This Black Garlic Cream Sauce Chicken Thighs is a tasty and comforting weeknight dish. Juicy chicken thighs with crispy skins and top with a flavorful creamy sauce that will have you screaming for more!
For most days in the past two weeks, we didn’t wake up to bright sunny sky. Dark, gloomy, slightly cool and even drizzling. It’s the California May Gray. That kind of weather makes you very sleepy and even a bit sad. Comfort food is here to the rescue!
This chicken thighs dish is creamy and savory. It’s a great weeknight meal. I have used black garlic a couple times before, like this and this. Black garlic is earthy and a bit sweet. It tastes like balsamic vinegar with a somewhat mild garlic taste. You can easily substitute regular garlic with black garlic in cooking. I found black garlic is specially good in a creamy kind of sauce.
The recipe is pretty straight forward. Pat dry the chicken with paper towels to ensure a crispy skin. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken thighs on a skillet until cooked through (165˚F internal temperature). Remove the chicken and make the sauce in the same skillet. Combine black garlic, half and half, water, oregano and parmesan cheese. It’s quick and creamy. Return the chicken in the sauce and let the chicken cook in the sauce for a few more minutes. To use up the delicious sauce, add some spinach to soak up all the goodness. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve. It’s best to serve along with small pasta, like orzo. That sauce will have you screaming for more!
Black Garlic Cream Sauce Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (about 1½ lbs)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 tablespoons water (divided)
- 2 - 3 cloves black garlic (peeled and minced)
- ¾ cup half and half (half milk half heavy cream)
- 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ cup parmesan cheese (grated)
- 1½ cup baby spinach
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pat dry the chicken thighs with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a medium cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add chicken with skin side down and cook for 12 - 13 minutes, without moving them. Check the chicken at about 8 minutes. If the skin is getting too dark, turn the heat down a little. Turn the chicken over and cook for another 10 - 12 minutes. Remove the chicken to a large plate.
- In the same skillet, reduce the heat to medium-low heat. Use a couple paper towels to wipe off the fat. Add 3 tablespoons water and scrap the brown bits with a wooden spatula. Add black garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Pour in half and half, oregano and 3 more tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Season with salt & pepper to your own taste. Return the chicken to the pan and cook for 4 minutes. Add spinach and cook until just wilted. Transfer chicken and spinach to serving plates. Scoop sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice or couscous.
Notes
- Black garlic that I use comes in a bulb, just like regular garlic. Peel them and take out the flesh. Use raw or cook. You can find them in some supermarkets, like Bristol Farms and sometimes in Japanese supermarkets. There are also available online too. I know they are much more expensive than regular garlic, but you can't get that unique flavors else where. Store black garlic in a ziploc bag and in the fridge for a few months.
- After you put the chicken (skin-side down) in the skillet, do not move them. The skin will stuck to the pan and it's ok. Once the skin is golden brown and crisp, the thigh will be easy to move.
- If you don't feel like cooking the chicken on stove top or you hate chicken fat splatter all over the kitchen, you can bake them in 400˚F (200˚C) oven for about 30 minutes. If there is any dripping, add to the skillet and finish the sauce on stove top.
that gravy of sauce looks outstanding. Do you think any meat will be fine instead of chicken?
Thank you so much Ted! Yes, of course! Use any meat you like.
I was looking for a recipe to use the black garlic I’d bought for a hollandaise and found this. It was absolutely delicious, and I’ll be making it again soon. I added red pepper for extra flavor and color and will be experimenting with an Instant Pot version.
Thank you so much! So happy to know you enjoyed it! Love to hear how the result turns out with instant pot. Have a good day!
As someone else said looking for recipe for black garlic. It was just awesome. Will make again.
Thank you very much Susan! I’m very happy to hear that. Black garlic is so good! Hope to see them more in local grocery stores. ?
13 minutes in a cast iron pan at med-high heat would result on extremely burned chicken. Am I missing something, or is this just way off?
Hi Eric, I understand your concern. I have made this a few times and I didn’t have this problem.
Made this recipe today and it was outstanding! I added extra spinach because I love spinach and served it on rice instead of orzo. Also, the black garlic cloves I had were small so I doubled the number used. Loved that it was easy to make and basically a one dish meal with that wonderful black garlic richness!
I’m so glad you liked it, Wendy! Black garlic really is special. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Excellent, My family enjoyed this. I used regular garlic because that is what I had and until I saw this recipe, I had never heard black garlic nor seen it in the grocery stores.
Hi Sarah, I’m so glad that it works with regular garlic! Black garlic is definitely a bit to find in stores. I have only seen them in Japanese or Korean markets. You can probably get some online too. Although it’s a bit tricky to get black garlic, it’s totally worth trying if you love garlic. ?
I will try….I found a place in NJ that has plenty. NJGarlic.com. They also make a black garlic salt, amazing
I replaced the water with chicken broth and this recipe turned out fantastic. I would also like to hear the results in the instant pot as I would like to try and make it that way too.