How to Make Garlic Confit and Homemade Garlic Oil
Let’s talk about this incredible garlic confit. Have you heard of garlic confit? Your life will be forever changed after this post. Learn how to make garlic chips while you’re at it!
Until a few years ago, my understanding of the term ‘confit’ was pretty limited. Sure, I knew that duck confit was a thing (a very delicious thing) and it was French–most likely learned when I butchered the word at some point or another, and someone in my family corrected me.
Before that, I was not intimately familiar with the cooking technique.
Food Safety Disclaimer: Garlic is a low-acid ingredient, and if stored improperly in oil (without oxygen) and in warm temperatures (at room temperature), it can produce a very serious toxin that causes botulism. Homemade garlic confit and garlic oil should always be made and immediately stored in the refrigerator for food safety reasons. Per food safety guidelines, it is recommended that you use them within 4 days of making – but if prepared and stored properly, it can often keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. Please use your own discretion, but be aware that storing homemade garlic confit and garlic oil improperly and for a long period poses an inherent food safety risk.
What Does It Mean to Confit Something?
When I started culinary school, I was introduced to all sorts of delicious French cuisine and classic cooking techniques. After school, I worked in a restaurant under a French-trained chef.
To confit became part of my daily routine. We confited so many foods. Garlic, tomatoes…you name it and we probably confited it.
For those unfamiliar, confit is a French cooking technique that involves submerging and cooking a food in fat over low heat for a long time. It was originally used as a preservation technique. For the most part, the fat is usually butter, oil, or animal fat (e.g. duck confit, which is cured duck legs cooked in duck fat).
Confiting is the polar opposite of frying, which is cooking a food in fat over high heat for a short amount of time.
What is Garlic Confit?
Of all the things I learned to confit over that year, garlic confit remains as one of my absolute favorites!
Whole garlic cloves cooked in lots of fragrant extra virgin olive oil, for about 20 minutes, until they are incredibly tender. While I’m partial to cooking these in olive oil, you can also use avocado or other oils.
Similar to roasted garlic, the cloves become very sweet, soft, and extremely flavorful.
What To Use Garlic Confit For?
As far as what you can do with garlic confit, the possibilities are endless. Since the garlic cloves are cooked through and soft, you can mash the garlic cloves easily and spread them on top of bread for a delicious spread or garlic bread. You can also add them to dips, such as homemade hummus, salads, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, or roasted broccoli or other vegetables!
You can also leave the cloves intact and sprinkle them on top of homemade pizza, add them to a marinade (such as my easy chicken marinade), put them under the skin of roast chicken, or just add them to a hot pan for sautéing with any number of vegetables.
If you’d like to infuse the oil and garlic cloves with fresh herbs, such as rosemary or thyme, you can do that as well. Just follow the instructions in the recipe below!
Use the remaining homemade garlic oil for delicate cooking, drizzling on top of soups or dishes, adding to salad vinaigrette, or serving with a crusty baguette for dipping.
Does Garlic Confit Need to Be Refrigerated?
Yes, garlic confit and infused oils absolutely need to be refrigerated, due to a risk of developing botulism and other bacterias. Per food safety guidelines, it is recommended that you use them within 4 days of making – but if prepared and stored properly, it can often keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. Please use your own discretion, but be aware that storing homemade garlic confit and garlic oil improperly and for a long period poses an inherent food safety risk.
Feel free to spoon out the garlic cloves or oil and add directly to a pan for cooking, or let the oil come to room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour if you are using it for dipping or finishing, etc.
Can You Freeze Garlic Confit?
Yes, however this mixture should store in a refrigerator for up to a week or longer – if you are concerned about food safety, I recommend using it within 3 to 4 days of making.
Homemade Garlic Confit and Garlic Oil
Ingredients
- 3 whole heads of garlic dry, fresh cloves with zero bruising
- 2 cups (480 mL) extra virgin olive oil
- fresh herbs, such as thyme or rosemary, or dried chiles optional
Instructions
- Food Safety Note and Disclaimer: Garlic is a naturally low-acid ingredient, and if stored improperly in oil (without oxygen) and in warm temperatures (at room temperature), it can produce a very serious toxin that causes botulism. Homemade garlic confit and garlic oil should always be made and immediately stored in the refrigerator for food safety reasons. Per food safety guidelines, it is recommended that you use them within 4 days of making - but if prepared and stored properly, they can often keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. Please use your own discretion. .
- Use the palm of your hand to carefully separate the heads of garlic. Using a sharp small knife, trim the ends of each garlic clove and then peel each clove, leaving it intact. Discard any bruised cloves.
