Creamy + Buttery Garlic Confit

Garlic confit is a simple method of preparing garlic by submerging it in oil and cooking it low and slow. The garlic comes out nutty and slightly sweet with a creamy, spreadable texture.

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I originally made this garlic confit as an addition to my garlic and rosemary polenta bread (recipe coming soon). It was the perfect addition to the bread; soft little morsels of nutty sweetness that burst in your mouth at random intervals. But I almost instantly wished I had made more of it. It is seriously sooooo tasty. It’s the perfect condiment to spread on a crusty piece of bread because it spreads exactly like butter… and honestly, I might even prefer it over butter.

Not only is this garlic confit super rich and buttery, but its honestly a breeze to prepare. Simply peel a head (or two… or three) of garlic, add it to an oven safe dish with a lid, and cover it in olive oil. Then cook the garlic in a low 200 degree oven for about 2 hours, until it comes out deeply golden and melt-in-your-mouth. Trust me on this: you’ll want to put it on and in anything and everything.

WHAT EXACTLY IS CONFIT?

Originally, confit referred to a French method of cooking food slowly in a liquid to preserve it. While confit can still refer to this method, it’s now thought of as a way of cooking food (usually meat) slowly in fat, as made famous by the dish duck confit.  You can confit anything by submerging it in oil and cooking it slowly in a low oven for a few hours. Since food preservation methods like this are no longer a necessity (thanks to refrigerators and freezers), we now use confit as a method to impart flavor and slow cook food to a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture. This garlic confit is the perfect example of that. The garlic takes on a whole new sweet and nutty flavor with a texture like butter.

THE BEST WAY TO PEEL WHOLE GARLIC CLOVES

The one (and only) difficult thing about this confit garlic recipe is peeling all the garlic. The tried and true “smash with the back of the knife” method crushes the cloves too much. The “place in a tupperware and shake vigorously” method doesn’t always work to remove all the skins. So I use a combo of both:

PRESERVING YOUR GARLIC CONFIT

Since sauces and condiments with a lot of garlic in them are prone to developing botulism, you definitely want to take a few precautions when storing your garlic confit. To give it the longest shelf life, make sure you’re storing your garlic confit in the olive oil it was cooked in, and in a super clean mason jar. You can sterilize your jars by boiling them in water or running them through the dishwasher on a very high temperature. Then, you can store your garlic confit in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

But honestly, this recipe is so easy that you can simply make it as you need it, and not worry about storage. Or, if you’re anything like me, no matter how much you make there’s no way it’s lasting more than a day in the fridge.