Homemade Garlic Oil: Slow-Cooked Garlic Confit in Greek Olive Oil

Once you have made your own garlic oil, it is hard to go back. Soft, sweet cloves of garlic gently poached in good olive oil until they melt, and a jar of fragrant, golden oil to drizzle over everything from bread to roast vegetables – it is one of the simplest luxuries a Mediterranean kitchen has to offer. The method could not be easier. But here is the part most recipes gloss over: garlic confit is really a recipe about the oil, and a flat supermarket bottle will give you a flat, greasy result.

Choose a living, peppery extra virgin oil and the whole thing transforms – the garlic turns silkier, the oil tastes richer, and you end up with two ingredients in one jar. If you want that proper taverna depth, start with the oil the whole recipe leans on: our hand-harvested Peloponnese extra virgin olive oil. Secure your bottle here and the rest is almost hands-off.

What is garlic confit, and what is garlic oil?

They are two gifts from the same pan. “Confit” simply means cooking something slowly in fat at a low temperature. When you submerge peeled garlic cloves in olive oil and cook them gently, the cloves turn soft, sweet and spreadable – that is garlic confit. The oil they cook in, now infused with mellow roasted-garlic flavour, is your garlic oil. You spoon the cloves onto toast or into mash, and you drizzle the oil over pasta, salads, soups and grilled vegetables.

Unlike raw garlic, confit garlic is gentle and never harsh. It is the secret weapon behind restaurant-style pasta, creamy dips and the best garlic bread you will ever make at home.

Why the olive oil is the whole recipe

Think about it: you are making a jar that is almost entirely olive oil. There is nowhere for a poor-quality oil to hide. With a cheap, refined oil, garlic confit tastes dull and slick. With a true extra virgin oil, it tastes buttery, peppery and alive – and the oil keeps its character instead of turning greasy over the low heat.

Our Peloponnese extra virgin olive oil is made for exactly this kind of slow, gentle cooking. It is traditionally hand-harvested and cold mechanically extracted, left naturally cloudy and unfiltered so the flavour stays intact, and it is lab-tested: low in acidity, rich in polyphenols, and free from mineral-oil residues. Crucially, it is certified heat-stable up to 180 °C without forming trans fats – and a garlic confit never climbs past a gentle 90 °C, so your oil keeps every bit of its buttery, peppery backbone. That is the difference between a good jar and one you will want to make on repeat. Taste the difference for yourself.

Ingredients (makes one small jar)

• 2–3 heads of garlic (about 20–30 cloves), peeled
• Around 250 ml extra virgin olive oil, enough to fully submerge the cloves
• Optional: a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary, a bay leaf, a few black peppercorns
• A small pinch of sea salt

That really is it. With a list this short, the olive oil is doing almost all of the work, so it is worth using one you would happily eat by the spoonful.

How to make garlic confit, step by step

1. Peel the garlic. Separate and peel all the cloves. A quick way: smash each clove lightly with the flat of a knife and the skin slips off, or shake them in a sealed jar for 20 seconds.
2. Submerge in oil. Put the cloves in the smallest saucepan they will fit in and pour over enough extra virgin olive oil to cover them completely. Add the herbs and peppercorns if using.
3. Cook low and slow. Set the pan over the lowest heat. You want the gentlest possible bubble – a few lazy bubbles rising, never a fast fry. Hold it there for 35–45 minutes, until the cloves are soft, pale gold and easily squashed. A good oil stays clear and fragrant here; a flat one scorches and turns bitter. If your bottle isn’t up to the job yet, grab a proper one here first.
4. Cool completely. Take the pan off the heat and let everything cool to room temperature in the oil.
5. Jar it up. Transfer the cloves and all of the oil into a clean, dry, airtight jar, making sure the garlic stays fully covered by oil.

How to store it safely

Garlic in oil must always be kept in the fridge – never at room temperature – and used within about a week. Keep the cloves submerged under the oil at all times, use a clean spoon each time, and discard it if you are ever unsure. Chilled and covered, your jar of liquid gold will be ready whenever you need it.

Delicious ways to use your garlic oil and confit

Smear the soft cloves on warm sourdough for instant garlic bread. Stir a spoonful of the oil through pasta with a little of the starchy cooking water for a five-minute dinner. Drizzle it over roasted vegetables, soups, hummus or a simple bowl of olive oil for dipping. Whisk it into salad dressings, or mash the cloves into potatoes. Every one of these dishes tastes only as good as the oil you started with – so keep a generous bottle on hand. Stock up on our Peloponnese olive oil here.

Frequently asked questions

How long does homemade garlic oil last?

Keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge and use it within about a week, always keeping the cloves submerged under the oil. Garlic in oil should never be stored at room temperature. For longer keeping, freeze the confit in an ice-cube tray and pop out a cube whenever you need one.

Can I use extra virgin olive oil for confit, or will it burn?

You can, and you should – as long as you keep the heat low. A garlic confit sits around 85–90 °C, far below the point where a quality oil struggles. Our Peloponnese olive oil is lab-tested stable up to 180 °C, so it holds its flavour beautifully through slow cooking.

Why does the quality of the oil matter so much?

Because the finished jar is mostly oil. A flat, refined oil tastes greasy and dull no matter how good your garlic is, while a living extra virgin oil makes the confit taste buttery, peppery and rich. It is the single ingredient that decides the result.

The final word

Garlic confit is proof that two humble ingredients, treated with a little patience, can become something extraordinary – but only when the oil is worthy of the garlic. Start with a real, polyphenol-rich extra virgin olive oil, keep the heat gentle, and you will have a jar of golden garlic oil and sweet, spreadable cloves ready to lift every meal. Start with the right olive oil and make your garlic confit unforgettable – Pour La Vie.