Garlic Confit: The Jammy, Slow-Roasted Condiment You'll Want on Everything

Whole heads of garlic, slow-roasted in olive oil until meltingly tender, sweet, and spreadable. And the garlic-infused oil is just as valuable.

Store cooled garlic confit in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks.

Slowly roasting garlic in lots of olive oil and fresh herbs will fill your home with the most deliciously dreamy of aromas.I'm an allium confit obsessive - garlic, shallots, onions - I'll take any allium, confit style, any day.

Slow-roasting garlic transforms its raw sharp bite into deeply caramelized, tender and jammy cloves that melt in your mouth. No peeling required. Just trim the tops to expose the cloves, add olive oil and oven does the rest. Once roasted, the cloves easily squeeze right out.

And don't even think about tossing that fragrant, deeply flavorful garlic-infused olive oil left behind.

The recipe can easily be halved or doubled, the herbs and spices easily customized.

What is Confit

Confit simply means cooking food slowly in fat — here, that fat is olive oil. Traditionally a French preservation technique, confit isn't just for meat. It may sound fancy, but it's one of the most passive, low-effort cooking methods there is. The oven does everything.

How to Make Garlic Confit

Trim the tops of the garlic heads to expose the cloves - about the top quarter off. Place them cut-side up in a small baking dish or heavy pot. Pour in enough olive oil to fully submerge, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and tuck in fresh herbs if you're using them.

Cover with foil and roast low and slow at 275°F until the cloves are soft, caramelized, and fragrant - about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. You'll know they're done when the cloves are deeply golden and a knife slides in with zero resistance.

Let cool slightly, then squeeze the cloves directly out of their skins. They come out effortlessly - tender, jammy, and spreadable.

Uses for Garlic Confit & Garlic-Infused Oil

These meltingly tender, spreadable cloves and their fragrant infused oil are kitchen gold.

Spread the cloves onto toast, pizza, flatbreads, or sandwiches. Stir them into pasta, sauces, soups, and salad dressings. Add to roasted veggies, fish, chicken, meat, hummus, or grain bowls. I haven't yet met a savory dish that isn't better with garlic confit.

And don't forget the oil — drizzle it over vegetables, whisk into vinaigrettes, spoon over warm bread, or use it anywhere you'd reach for olive oil and want it infused with garlic.

Once you have a jar in the fridge, you'll keep finding reasons to use it.

Cooks Tips

• Store cooled garlic confit in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It cannot be kept at room temperature - this is non-negotiable.
• Play with the herbs and spices - thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, chili flakes, black pepper. Make it yours.
• The recipe can easily be halved or doubled, the herbs and spices easily customized.
• When possible, buy local and organic garlic.

Print Recipe

Garlic Confit

An easy garlic confit recipe that slowly roasts whole garlic heads in olive oil until soft, caramelized, and spreadable - with rich, flavorful garlic-infused oil to drizzle over everything.

Prep Time12 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Course: Appetizer, Condiments

Cuisine: Californian

Servings: 16

Author: Daniela Gerson

Ingredients

• 8 heads of garlic
• 12 sprigs of thyme and/or oregano other herbs, spices and bay leaves can be added
• 2 cups of olive oil use more as necessary to cover garlic heads
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Using your fingers, peel off the loose, papery outer layers around the head of garlic. Trim the tops of the garlic heads with a knife to expose the cloves (about the top 1/3-1/4 off of the head of garlic).
• Place garlic, with exposed cloves, cut side up, in a baking dish or pot. Add herbs and olive oil to just cover the garlic. Depending on the size of the dish or pot, you may need to add more olive oil to cover the heads of garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and transfer baking dish or pot to the oven.
• Bake until heads of garlic are soft, fragrant and deeply golden; 1hr – 1hr 15min.
• Let cool completely and transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Oil can be strained after a day or two and refrigerated separately.

Notes

• Store cooled garlic confit in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It cannot be kept at room temperature.
• Play with the herbs and spices - thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, chili flakes, black pepper. Make it yours.
• The recipe scales up or down easily. Make a big batch - you'll use it.
• When possible, buy local and organic garlic.

This same slow-and-low roasting method works beautifully with other ingredients too. Try my Tomato Confit for sweet jammy tomatoes or Shallot Confit for meltingly tender caramelized shallots.

Did you make this recipe? Please share and tag @danielagerson - I'd love to see how you're making garlic confit waves in the kitchen!  

More Confit Recipes

Same low-and-slow magic, different veggie. Try these other easy confit recipes — same technique, different personality:

• Shallot Confit - jammy, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth shallots with equally delicious infused shallot oil.
• Tomato Confit - low-and-slow roasted cherry tomatoes in olive oil until sweet, jammy, and deeply flavorful.
• Spring Onion Confit — bulbs and greens slow-roasted in olive oil until jammy and sweet with equally valuable infused oil.

If ya try this recipe, I'd love to hear about it — leave a comment below and tag me on IG, @danielagerson, so I can see too.

Let's make waves in the kitchen.