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Home Eat Condiments

How To Make Garlic Confit

5 from 2 votes
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By: Sarah BondUpdated: Mar 01, 2022 10 Comments

This post contains affiliate links.

Add delicious garlic flavor to your favorite dishes with this homemade garlic confit recipe. It’s made with garlic, olive oil, and an optional selection of fresh herbs!

A silver spoon scooping a spoonful of baked garlic cloves from a white bowl of cloves and olive oil

A nice, warm piece of toasted bread is often made complete with a dollop of butter smeared on top. But what if we had something with even more flavor to add delicious taste to your favorite bread… or pasta and soup, for that matter?

Lucky for you, we do! This delicious, spreadable mix is coming to you in the form of garlic confit.

I couldn’t be more excited about this recipe and the options for customization! We’re making it with 3 flavorful herbs, but you can also make it without for a more original-style garlic confit.

Then, you can take things further by choosing to remove or leave the garlic paper on! It’s a have-it-your-way garlic confit recipe that you’re going to be adding to all of your favorite dishes. Let’s get started!

Two slices of toasted bread topped in garlic confit spread

What is garlic confit?

Garlic confit is a fancy name describing garlic that’s been cooked in olive oil. For this recipe, we’ll simply bake the combo to allow the garlic to “roast” to a golden brown color and absorb some of the flavors from the oil.

When all is said and done, you have a delicious confit to add to dishes like pasta and soup, or to use as a smashable spread for bread and toast! The process of roasting it cuts any bitterness and makes for a rich and flavor-packed confit.

And the best part? This recipe is actually two in one! You get the soft and spreadable garlic cloves (perfect for on toast or pizza), along with a powerful garlic infused oil (great in salad dressings or as a bread dip).

A mason jar filled with garlic cloves in olive oil

Ingredients in this garlic confit recipe

You need only 2 ingredients for garlic confit: garlic and olive oil. Then, you can optionally take things a step further by adding extra flavor with thyme, rosemary, and/or bay leaves.

  • Garlic: First up, you will need 3 whole heads of nutritious garlic. We’ll be separating the individual cloves prior to cooking.
  • Olive Oil: Next, you will need 1 ½ cups of good quality olive oil.
  • Herbs: Optionally, you can choose to add herbs for extra flavor. I recommend 6 sprigs of thyme, 3 sprigs of rosemary, and/or 3 bay leaves.
Pouring olive oil into a cast iron skillet filled with garlic cloves

How to make homemade garlic confit

We’ll start by removing the garlic cloves from the head of garlic, followed by adding it to a dish with oil. Then, we’ll let it bake!

Step 1: Prep the garlic
Preheat oven to 250°F (121°C). Either peel the garlic cloves completely, or separate the cloves from the head, leaving the paper on (if you go with this approach, you’ll just squeeze out each clove before serving).

Step 2: Assemble the dish
Add the garlic and oil to an oven-safe pan (like a cast iron or casserole dish). If the garlic is not submerged completely, add a bit more oil. If desired, add a few hearty herbs to the pan.

A cast iron skillet filled with olive oil and garlic cloves

In the cast iron (above) we did just plain garlic with the papery skins removed. And in the baking dish (below), we left the papery skins on and added herbs!

A casserole dish filled with garlic cloves soaking in olive oil and topped with fresh thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves

Step 3: Cook the confit
Cook for 2 hours, or until the garlic cloves are golden brown and soft. Remove the pan from oven and let it cool.

A close up view detailing the texture of garlic cloves submerged in olive oil and topped with herbs
A close up view detailing the texture of cooked garlic cloves submerged in olive oil and topped with cooked herbs

Garlic confit storage

Garlic confit can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Be sure to use within that timeframe and discard if any signs of spoiled garlic appear.

Garlic confit uses

For delicious meals rich in herby flavor, consider adding your garlic confit to vegan garlic bread, pressed eggplant sandwiches, caprese paninis, or even buffalo tempeh sandwiches! You can add a dollop to cooked pasta (like veggie carbonara), or use it to add extra flavor to your favorite soup (like this acorn squash recipe)! It makes a great spread for adding flavor to many dishes, particularly sandwiches.

A silver spoon scooping a spoonful of baked garlic cloves from a white bowl of cloves and olive oil

How To Make Garlic Confit

5 from 2 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 2 hours
Total: 2 hours 5 minutes
Author: Sarah Bond
Calories:
Servings: 16 servings
Print Rate
Add delicious garlic flavor to your favorite dishes with this homemade garlic confit recipe.

Ingredients

  • 3 heads garlic
  • 1 ½ cups olive oil 354 mL
  • Optional Herbs: 6 sprigs thyme, 3 sprigs rosemary, and/or 3 bay leaves

Instructions 

  • Prep: Preheat oven to 250°F (121°C). Either peel the garlic cloves completely, or separate the cloves from the head, leaving the paper on.
  • Assemble: Add garlic and oil to an oven-safe pan (like a cast iron or casserole dish). If garlic is not submerged completely, add a bit more oil. If desired, add a few hearty herbs to the pan.
  • Cook: Cook for 2 hours, or until garlic cloves are golden brown and soft. Remove from oven and let cool.

Tips & Tricks

Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
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  1. Ramona says

    Posted on 1/12 at 5:36 pm

    Do you mash it or leave whole. And how do you use it?

    Reply
    • Sarah Bond says

      Posted on 1/13 at 10:17 am

      Either! I love it mashed on toast, sliced and thrown into pasta, with crackers, or veggies!

  2. Michelle says

    Posted on 1/12 at 9:59 pm

    Wow! This sounds amazing! Could you make this with frozen garlic? Thinking flavor might not be as rich, but… need a way to use it up!

    Reply
    • Sarah Bond says

      Posted on 1/13 at 10:22 am

      I would think so! 😀

  3. Hannah Grace says

    Posted on 1/14 at 12:00 pm

    Which part is the confit? Do you take the garlic cloves out of the olive oil, or is it supposed to all stay together? I’ve never heard of confit before, so just wondering what it should look like and how to use it.

    Reply
    • Sarah Bond says

      Posted on 1/14 at 12:19 pm

      The confit is the garlic cloves, which you pluck out of the oil and use! The oil becomes very garlicky though – great on its own or for cooking!

  4. Sara Johnson says

    Posted on 8/3 at 3:37 pm

    How long can you keep the oil around after you have used the garlic cloves and will it need to be stored in the fridge?5 stars

    Reply
    • Sarah Bond says

      Posted on 8/3 at 3:41 pm

      Up to 2 weeks! And yes, we’d recommend storing it in the fridge.

  5. Serena says

    Posted on 1/14 at 4:41 pm

    Can you extend the life of the confit by freezing it?5 stars

    Reply
    • Sarah Bond says

      Posted on 1/15 at 11:17 am

      Yes!

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