- Place the peeled garlic cloves in a small saucepan (2 quarts or larger), cover with the olive oil, and place over very low heat on the stove. As the oil begins to warm, you will slowly see small bubbles form. The bubbles will gradually get larger until the oil is simmering slowly.
- Continue to cook the garlic in the oil over very low heat, stirring carefully every few minutes, for 15 to 30 minutes (time will vary depending on your garlic clove sizes, adjust time as necessary), or until the garlic cloves are tender and cooked through, yet still retain their shape and aren't heavily caramelized. Use a long sharp knife to pierce the cloves, they should meet little to no resistance once they are finished cooking.
- Remove from the heat. Add fresh herbs to the oil, if using. Transfer to a clean heat proof jar, cover with a tight-fidding lid, and immediately refrigerate. Food Safety Storage Note: Homemade garlic confit and garlic oil should always be stored in the refrigerator for food safety reasons as infused garlic oils have a botulism risk if stored at room temperature. Per food safety guidelines, it is recommended that you use them within 4 days of making - but if prepared and stored properly, they can often keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. Please use your own discretion.
Does Garlic Confit Need to Be Refrigerated?
- Garlic is a low-acid ingredient, and if stored improperly in oil (without oxygen) and in warm temperatures (at room temperature), it can produce a very serious toxin that causes botulism. Homemade garlic confit and garlic oil should always be made and immediately stored in the refrigerator for food safety reasons. Per food safety guidelines, it is recommended that you use them within 4 days of making - but if prepared and stored properly, they can often keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. Please use your own discretion. .
Can You Freeze Garlic Confit?
- Yes, however this mixture will store well in a refrigerator for several weeks or up to a month. Please allow the mixture to thaw in the refrigerator before using.
121 Comments on “How to Make Garlic Confit and Homemade Garlic Oil”
Thanks for the recipe. This will be easier than roasting in the oven, as I’ve always done. Making this today to spread on Ciabatta loaf and Brie cheese. Yum
If you keep the garlic under the oil, making a “cap” if you will, of solid olive oil in a clean jar in the fridge with a tight lid and a little lemon juice added, it will keep quite a while, one to two months.
But, you have to do the things above.
Thank you . Very helpful. I will confit my garlic from now on.
Is there a smaller serving? The oil would have to cover the cloves completely yet have enough cloves to infuse properly. I won’t use 3 heads of garlic by myself. Any suggestions?
Just reduce the number of cloves and cover accordingly! Or alternatively do a combination of cloves and cherry tomatoes, etc. Hope this helps!
If you separate the garlic from the oil, does the oil keep for longer?
I’ve had mine in the fridge for 3 weeks and was thinking about dumping the garlic but keeping the oil.
If the cloves have been fully covered by oil this entire time and refrigerated, they might still be fine. If you’re nervous about the cloves, I’d probably toss the oil too.
Looks delicious! Can I use pre-peeled whole garlic cloves (I see them at my Costco), or do you recommend I use fresh garlic?
Yes! I definitely find that the pre-peeled garlic can often be older and doesn’t last very long – so I do think fresh is ideal, but for this preparation, I say go for it just for ease!
how do stores get away with storing it on there shelves.
Garlic confit has to be stored in the refrigerator for food safety reasons. Please read the post and instructions carefully.
They use food safe acid and other preserving techniques that can’t easily be done at home. Basically they create an environment that prevents the toxin that causes botulism.
Can i just do it without any herbs just garlic and olive.oil and how much degrees in oven to softened garlic and minutes
I used just EVO and a pinch of sea salt and put about 3 bulbs worth of cloves in the oil and in my oven safe casserole dish at 200 degrees for 1 hour, comes out great every time
Yes, this is awesome. I do plan to update this recipe with oven instructions as well, so glad it worked well for you.
I see you have put nutritional information for 1 serving. But it doesn’t say how much 1 serving is
Sorry for the late reply – this is about a tablespoon’s worth. It is hard to give a serving for something like this – because it is used sometimes just as oil (or just for the garlic confit) and usually added to another dish (not eaten straight), so there’s no real serving that I can provide. Think of it nutritionally like full garlic cloves (cooked in oil) + 100% olive oil, because those are the only two components.
I made some of this last night and sealed it in a Ball jar as if I was canning it. Pretty soon I heard the lid pop indicating a vacuum seal. Why couldn’t this be stored like canned veggies on a storage shelf instead of refrigerating?
Please do NOT do this. The oil and garlic cloves have to be stored in the fridge, otherwise there is a serious risk of botulism. This is not intended for pantry storage at all, and you should always be following proper pressuring canning or water bath recipes/guidelines for things that are designed to be conserved in the pantry.
