Pollo Ajillo Recipe – Spanish Garlic Chicken

Since moving away from Spain, we miss the food terribly. This means we are consistently cooking some of our favorite Spanish recipes at home. One of these classic Spanish dishes is pollo ajillo, or chicken with garlic sauce. This Spanish garlic chicken dish can be cooked in one pot and served alongside any vegetable or potato dish. 

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What Is Pollo Al Ajillo 

Al ajillo is a garlic sauce, and can be used as part of any roasted meat dish. Ajo, is garlic in Spanish and is used extensively in Spanish cooking. This is a rustic dish reminiscent of the Spanish countryside, particularly in Andalusia in Southern Spain.

The ajillo sauce is made with classic Spanish ingredients including olive oil, lots of garlic, and red wine or white wine. I used red for this recipe because I like the coloring it gives to the neutral-colored chicken. In Andalusia, it’s pretty common to cook the chicken in Sherry, which you can use in this recipe. I have difficulty finding sherry wine in Ireland, so I use a dry Spanish red wine instead.

How To Serve Chicken Ajillo

This chicken recipe is made with chicken thighs, but can just as easily be made with chicken wings and served as a tapa. In that case, it will take slightly less time to cook. When serving it as a main course for lunch or dinner, it can be paired with any Spanish potato or vegetable dish.

I like serving it with marinated carrots, or a cold salad as well. Just sprinkle the chicken with fresh parsley or cilantro for garnish. I also make a lot of Moroccan salad recipes, which pair just as well. Recently we’ve discovered a vegetarian fabada recipe that makes a tasty side dish with this chicken.

Serve This Chicken Al Ajillo Recipe With:

Spanish Potato Salad – Ensaladilla Rusa

Papas Arrugadas – Wrinkled Potatoes

Moroccan Beet Salad

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Ingredients For This Chicken Al Ajillo Recipe

The chicken thighs are simply seasoned with salt, pepper, and coated in a bit of flour to give the chicken some texture when cooking. The Spanish chicken is cooked with classic ingredients including a good olive oil, loads of garlic, fresh thyme, and bay leaves. I like using dry red wine, but you can use a dry (non-sweet) white wine if you have it. If you want to add a bit more sauce, for example, if you are serving the dish with potatoes, you can add a cup of chicken broth as well to stretch the sauce.

List Of Ingredients

• salt
• black pepper
• flour
• chicken thighs (or wings)
• Spanish olive oil
• Garlic
• Fresh thyme
• Bay leaves
• Dry red wine (or white wine)
• Fresh parsley for serving

How To Make Pollo Ajillo

Preheat the oven to 400F. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, and flour to coat. They do not need to be fully covered or breaded. Then, heat the olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet or oven-proof dish.

Once the olive oil is hot, add the chicken thighs skin side down and cook for 10-12 minutes or until the skin starts to brown. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, and red wine to cook the pollo afillo and create the garlic sauce. Turn the chicken thighs skin side up and cook in the liquid for 7-10 minutes or until the red wine starts to evaporate.

After a total of 20-25 minutes or so, drizzle the chicken skins with olive oil to keep the skin from drying out and place the chicken in the oven for 5-7 minutes to finish the chicken off and crisp the skin. Remove the pollo al ajillo from the oven and sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.

FAQs – Spanish Garlic Chicken