I’m not sure.
I liked all the cloves. That is, I ate one of the ones that might have been too small, and it was fine. I threw some too thin and some too small into the pasta sauce on the stove and it was all just fine. They melted into the sauce and gave it a smooth garlic flavor.
It was difficult to keep at a simmer, but I’d just use a deeper, rather than wider, pot next time.
I love garlic confit and make it often. This recipe could be pressure canned (without the precooking) at 15 psi for about 2 hours allowing you to keep it indefinitely until opened when it will last for approx 2 months in the fridge. I give my garlic confit as gifts for friends and relatives and for hostesses/hosts of parties I attend.
Soupçon, thanks for that!
2 HOURS to Process in a pressure canner? Seems like a very long time given that meats take 75 minutes for a pint. Is this accurate? Ever try canning in 1/2 pint jars?
V, we’ve never tried the pressure canning process with garlic confit, so we can’t confirm the timing, but there are other sources online that confirm processing full pint jars for 2 hours. Half pint jars would be significantly shorter.
It is currently gently “trembling” and already smelling so good. I can’t wait to try this on (or in) just about anything!!! I love the idea of gifting it, too!
Terrific, Karen! In case you want to trick out your jars of gifted garlic confit, we’ve got some nifty gift tags you can download and print…just in case…
Thank you so much, David……I will definitely be using these! I have gifted the bacon jam, the lemonade concentrate and the home made dish soap so far. These tags are a must!
this is very nice with the herbals….i roast my garlic in the crock pot, on low and it turns out just as well as stove-top…..buttery-melt-in-your-mouth awesomeness…..may take a bit longer in the crock pot, but i don’t have to keep checking its progress as when roasting stove top….spread this awesomeness on toasted bread, top with tomato jam, garnish with basil….oh my….heavenly ;0)
three feathers, that’s brilliant! Many thanks for taking a moment to share your trick with us. Mind sharing about how long you leave the garlic basking in its crock pot oil bath? Mwah!
hi david, oh my…i’ve never timed it! am always doing something else (prepping a meal), while the garlic is basking in its oil bath, so time seems to pass by in a blur.
but, if i had to “guess,” i’d say about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. THAT’s with jump starting things by turning the crock pot on high for about 20 min then setting it to low…..as “scientific” as i can be here, i prod the fattest cloves after about an hour, with a wooden spoon, judging from there 😮 of course, the size of your garlic cloves will also determine how long.
now you see why i don’t have a food blog…i’m not so good with journal-ing specifics LOL
i have an electric garlic “cooker” but it’s small, so i got the idea from that…i thought, if i can do my garlic in this in about 30-35 min, why not the crock pot with more than 2 heads?
hope you try it and have good results, b/c you’ll never have an excuse to not roast garlic again. 😉
Many thanks, three feathers! And I understand completely. I appreciate you breaking it down for me. I think the lovely thing about slow cooking is that if something isn’t plucked off the stove the precise moment it’s done to perfection, there’s no harm done. Quite the contrary. Again, thanks so much, and I look forward to hearing which other recipes on the site pique your fancy!