If you search garlic in oil and botulism you can find resources that explain in detail why canning doesn’t make this recipe shelf-safe. A quick summary is that the toxin is created by the bacteria anaerobically. By creating a vacuum, you would be creating the perfect environment to help raise the toxin that can kill you (assuming there is any of the bacteria present in the first place, which you would never know either way).
Refrigeration slows the process, but each person must make their own decision how long they’re willing to keep it in the fridge based on the perceived risk. I imagine that’s why this article goes to great lengths to make sure you don’t miss the warning about risk.
Can this be done in a Sous vide method?
Hi Lynn,
I’m sure it can be, but I don’t personally see the benefit! I would google that and see what you find, but I can’t personally give tips because I don’t prepare it that way myself.
can you use garlic that is cut in half? or does it have to be whole garlic cloves? i have some garlic that is starting to sprout and i want to remove the “germ” from the cloves
Yeah! This works either way!
Can you crush the garlic and store it separately once confit
Yes, I don’t know if I would personally crush it until you’re ready to use it. It MUST be refrigerated quickly either way.
Where I work we drain the garlic from the oil and pass garlic through a fine sieve. The garlic lasts for at least a month, vacuum sealed (a batch is always used up within a month so I don’t know how long it would last otherwise)
Please answer a question for me, as I have been doing this for 40 years. My training—professional—taught me that the botulism spores are killed when at least 80 degrees C is maintained during the cooking process. I simmer the cloves in good EVOO at >100C for 30 minutes, allow the oil to further, covered, for 30 minutes more, then bottle it in a dark green bottle with a bar spout. I’ve always stored it at room temp; we go through the oil in about 4 weeks, then I make more. I’ve never encountered a problem. The confit seems to last about 4 hours in my house. FDA and USDA guidelines still say the spores and the bacteria are killed at >80C. Was my training—and federal guidelines incorrect?
Hi, so sorry for the long delay in responding to your comment! I’ve never encountered an issue either – but it’s mainly the garlic (or any traces of garlic) that can breed botulism and I’m purposely being very cautious and conservative with this guide. I’ll probably include more information, but most people don’t own a thermometer nor will time the cooking properly, so I’d rather be cautious in my writing – people are welcome to do what they want in their kitchen and do more research (which is why I’ve included links out), but so many people just skip the recipe instructions and don’t read them properly.
I have a question? Will my olive oil still taste good if I remove my garlic from the olive oil after it has been cooked? I have an old family recipe for Aglio e olio but my grandchildren don’t like to eat the garlic pieces.
I thank you for you recipes ☺️
Yes, definitely! It’s already been infused with the garlic flavor, so the cloves aren’t very necessary at that point. Be sure to store it in the fridge though!
I like the explanation for confit. The French pronunciation is close to cuh fee. Neither is emphasized. I’d never before heard about confit. I am going to use avocado oil, because it has a high smoke point. That means it’s harder to burn it.
Can this be cooked in a crock-pot?
Hi! I think it probably could – it could definitely be cooked in a casserole dish in a low temperature oven – but I can’t advise on the time or setting, since I’ve never made it this way. It doesn’t take long to cook on the stovetop, and the idea of putting a lot of oil in an appliance that I’m walking away from just makes me personally nervous. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
I am seeing conflicting info here. Will is stay for weeks in fridge or 4 days? Thanks
Hi Lori! Sorry about that. I have felt comfortable storing garlic confit in the refrigerator for longer than a week, but technically according to food safety (and the risk of botulism, if not prepared safely), it is recommended to be used within 3 to 4 days of making. This is ultimately up to what you’re comfortable with!
Homemade garlic oil is asking for botulism. Heating the garlic won’t kill any spores that occur naturally in the soil. Once deprived of oxygen in the oil, these anaerobic spores are apt to reactivate, grow, and produce the deadly botulinum toxin.
I encourage you to remove this post, and to post something warning your readers of the severe health consequences that can come of storing garlic in oil.
Hi Jesse. Thanks for your comment. I’ve included multiple disclaimers in this post and recipe that outline the botulism risk, and instruct people that the oil and cloves should always be put into a clean jar and immediately refrigerated and used in a short period to reduce the risk. As always, it is up to the individual to decide what they are comfortable with making in their kitchen and to follow the proper food safety guidelines. If stored properly, the risk is very low.
Whole Foods used to make something like this and sell in their prepared food section. They call it “marinated garlic”. So I’m trying to replicate that with your recipe. Do you think oregano/salt/pepper would be a good combo to season with, after cooling?
You definitely could! I might still leave out the salt and just sprinkle some on when you’re serving it. Be sure to store it in the fridge ?