Garlic Chicken with Sherry
Chicken braised with whole garlic cloves and dry sherry.
Ingredients
- 8 Chicken thighs
- 1 head Garlic
- 150 ml Fino sherry
- 4 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper
- 1 Bay leaves (optional)
- 3 tbsp Parsley (optional)
Method
- Season the chicken thighs with the salt and black pepper and separate the garlic head into unpeeled cloves.
- Brown the chicken in the olive oil with the garlic cloves over medium-high heat until golden on all sides.
- Pour in the fino sherry, add the bay leaves, cover, and simmer until the chicken is tender.
- Scatter the parsley over the top and serve with bread for the garlicky sauce.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Garlic Chicken with Sherry
Garlic chicken with sherry, or pollo al ajillo, is one of the great everyday dishes of the Spanish kitchen — a tavern classic found across Castile and Andalusia where a whole head of garlic and a splash of dry sherry do nearly all the work. What defines it is restraint: bone-in chicken thighs browned hard in olive oil, then braised with garlic cloves left in their skins so they turn sweet and mellow rather than sharp. The fino sherry, a bone-dry Andalusian wine, cooks down into a nutty, savory sauce that carries far more depth than its short ingredient list suggests.
The pleasure of this version is textural as much as it is aromatic. The thighs stay juicy under the lid while the sauce reduces to something glossy and deeply garlicky, the bay leaves lending a faint resinous edge and the parsley cutting the richness at the end. It comes together in about forty minutes in a single pan, which makes it a natural weeknight main, but it eats like something more considered. Serve it the traditional way, with plenty of crusty bread to drag through the sauce, and a glass of the same fino you cooked with.
Garlic Chicken with Sherry: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Garlic Chicken with Sherry?
A serving has about 733 calories — 40.9g protein, 9.7g carbs, 53.8g fat, 0.9g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 40.9g of protein, roughly 22% of its calories.
Is Garlic Chicken with Sherry gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Garlic Chicken with Sherry has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
How long does Garlic Chicken with Sherry take to make?
About 40 minutes start to finish, but only around 17 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Garlic Chicken with Sherry?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out bay leaves, parsley — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Garlic Chicken with Sherry make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.