Garlic Chicken Recipe

Wonder why I say 'healthy recipes' and then tell you to add a stick of butter?

Garlic Chicken Recipe

Posted by Gwendelynn Brown on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 Under: Main Dishes

40 clove garlic chicken recipe

First, I have never, ever have used anywhere close to 40 cloves in this dish, and it always turns out fantastic.

Second, this is awesome...if you have never tasted roasted garlic, then you're majorly missing out. Just like fresh onions are a totally different experience than caramelized onions, garlic also goes through a major flavor transformation in the oven. It has a richness, and a sweeter flavor when it's roasted. The flavor is milder than garlic bread, and with none of the caustic burn that you find in salsa.

Third, and most important: this is totally easy to make. We all love it. I usually make this for a main dish with veggies on the side (like you see above), but I make enough leftovers to slice up and serve over a salad the next day. Or you can serve it over rice, over pasta with white sauce, on sandwich rolls...and if you love the flavor of roasted garlic, the extras are fantastic spread on garlic bread or in blended into homemade salad dressing.
It's very versatile on the 'planned over' menu.

Here's what you'll need:

chicken breasts, salt, olive oil, pepper, fresh or dry parsley, and a bunch of garlic cloves.

I think it's only fair to tell you that I buy a giant 5 lb. container of pre-peeled garlic at my local Korean market, and keep it in my freezer. It's one of my 'efficiency' tips, because we use a LOT of garlic in this house (for cooking and for medicine!)

If you only have the jar of pre-chopped garlic, then I highly recommend waiting until you have some real cloves. It's just not the same. The jars of garlic are so pathetic, that I can't even look them in the eye any more.

Let's get cookin'...

Garlic Chicken Recipe

Put your chicken breasts into a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Flip, repeat with salt and pepper, and load up with peeled garlic cloves.

Just go by what looks good to you, or peel until you get bored, whichever comes first.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Cover with foil, and pop it into a 400* oven for 20 minutes.

Remove foil, and sprinkle with fresh or dried parsley. The parsley adds a nice bit of color, and tames back the garlic flavor a bit. They are a nice pair in baked dishes, I think.

Return to the oven, and bake, uncovered, for another 10 minutes, or until the garlic is beginning to get golden brown, and the chicken is cooked through.

I wish you could smell how yummy this is. You could really add in some other flavors if you wanted to. I think sun dried tomatoes or olives would be yummy, and top it with feta cheese and some of the Greek spice mix.