Food & Cooking Recipes Healthy Recipes Gluten-Free Recipes Garlic Confit This easy, three-ingredient recipe creates sweet, mellow, and spreadable garlic cloves (and plenty of garlic oil) . Close Credit: Lennart Weibull Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Servings: 8 Yield: 1/2 cup Jump to recipe This easy recipe for Garlic Confit calls for submerging heads of garlic in olive oil with herbs and cooking low and slow until golden and spreadable. After about an hour in the oven, the garlic’s strong, assertive taste transforms into something much more mellow and sweet while also infusing the surrounding oil with plenty of flavor. Slicing the tops off of the heads is an essential step that helps them to release their flavor and makes it easy to scoop out the softened cloves after they are transformed into confit. Spread the cloves onto toast, blend them with butter, or use them in pastas and salad dressings. 5 Ways to Remove the Garlic Smell From Your Hands—Including Martha's Method Tools for Making Garlic Confit You only need a couple of pieces of basic equipment for whipping up this delicious condiment: Serrated knife: Using a serrated knife to slice off the tops of the garlic heads makes it easy to cut straight through without crushing the cloves or causing them to fall out. You can use anything from a bread knife to a steak knife for this step, just make sure it has a serrated edge. Loaf pan: We like using a loaf pan for this recipe as it's narrow sides help the oil to cover the cloves. You can use a metal or glass loaf pan. This recipe can easily be doubled or halved, depending on how much garlic confit you’re aiming for. Food Safety Garlic submerged in oil or another substance that creates an anaerobic environment must be stored in the refrigerator or freezer to mitigate risks of botulism. The same care should be taken for oil that's been infused with garlic, even if the cloves have been removed. Refrigerate for no longer than 2 weeks or freeze for up to 1 month. Directions Preheat oven; trim garlic heads: Preheat oven to 275°F. Using a serrated knife, remove the top third of each head. Combine all ingredients, cover, and bake: Place garlic, cut-sides down, in a 6-cup loaf pan. Add thyme and enough oil to just cover (about 2 cups). Cover with parchment-lined foil and bake until garlic is soft, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes. Let cool, then store: Let cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. (Oil can be strained after a day or two and refrigerated separately.) Variations You can swap out the thyme for other hardy herbs like rosemary, oregano, or bay leaves. Toss in a few black peppercorns for a subtle kick or add a few halved shallots for extra allium flavor. How to Use Garlic Confit There are so many ways to put the spreadable cloves—and flavorful oil–to work, including: Whisking garlic and oil into your favorite vinaigrette recipe Mashing the cloves with softened butter, then using it to make garlic bread, garlicky mashed potatoes, or as a finishing touch for seared steak, fish, or chicken Adding it to pasta recipes in place of minced garlic Blending into soups or pesto Stirring into store-bought or homemade hummus or cream cheese for an easy appetizer More Garlic Recipes to Try: Garlic Mashed Potatoes Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic Grilled Garlic Bread With Herb Butter Steamed Artichokes With Lemon-Garlic Aioli Charred Tomatoes With Fried Eggs on Garlic Toast Garlic-Lover's Pot Roast Caramelized Garlic Tart Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.